Best launch yet! (Baby stays....)

[Shawn]

Best launch yet....


Floated Serenity yesterday. Total prep time (raising mast, installing engine, not fully rigged for sailing) to being floating in the water was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I think the first time I launched Serenity it was closer to 4 hours. This has always been with 2 people prepping.

My mast raising system has been evolving and it getting safer and much quicker to setup.

At first I was using an A frame (to act as a gin pole) ahead of the mast. This was tied to the life line stanchions ahead of the mast. I also had a 2x4 frame that lifted the rear of the mast up and used a 4:1 boom vang (with long line in it) connected to the jib halyard to hoist the mast. This worked but took awhile to setup the hardware and did nothing to keep the mast from moving side to side before it was up enough for the shrouds to hold it.

2 years ago I put a new winch on the trailer that is two speed with a brake on it. At that time I swapped over to using this to raise the mast instead of the boom vang. This didn't really change my setup time (anchor/chain has to be lowered to ground so that anchor roller can be used to redirect winch) but made it easier and safer in that it automatically locks if someone lets go of the winch. When actually raising/lowering the mast this took a little more time so the potential for the mast to go side to side was a little greater and more scary,

This offseason I decided to add 'baby' stays to hold the mast from moving side to side. Originally I was intending to add padeyes to the cabin top in line with the mast pivot point. However, I could not locate them on the cabin top in a way that wouldn't be in the way of the bulkhead below. I was then going to add the folding padeyes to the side deck but realized they were too low compared to the mast pivot point which would mean they would not stay uniformly tensioned while the mast went up/down.

I used up using a chain clamped to the stanchion base in front of and behind the mast. I sized the chain long enough so that when it was tensioned it had a link inline with the mast pivot point and at the same height as the mast pivot point. To that link I clipped a 1/4" dyneema line (I  eye-spliced at each end) that was about 9' long as the 'baby stay'. Repeat for the other side. I took the main halyard and wrapped it around the mast (below the spreaders) and clipped each dyneema baby stay to it. I could then tension the baby stays by winching the main halyard.

To launch yesterday I decided to try with just the trailer winch and the baby stays forgoing the A frame and mast crutch. With everything in place I stood at the back of the boat and lifted the mast up. Previously when I had tried this the weight made it very hard to get it straight up without slipping to the sides. This time the stays held the mast parallel with the centerline of the boat and the mast would not move side to side at all. After getting up a bit the second person started winching it up. My baby stays were connected not quite right to be exactly inline with the mast pivot point so they started to get too tensioned as the mast was at about 30 degrees up. This was easily fixed by simply not winching any more (the ratchet held it automatically) and I loosened the main halyard slightly. The stays kept the mast centered properly and then we proceeded to winch it the rest of the way up.

The only real snag (and it was minor) was that because I looped the halyard around the mast and snapped it to itself it ended up sort of binding up on the mast about 9 feet up. I had to use a boat hook to loosen the noose slightly and then used the baby stays to pull the halyard back down. Next time I am going to make a short dyneema line with eye-splices at both ends. That I will loop around the mast and hook the baby stays and halyard to that to prevent the halyard binding.

Raising the mast this was just felt so much more secure and less likely to have the mast pitch sideways and get damaged while going up or down. Highly recommended!

Two other things I changed that helped float Serenity a bit easier.

1) I modified the trailer so that the tongue extends about 4' or 5' longer than the factory extension. This lets me get the trailer in deeper without having my truck as far into the water.

2) When I painted the bottom this year I lowered the bunks in the rear. Previously the bunks formed a sort of elongated U that really secured the boat. The shape make it harder to get the boat in/out though. This year I set the bunks so that the rear of the bunks was basically level with the mid point of the bunk so it was more of a straight shot out.

The combination of the two just made it easier to get Serenity floating.

Shawn

[hockeyfool]

Sounds like some thorough experimenting, I've done all except baby stays, and will refit my mast raising pvc pole-over aluminum pole, which have 4 holes
spaced about 10" upward to adjust with quickpin. I used to lock it to the stern, sitting on the transom, with a board horizontally latched on stern stantions,
  which worked half the time, but scratched up the fiberglass.
  So now I will used the pole on in the cockpit stern seat( gas tank cover ) with a stabilzer base , and lift the mast first to 6-7 feet up,
then winch up slowly with gin pole rig.
    I also have extended fabrication to stock tongue extender, by about 10 feet !

[mike gartland]

Shawn,

I have a similar system using baby stays along with a gin pole and and an old main sheet assembly with 3:1 purchase that provides the leverage to raise and lower the mast...works really well just as you describe.  What I would like are a few more details on the additional 4 to 5 foot extension you've added to make launching and recovery easier on the tow vehicle.  I only have the 3 ft extension that came with the trailer and it usually isn't enough to float my 23-3 without submerging more of my truck than I would like...though now that I live in fresh-water country it doesn't bother me as much as salt water used to.  Any details on how your new extension is constructed would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike
CP 23-3 WindRush

[Shawn]

Mike,

"Any details on how your new extension is constructed would be appreciated."

Do you have the performance trailer? If so extending it further is really easy. Look at the aft end of the extension, it has a bolt through it to keep it moving further out of the trailer. I just removed that bolt and drilled a new vertical hole (for the extension pin) about a foot or so in from the end of the extension. You will need to either disconnect the brake line (or add an extension to it) and that will let you extend the tongue quite a bit further out.

Shawn

[mike gartland]

Shawn,

Yes, I do have one of the old dual-axle Performance trailers and the short extension is just as you describe.  Thanks for the details on your extension; will try to set up a similar one and give it a try.

Mike

[Bob23]

Shawn:
   Thanks for the info on your mast raising system. I used a variation on the exact system you described: lengths of chain between stanchions, a line up to a loop of line around the mast and I used the main halyard to tension it all. Instead of using the trailer winch, I used a block and tackle whose line was run back to the starboard winch. I used this system when I lowered my mast before Hurricane Sandy. I'll use it again in a few weeks (I hope!) when I raise the mast at launch time.
   Thanks again!
Bob23

[LConrad]

The extra extension on the trailer really helps. I added brake line and a steel cable. The cable prevents the extension from coming out too far and breaking the brake line. If you get it just right, the cable will stop the extension right in line with you new hole. Drop in the pin and you're ready to launch.