[Rhodes22-list] Mast raising land or water

Mon May 3 12:46:33 EDT 2010

Ken,

My congrats also.  Good advise from Mike.  The tides from Savannah can vary by 10+ feet, on the Gulf, much more manageable.  Happy sailing!

Art

-----Original Message-----
>From: "Michael D. Weisner" <mweisner at ebsmed.com>
>Sent: May 3, 2010 9:27 AM
>To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Mast raising land or water
>
>Ken,
>
>Congratulations!
>
>When reading accounts of problems launching or recovering, several questions 
>always come to mind:
>    1.    Is the ramp steep enough?
>                At some very steep ramps, Rhodes owners generally do not use 
>the extension.
>                On LI, I have never been able to find a ramp that I could 
>launch without the extension.
>    2.    Are tides the problem?
>                Depending on where you launch, the tidal changes can be 
>quite large.  Here on LI,
>                the tide change in 7-8 FEET!  Even with the extension, I can 
>LAUNCH two hours
>                before or after high tide.  Recovery can only be 
>accomplished at high +/- 1 hour.
>                Between ramp traffic and tide change timing, I have learned 
>how to raise the mast
>                on the water (good practice for getting under bridges) and 
>TIE everything to my
>                wrists.  I also use "fast pins" when the wind is up, 
>replacing them later with clevis
>                pins when I am becalmed.  Fast pins have nice rings that I 
>tie small lines with large
>                bowline loops on so that I can slip the loop end around my 
>wrist until the pin is
>                ready to be deployed.  I then use the loop to tie the pin to 
>the shroud (slip knot)
>                so that it will not be lost.  Once the rigging is tensioned, 
>the fast pins do not fall out.
>    3.    Is the trailer in deep enough to launch or recover?
>                To properly recover the Rhodes 22, the trailer must be in 
>the water as so that only
>                the very fronts (6 inches) of the bunks are ot of the water. 
>When launching, the boat
>                can be rocked until the bunks are wet enough to slide into 
>the water.  If you are not in
>                deep enough, the Rhodes will get stuck on the bunks and 
>cannot be pulled far enough
>                forward using the winch.  We have to be very mindful of 
>tidal changes here on LI
>                as the water level can drop several inches while getting the 
>trailer in position.
>    4.    How do you engage the tailer guides?
>                "Recovery is a matter of lowering the centerboard to engage 
>the submerged guides
>                and simply sailing onto the trailer."  This may be true, but 
>not here.  Since you have
>                high winds at your location, please be particularly aware of 
>the wind and water
>                current directions near the trailer.  I launch in a river 
>with very fast tidal currents.
>                If I am not careful, the current can force the boat into a 
>piling, pinning it.  During
>                recovery I may have to put the bow into the wind or the 
>current, causing me to
>                approach the trailer at a 45 degree angle at substantial 
>power settings.  Once in
>                "capture area" of the guides, the boat swings right on to 
>the trailer!  You must have
>                faith and a good approach.  In late October when I pull out 
>for the season, it is very
>                windy and cold so one must perfect these skills when it is 
>safe to make small mistakes.
>    5.    How close can I get to the overhead wires?
>                Scope out the launch area (all ramp approaches as you may be 
>redirected if a given
>                ramp location is tied up.)  Look for any overhead wire since 
>you have a 27' mast atop
>                a deck about 7' off the pavement.  Aluminum is a good 
>conductor of electricity and
>                many overhead wires are not well insulated.  Even brushing 
>up against one can leave
>                significant arc damage (been there.)  Be especially wary if 
>the parking lot has been
>                recently restriped or changed since the guy who tries to fit 
>as many cars in the space
>                provided rarely looks up.
>    6.    How much beer does it take to raise a mast?
>                Try to get the important issues settled before applying 
>large quantities of alcohol based
>                products to mast raisers.  It has been reported that those 
>who supply larger quantities
>                have less problems finding friends to perform these chores. 
>Please be careful if you
>                are raising the mast in a parking lot since it is about 7 
>feet to the ground from the deck.
>
>
>Mike
>s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
>Nissequogue River, NY
>
>From: "ken bates"  Monday, May 03, 2010 8:04 AM
>> Well we finally got a day with wind under 30 and got the mast up and
>> launched.I see the wisdom of taping things in place as it took me 1/2 hour
>> to slide the mast all the way back as the stays caught on everything! Not
>> sure where to tape them but will try something for sure. Only dropped one
>> pin (in parking lot) I got convinced to try launching without the tongue
>> extended (didn't work) another 15 min delay so the 2 1/2 hours lot to dock
>> was probably OK I could see it being a bit quicker next time
>> Ken
>> __________________________________________________
>> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to 
>> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>>
>> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and archives go 
>> to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>> __________________________________________________ 
>
>__________________________________________________
>To subscribe/unsubscribe go to http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
>For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and archives go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>__________________________________________________