Rick,

When you rig your mast for lifting, put a strap or stout line in the loop
that you normally allow to slide up to the spreaders. Attached that line to
a winch drum and adjust so it will still be below the spreaders a couple
inches even after stretching. Then cleat it at the base of the mast and it
will keep your spreader from being stressed and also when you are stepping
the mast in spring, it allows you to retrieve the lifting the strap down at
the deck when you are done. Works great and much easier on wiring and the
spreader and it's attachments.

I still like our spruce stick but I am a wood guy.

Ken
Moonshadow II
Whitefish, MT

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sonadora" <sonadora@sail2live.com>
To: <baba-l@ballreich.net>
Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2007 7:39 AM
Subject: RE: [Baba-L] Mast Replacement

>5 years ago we had our mast refurb'd (it's aluminum). They ran all new
> wiring and added a tricolor/anchor masthead light along with spreader
> lights
> on the spreaders. The spreader lights are terrific and I would highly
> recommend them if you haven't had them in the past. One thing I'll mention
> about that, however, is to be sure you have all the wiring for the
> spreader
> lights run internal to the spreader. The yard that did our mast, though a
> fabulous yard (Schooner Creek Boatworks, Portland) did a shoddy job of
> wiring these lights. They simply ran the wire out of the mast just below
> the
> spreader then back into the spreader on the bottom side. Not really a
> problem if you don't unstep/step your mast every season like we do. When
> we
> use the jib crane to lift the mast, the strap holds the mast just below
> the
> spreaders and captures the wiring. This has pulled the grommet out of the
> mast and may be the reason we have no spreader light on the starboard
> side.
>
> I would rather they had run the wire through the spreader mounting boss.
>
> Speaking of spreaders, make sure the material is as substantial as you can
> tolerate weight wise. Again due to all the stepping/unstepping we do, the
> spreaders have flexed and there's a small crack in the base where it
> slides
> over the mounting boss.
>
> Man...the list just gets longer and longer.
>
> Rick Beddoe
> s/v Soņadora, 1978 Baba 30
> Minneapolis, MN
> http://sail2live.com
>
>
>
>
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Received on Tue Feb 20 07:30:50 2007