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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Mon Oct 27, 2014 1:39 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
I did try my system today...worked OK, but there was a lot of tension and I never could horse the mast up the rest of the way without mainsheet tension to help. Mainsheet tension pulled the boat forward until the front crossbeam hit the front mast rest (hadn't thought of that). On the way down it didn't work well at all as the mainsheet kept cleating and I was in the wrong position to uncleat it. Also, the mast did not rotate itself to the correct orientation on the way down and bent the pin. Oh well, I guess I'll have to break down and get the Mast Stepper III system from Hobie. $250 now to prevent having to go to hospital for bad back or buy new mast because I dropped it. Cheap insurance.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 11:44 am 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
Dorenc, OK, I got my stepper III. Gotta say the system for stabilizing side to side is cool. BUT, I have a few questions. 1) Do you attach the forestay to the furler before you raise the mast (seems like you could do so but the instructions aren't clear). 2) Since the mast is held pinned sideways, do you have to retension the shrouds each time after you've raised? 3) Does the system really just "pry" the mast up from the bottom? Seems to me to be hard on the mast and scary since it seems to rely on bungies to keep it attached. 4) Letting the mast go back down seems fraught with stuff you might have forgotten to do; turn it in the same direction you had it before, loosening shrouds...

Hopefully, I'm missing something since this boat should take 20 minutes or less to go from trailer to water but dealing with all these clevis pins and their wire retainers might take an hour or more. Seems stupid, so I hope I'm missing something.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:59 pm 
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Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 3:23 pm
Posts: 120
My Wife and stepped the mast on our getaway while the boat was in the water today. Easy peasy ... I just used the spinnaker halyard from my Catalina 30 to pull the mast up and forward. Pinned the forestay and we are good to go for the race tomorrow ...

:-)

R

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-2013 H16 #1`13780
-2014 Getaway w/wings,spinnaker,& trapeze


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 6:15 pm 
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Joined: Mon Dec 22, 2008 7:02 pm
Posts: 736
Location: Rockford, IL
tpdavis473 wrote:
Dorenc, OK, I got my stepper III. Gotta say the system for stabilizing side to side is cool. BUT, I have a few questions. 1) Do you attach the forestay to the furler before you raise the mast (seems like you could do so but the instructions aren't clear). 2) Since the mast is held pinned sideways, do you have to retension the shrouds each time after you've raised? 3) Does the system really just "pry" the mast up from the bottom? Seems to me to be hard on the mast and scary since it seems to rely on bungies to keep it attached. 4) Letting the mast go back down seems fraught with stuff you might have forgotten to do; turn it in the same direction you had it before, loosening shrouds...

Hopefully, I'm missing something since this boat should take 20 minutes or less to go from trailer to water but dealing with all these clevis pins and their wire retainers might take an hour or more. Seems stupid, so I hope I'm missing something.


Sorry for the late answer, I just saw this post!
1) Yes, and I shackle the bottom of the furler to the eye on the pole. I leave the furler attached at all times to the forestay. I disconnect it from the 2 short bridles. I did replace the shackle pin with a 2" long bolt so I don't have to try to fiddle my fat fingers in that tiny little space under the furler.
2) No, I bring up the mast, hook up one of the bridles to the top of the furler, take off the pole (which then allows the mast to rotate straight), and pull down hard to hook up the other bridle. I actually use the winch to pull it down enough to hook up the bridle.
3) It seems like it's prying the mast up, but it really isn't. The force is on the forestay. With everything hooked up correctly, all the force on the pole is downward into the mast.
4) Yep. Scares the hell out of me each time I lower the mast. I triple check everything before I unhook the 2nd bridle wire, and think through the lowering process. I have my wife stand off to the side, check no car or people are in the fall zone in case I effed up, take a deep breath and lower the mast.

Note that I don't loosen the side shrouds. I replaced the shackles for the guide ropes on the stepper with stainless carabiner type links which saves a couple of minutes. And yeah, if I have a second strong person with me, I don't use the mast stepper and I save 20 minutes on setup. The most problem I have is with the stupid tiny ring dings on the clevis pins for the bridles. Matt Miller must have tiny nimble fingers. I have thought about using quick release pins, but as Matt says, think about it: quick release pins on the stay that keeps the mast from falling on your head?

