2 Simple Mast Raising and Lowering Systems - Ep 57 Sailing Luckyfish

This is Episode #4 in the 10 Ways Wharrams Are Wonderful Series. We show how we lowered our masts by hand using the simple Wharram method. We used pretty much the same mast raising system as James and Hanneke on "Spirit of Gaia" - the 63' flagship of the Wharram designs.
To find out more about these great cats, here's a Link to the 10 Ways Playlist: bit.ly/2OPJEYn
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Special thanks to :
Max Noremo (Opening tune)
Tatono (Closing tune)

[@SailingLuckyfish]

We dropped the masts primarily to fit the wind generator to the main mast. That meant shuffling the instruments to the foremast, so both had to come down. If you enjoyed this video please do give it a LIKE and smash that SUB button, ring the bell so you dont miss the rest of the hardstand work in Florida. As always, questions and comments are welcome!

[@jimnickles2347]

Having the Tabernacles makes a BIG difference...

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Absolutely. You don't tend to see them on many boats, particularly the tongue and groove catch on the foot. Pins and hinges yes, but they are uncommon too.

[@petermcnaughton9031]

Good to see lucky fish safe and you two again

[@blackhat4968]

Glad to see that other than a little dirty on the outside, the Lucky Fish came through on the hard stand in great shape with no ill effects from the hurricane season. Looks like you fond a great spot.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Thank you. Yes, that storm brought so much misery to people. We count ourselves really lucky. We spent a week thinking that was it.

[@TonyAnschutz]

that is good stuff Stew. Really like the mast techniques. I am hoping to be using the reverse next week to commission Kinship. Cool to see Scrimshaw there. Legendary boat build by designer Jim Brown. It was his boat for over 30 years. He lived on it and sailed it all around the USA and Caribbean. He was one of the pioneers of plywood boats back in the 60s and early 70s. JW was doing it in Europe and JB was doing in on the West coast of USA.

[@buildingsailboats4549]

Stewart and Zaya this was very interesting to watch. I did not know it was possible like this. Thank you for making and sharing this video. Very well done.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

+Building Wharrams Really happy to hear it is of use. Thank you for supporting! Stew and Zaya

[@scottgenius9189]

Nice Demo on mast lowering and previous prep for the hardstand thank you !

[@SailingYachtDreamcatcher]

Great information about lowering the two different masts! keep up the good work!

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Thanks mate, hope its useful someday :-)

[@hinahanta]

I am happy to see everything was ok, was a little worried!

[@waughthogwaugh3078]

Been looking forward to this video. As always, thanks for sharing. Cant wait to see the next steps as it all goes together again with the wind gen. Definitely banked a few of your ideas here!

[@alapikomamalolonui6424]

Yay! T'was wet and a bit green, but in good order! So good. ..was that "Scrimshaw", of Jim Brown fame, in the yard!? Dang...!! Best to you guys. :) Aloha nui a nā mahalo! 🤙

[@EmilyAndClark]

Must have felt good to see Lucky Fish in good condition upon returning to her.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Yes. You know the feeling!

[@yepme6484]

Don't get me wrong I enjoy your videos

[@UweBehrendt]

thanks

[@sicchuckie]

Glad lucky made it thru a #HAARP made disaster, now we get to watch another exciting season to come. Thanks.

[@helmshardover]

Since this was posted I've been trying to find a photo of Steve Turner R.I.P. raising his mast on "Imagine". Steve, Wharram builder (30+ of various models) and Qualified Surveyor and Charter Skipper used to raise and lower the 48 foot mast on Imagine (46' Wharram Oro) single handed. I asked if I could help the first time I saw him in action, and he said "no, thanks but there's nothing else to be done other than operate the winch..." Setting the temporary shrouds/guys from the masthead and the "gin" pole correctly is critical to success, single handed or not.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Agree. At 48' that is quite an accomplishment. Ours is about 35'. Each. Another reason I like two masts.

[@robertsamsung1551]

Wow. Glad no serious damage from the hurricane. So the trimarans got knocked off?. Because of size? or something else?. Your boat is quite interesting. It seems ultra stable in adverse conditions. How did the bindings fare?. Thanks for the adventures.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Two reasons - wing decks - that beautiful Marples 36' tri there is like an aeroplane. Also having 3 hulls to tie down is more difficult than two - it can end up resting on one point , or two, and so on - things work loose. Great question

[@BrunoWiebelt]

was inspiring , will make a wood "clamp" to lower the mast wit the boom , how importain where the side guid lines on the boom?

[@SailingLuckyfish]

We put those on when we realised that the gin pole might try to fall over to one side or the other when it got near vertical i.e. when the mast was almost down. Happy to hear it is of use to you! Cheers and good luck

[@RB9522]

Interesting title. The video title says "10 Ways" and the text says "2". No problem, 10 can be read as two in binary (base 2) or ten in decimal (base 10). Apparently, no matter what mast raising/lowering method you use it still takes a lot of manpower to discuss it. Very interesting. Thanks!

