Going aloft on an E25

[Brian Lowman]

I need to go aloft on my E25 and inspect the halyards and masthead fitting. The problem is that I am 6'4" tall and 235 lbs.

Can anyone recommend the safest weight that I can send aloft to check things out?

Thanks,

Brian Lowman
S/V Gypsy Rose

 

[Geoff Johnson]

For a 23 foot boat I once calculated that the ratio of the distance between the center of gravity of the 2000 lb keel and the boat's center of gravity as compared with the height of the mast above the boat's center of gravity was about 10:1 so that 200 pounds at the top would be enough to capsize the boat. You probably have a slightly deeper and heavier keel, but you should stay on the deck (like I did).

 

[Brian Lowman]

Geoff,

Thanks for the reply. I tested my weight leaning out on the boom and half way up the mast (I have mast steps up to the spreaders) and found that even with the 150 lb. centerboard down, it did not feel real stable. Now if I could just get my 108 wife to go aloft, but alas acrophobia keeps her on deck.

I guess a trip to the yard to pull the mast will be next.

Thanks again,

Brian Lowman
S/V Gypsy Rose

 

[Geoff Johnson]

If you have enough dock space, you could tie the boat to a dock and then use a halyard to heel the boat over far enough so that you could get to the top of the mast with a tall step ladder.

 

[Loren Beach]

To heel... or not to heel...

One caution about heeling your boat at the dock. Use the swiveling spinnaker block halyard. Sideways pull on the in-line main or jib halyard block is not good, and if you still have the old wire halyard, you will kink the wire...
Other than that, you can heel 'er down until the masthead is at nose level, or until the dock you attached the halyard to tears out its cleat... "Quite Dramatic", as you can imagine.

Actually, I have seen an owner of a lightweight Martin 24 heel it down this way to work on the masthead, with success.
As to the idea of going up the spar, you can do it IF you keep the boat *vertical*. A friend once did this to clear a jammed halyard on our old Ranger 20, between races! That was 23 years ago, and we were all a bit younger and stronger...
(Damned wire jumped out of the sheave -- "wire is evil"!!)


Not to take all the drama out of the problem, but why don't you lower the mast -- don't these do that by using either the boom or pole as a gin pole, depending on whether it lowers aft or forward? I used to do that, every other year or so, for maint., on our former Niagara 26. It lowered aft, with the spinn pole for a gin pole, and took two of us to manage the guys ... spar was 34 feet long... What with set-up time, it took about 2 hours to do it. Not fun, but not dramatic either.


Best,
Loren

 

[Brian Lowman]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I tried manually stepping the mast using the boom, mainsheet and halyard when we launched her. Even at a boat yard with 3 helpers, this proved to be difficult (she was in a cradle and we ended up using a crane). I would have to extend the mast across the dock and over facing boats, plus I do not want to stress the deck or mast fitting on a 30 year old boat.

As far as heeling the boat over, again space is a problem.

I think I shall look for an experienced sailor under 180 lbs. who might be willing to give me a hand. I would rather inspect it first hand as I have everything else on her, but short of pulling the mast or running a camera up a halyard, this seems the best solution.

Thanks again,

Brian Lowman
S/V Gypsy Rose