[Rhodes22-list] Robert Brower

[Bill Effros]

Hank,

I'm in Greenwich, Ct.

The "yard" is Town owned and well sheltered.  The only time they have 
ever experienced major problems with storms (and of course they 
sometimes hit here, too) was on land with boats that toppled onto other 
boats.  When I look at pictures of boatyards after storms, that seems to 
be the biggest problem if you know how to keep your boat where you put 
it, either on the water or on land.

On water we have way oversized mushroom anchors that must be inspected 
once every 3 years.  This is a pain, too, and there's a guy who makes a 
handsome living doing it, however, I must say, boats on water don't 
crash into each other, either--for the most  part.

There is some sense to lowering the mast, it does protect neighboring 
boats, and if you have to do it all the time you install quick couples, 
everything stays lubed, the second time is much easier than the first, 
you can do all your mast maintenance at one time and avoid ever climbing 
the mast.

Some people like to climb the mast.  I'm not one of them.

Bill Effros



Hank wrote:

> Bill,
>  
> Where are you located?  Here in the Chesapeake, many pull the boats 
> for the winter, but nobody pulls the mast.  I've pulled the mast on my 
> boat once for shipping and it was not an easy procedure.  Had to 
> disconnect all of the electronics, disconnect hardware below and 
> remove fittings from the mast below the deck as I am keel-stepped.  On 
> putting it back in, the collar was the most difficult part, although 
> we eventually figured out the KY jelly worked best for getting it back 
> into place.  Lubed well without breaking down the rubber.  The whole 
> process was not a lot of fun, and I certainly wouldn't want to repeat 
> it any time soon.
>  
> Hank
>
>  
> On 9/23/05, *Bill Effros* <bill at effros.com <mailto:bill at effros.com>> 
> wrote:
>
>     Hank,
>
>     It's for everybody, but it's not applied.  They get a guy to come
>     in with a huge cherry picker on a single day after all boats are
>     on land.  They take down all the masts for a few bucks each.  I
>     forget the amount, but it's pretty trivial because they do 20-30
>     boats a day.  They know how to do it, they have a crew on the boat
>     and a guy in the cherry picker.  They have all the equipment they
>     need.  I've watched them for several hours and not seen a single
>     mast even come close to being hurt.
>
>     I left mine up last year and the IMF clew came loose and flailed
>     until the sail was torn to shreds.  I had to replace several
>     panels, wound up with a sail that isn't quite the right shape, and
>     will never do that again.
>
>     Bill Effros
>
>     Hank wrote:
>
>>Bill,
>> Is the mast down requirement just for small boats? What about larger boats
>>where taking the mast down is a complicated affair? I know if my yard
>>required me to take down the mast of my Islander 36, I'd be looking for a
>>new yard.
>> Just curious,
>> Hank
>> 
>>
>