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Fri Jan 16, 2015 9:55 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
dorienc wrote:
tpdavis473 wrote:
Dorenc, OK, I got my stepper III. Gotta say the system for stabilizing side to side is cool.
Sorry for the late answer, I just saw this post!

No worries. I figured it out with some help and in the process bullied Matt into improving the documentation (it wasn't clear in the docs that you had to attach the forestay). I did a couple of the same improvements as you did. I added snap shackles at the side brackets permanently mounted to the boat. I added a snap shackle under the furler to make that connection to the pole easier. I went ahead and replaced the circlips on the two tiny clevis' that hold the furler bridle to the furler with hitch pins. I'm still getting the lines the correct length, but eventually it will be a no brainer to raise/lower single handed. Lowering is still the most worriesome operation single handed since my trailer winch needs to be held or it will allow the mast to fall; so it may not lower to the exact spot I want it to land when I'm alone. I can easily put it back onto the mast rest, though, if I miss it on the way down.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Sat Jan 17, 2015 4:23 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:28 am
Posts: 181
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Any chance you could provide a picture of the "snap shackle" and "hitch pin"?

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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 10:03 am 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
wxup wrote:
Any chance you could provide a picture of the "snap shackle" and "hitch pin"?


Hey Dave, I haven't figured out yet how to post photos. But if you go to eBay and search "Fixed Bail Snap Shackle" you will see the shackles I put on the sides of the boat and one will also work at the bottom of the furler. You probably know what a hitch pin clip looks like (sorta like an old fashioned hair pin). You probably use a large one on your trailer hitch pin. You can get small ones at your local hardware store. The hitch pin clip won't be as foolproof while sailing as the circlips so don't replace the circlips if you are a worrier...but I hate fiddling with circlips and am willing to take a small risk.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:36 am 
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Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:28 pm
Posts: 265
Location: BC, Canada
Image
at
http://www.murrays.com/21-6002.html

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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:21 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2005 6:28 am
Posts: 181
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Thanks!

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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 5:44 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
wxup wrote:
Any chance you could provide a picture of the "snap shackle" and "hitch pin"?


I think I figured it out
Image
Image

Also, easy way to make 4 line cleats using the getaway seat supports
Image

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:37 pm 
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Joined: Sat Oct 04, 2014 1:30 pm
Posts: 984
Location: Benicia, CA
I haven't stepped my mast solo yet, and I'm sorta afraid to try. When I tried today to step the mast in the backyard I had my neighbor "standing bye" just in case. Good thing I did. I had taken the time today to shorten the line going to one side (the side the mast track faces). When I tensioned the side stays with the main halyard, I felt both of the lines were 'pretty tight' before I started raising. Yet when I began raising, the mast fell off to the side the mast track faces. It looked like the BOB was going to go about 10 feet off center except that my neighbor hauled it back to center (there was about 18" of slack at that point). The lines are new and stretchy, but that's a lot of sway. It probably would have raised OK even with that much movement...but I'm not used to a mast acting like a drunken sailor on the way up. Would it be worthwhile, do you think, to prestretch the lines to get some of the slack out? I could also rig some tensioner lines back to the trailer winch when doing this alone, but I thought I'd ask the community if there is something I'm missing.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Mon Apr 06, 2015 9:38 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2014 11:34 am
Posts: 11
What a nice simple method in the original post/video. Sweet.
Now how to do the sidestay tightening by ourselves?
jp


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:02 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:36 pm
Posts: 38
I haven't tried it myself, but I saw a method for single-handed shroud adjustment somewhere. (Probably on this forum.) You move and lash the traveler all the way out, then attach the mainsheet to the halyard and sheet in. That holds the mast while you tension the shroud. To save a little time you can leave one side adjusted and one side loose when you raise the mast. Then you only have to tension one side.

-Rowdy


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Wed Jul 27, 2016 1:06 pm 
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Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 12:48 pm
Posts: 14
Location: Ocean City Maryland 21842
Yes, the mast can be raised single-handed. Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXg-3JuyOK8

Next video is lowing the mast alone.

Neilo


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 Post subject: Re: Stepping mast video
PostPosted: Mon Aug 01, 2016 1:53 pm 
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Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 7:07 pm
Posts: 67
The Mast Stepper III, I believe, is the kit that works on the Getaway. It's the best money I've spent on upgrades so far and has the added benefit of keeping my wife and I from killing each other...


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