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Ha - yes I can see the confusion - 10 Ways refers to the series - perhaps I will have to change it so folks don't get confused.

[@sofiazucca]

Was this Glades Boat Storage or a different yard in Labelle?

[@56Spookdog]

👍

[@yepme6484]

I remember the episode where you're having all the bindings done my mistake if it's a new one

[@SailingLuckyfish]

+yep me - no worries mate, that was the lashings episode, cheers

[@barrystone2122]

I'm glad all went well we still have not found a dinghy that we can afford lots and lots of them too big to small very pricey down here anyway we'll be out for a while headed toward Indonesia big move for us hope it goes well Reef Runner out best wishes to you and the misses

[@barrystone2122]

Just goes to show you had to say just how sturdy these warms are well I know the tikis are LOL awesome crafts the guy's a genius

[@barrystone2122]

But then again the craft is only as good as the Builder are the sailor who keeps it up LOL

[@barrystone2122]

Some people just don't know these are sold as kits LOL some assembly required h a aha

[@RodMcLaren]

Very useful video for anyone raising or lowering their own masts. I find the process to be stressful and am always relieved when the mast is where I want it to be. The main Mana mast is only 24 feet but is still not easy to handle. Keeping the gin pole in line can be a real challenge and it is nice to have extra hands around to keep tension on temporary stays. Btw, does anyone know the optimum ratio for length of gin pole to length of mast? I am currently using a 7 foot pole - the cut-off from the 20 foot 3 inch pole used for the 13 foot mizzen mast - and it seems to work fine. I used the mizzen as the gin pole once but it seemed excessive and since I had the cut-off it was used instead. Thanks again, Stew & Zaya for sharing.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

I'm not sure about the ratio - we scrounged around the yard for a pole that was the right length.. it needed to sit over the sheeting point at the rear. I guess the gin pole can never be too long, but could be too short. Not much of an answer sorry! Cheers

[@helmshardover]

If you consider the angle at the masthead of a monohull may be as little as 7.5 degrees (aided by a spreader) and the shrouds prevent the mast falling, this is the minimum angle you need to maintain for the mast lowering. Using basic trig therefore a 38 foot mast with a 6 foot gin pole would give an angle just greater than this and should be considered the shortest for the job.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

+Scott Brown - great to know this. Like many of us, I guess we just accept where our chainplates are located and what our spreader angles are - and don't give a second thought to why! I think this is your answer Rod.

[@RodMcLaren]

Yes, that does answer the question, and coming from Scott Brown, it carries serious authority. Thank you, Scott.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

+Rod McLaren the mast rakes for the Tiki 38 happen to be 7.5 deg on the mainmast (there's that number again) and 9 deg on the foremast. As you know, we are "spreaderless".

[@Eddybarrett84]

Hello, thanks for sharing your video’s. I am starting to really like your boat and the James wharraw tiki 38’s. I was wondering your purchase history did you build buy new, used? How much was the base price and how much did you invest in upgrade (water maker, chartpotters, auto pilot etc.) sorry if I am being a little nosy, but you seem to have the setup I like(having what you need and not going overboard on the price unlike others trying to make a statement such as “Look I’m rich, my sale boats cost more” bad mentality with a bad ego that comes its people like that... if you don’t want to state the price of your personal boat could you post the price of one similar. Thanks for your time.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Quite a bit of background in the "About" tab here www.svluckyfish.com. All up about US$110K purchase and another 40-50K in equipment and safety gear since. coming to the end of the spending now, ish :-)

[@ricgaston6503]

WOW! Didn't that Australian guy start with about the same money, buy a boat in Turkey, or somewhere, meet up with a lounge singer in Greece, or somewhere, and move on to another boat; Oh, and that Michigan couple started with the same $, and are now off somewhere in a new boat. Am I seeing a constant here? No offense, but it looks like anyone who wants to live life like "you people" do, need to have US$100,000, CASH, just to start out. I'm not liking what I see here. Sailing off to adventure a life on the horizon shouldn't have a prerequisite of 100 thousand dollars - up front.

[@SeaJapan]

Ric Gaston. Money required is dependent on, how much you have, how soon you want to cast off, your level of risk (adventure). Met a few cruisers who started with a very cheap boat and went from there. None have KZbin channels. Camera, computer and internet cost money and time.

[@zerofox7347]

Glad lucky fish got lucky 😁 which channel did John get banned from can you at least give us a clue? Please 🙏

[@SailingLuckyfish]

hehe, would be most unprofessional to say. besides, its more fun guessing :-) cheers

[@ricgaston6503]

It's Ric, dammit! Who the Hell is John? And it's just about every channel you can imagine. You got a channel? I'll come see you. hahaha. "Shall we play a game"?

[@melee401]

Many people view Okeechobee as a hurricane hole. One of the 3 or 4 worst hurricanes in U.S. history (Okeechobee hurricane of 1928) smashed the living hell out of that place. So if your definition of a hurricane hole is a hole in which one can be trapped and mangled by a hurricane then I guess it is a suitable definition. Glad to see Luckyfish came through in tact and that there was as little damage as there appeared to the other boats.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

+spencer marshall we became un-willing experts on the 1928 hurricane you speak of... in the week prior to Irmas arrival! Thank goodness the bund walls held! Cheers mate

[@melee401]

@@SailingLuckyfish People are regularly sucked into that area for hurricane season. The Sante Cooper reservoir region of Southern SC is a far better option. Accessible via the Pinopolis lift lock on the Cooper River in Monks Corner. That would be my preference. No algae issues there either. Air draft clearance in is 50' and keel draft is now 12 feet through the passages from the lift and in the canal between the two large lakes due to dredging operations started in 2014. You can ride the Gulf Stream up the 700 miles to Charleston easily as well. The GS curves inward along the coast where you exit into the Cooper River. Easy peasie. Lots of places to anchor on the lakes but sailboat draft at some of the marinas can be a challenge as these cater primarily to small fresh water fishermen. The lakes and adjoining canal stretch for over 50 miles so once you are in there room to get clear of the worst is somewhat available. If one hits you are 75 feet above the lower lying areas near the coast as well. No worries of debris running down to wreck your day.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Thank you. Great tip - duly noted. Heading up to the Carolina's or even as far as NY was our original 2017 plan. It's still a really tempting adventure.

[@ricgaston6503]

Everyone makes a big deal out of the 1928 Okeechobee storm. Did you know? There wasn't a single cell tower knocked out in that storm? Electricity for the entire state of Florida was not effected, in the least? People who lived in the swamp lands didn't suffer a single day of lost air conditioning? Oh, by the way, prior to 1928, there was not a "real" containment dam to restrict Lake Okeechobee within it's current surface area. President Hoover ordered the containment of Lake Okeechobee, it is called the Herbert Hoover Dike. Waterways, canals, locks, and an additional 25+ feet of lake level were added to the ancient "natural" lake level for flood control.

[@melee401]

@@ricgaston6503 LoL! Didn't know they had cell towers in 1928.

[@russellesimonetta3835]

Steward,, dumb qeustion but are your masts aluminum ir wood. I watched catamaran amelia,s vid where capitao was makjng two wooden masts for his ,what looks like, a very modified top deck tiki 38. His boat is as nice as lucky fish!

[@SailingLuckyfish]

yes, Amelia is beautiful and he wants Tiki 38 to be loved by the world like us :-) Great guy and beautiful boat! Our masts are 140mm OD diam alu, 3mm wall thickness. Cheers

[@russellesimonetta3835]

@@SailingLuckyfish yeah , his love of sailing and Wharrams is clear. He has passion and drive to finish!

[@MrRourk]

Hannah Taylor put up a new Catamaran Tangaroa vid showing their new cockpit pod. Looks pretty good.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

Good to know, I'll check it out. Should be useful for other Tanga owners, cheers

[@yepme6484]

Is this not an old video

[@SailingLuckyfish]

What do you mean "old"? it was recorded in Nov 2017, edited last week and published 2 days ago. Hope you are enjoying, Cheers

[@yepme6484]

@@SailingLuckyfish I watched it a second time,

[@ricgaston6503]

I've been banned from so many channels. But as the saying goes; I've been banned from better places than this one. I am honored that you appreciated your first visit so well. (I didn't put enough sugar in those cukes and onions - but the ice cream was perfect) I will always treasure my contact with the two of you, and this one was just the first, here is my impression from that overnight. sailing-writer.blogspot.com/2017/11/for-stewart-and-zaya-on-luckyfish-gets.html I haven't written about our subsequent meeting, as it is still in the works. I've found many things in life, and lost many, but I suspect there is a place where the things I don't know yet, I will find some day, and I expect there will be a place where these people are fingering my face saying "I told you so". Just so you know, I was "THIS" far from running up to Lucky Fish, with a Honeybake Ham for Thanksgiving last year. PS, "Fossil fuels" are boiling OUT from inside the Earth, they have not been "PRESSED" into it from the outside.

[@ricgaston6503]

My God, am I really such an old man as I look like? I need to be heard and not see, or better yet, read and mysterious. Haha

[@ImMora1]

$1000 for felling two small masts? Now that is ripoff if something.

[@SailingLuckyfish]

well, crane hire is not cheap no matter where you are and for us it was minimum 1 hours mobilisation and 1 hours demob plus work time. Likely over $1,000 when done twice (once to drop them, once to raise them again). cheaper in a yard with a crane or travel lift ofcourse, but we did not have that option, cheers, Stew

[@ImMora1]

@@SailingLuckyfish I suppose you are right. I'm just used to have a local crane truck operator help felling masts for 60-200 euros depending if he is doing multiple things at once or driving over just for the one mast.