I have been preparing to raise my mast in the driveway, for training, and came upon a conundrum. Reading the manual, in particular the part about using the boom as a gin pole, it mentioned a 5/8 x 3 'mast erection pin' that gets inserted into the cylindrical hole at the foot of the mast. Fine, I can go get one of those. However, I am at a loss to figure out what you do with the other end, the side that somehow attaches to the boom. As you can see on the photo, my boom end already has a fixed cylindrical fitting, that attaches to the mast with a clevis pin. This fitting is larger that the hole on the mast.
Is this the way the end of the boom is supposed to look? Or am I looking at this wrong?
You want to use the opposite end of your boom. The end away from the mast should have a hole for the pin. Scott has a great description with pictures and shows step by step how to raise the mast alone. I'm sure he will reply but it is still early on the west coast.
Hmm, My 75 has a ractangular boom however my 76 has an oval boom like yours. I just assumed it was a replacement. I'll go check my 76 today and see what the ends look like.
The 75 has a hole in the outboard or aft end of the boom opposite the goose nech and toggle. IE if the boom is up and installed on the boat the hole is towards the back of the boat.
For my 22 with the odd boom, I'm going to hunt down an aluminum pole for stepping the mast. I'llmake the necessary mods to that pole including eyebolts specifically spaced for stepping the mast. May even add lines specifically for that too.
I'd consider a 4x4 but I'm lazy and do not want to lift such a beast.
69Shark wrote:For my 22 with the odd boom, I'm going to hunt down an aluminum pole for stepping the mast.
Heh, yea that would be best, but a shaped piece of metal of which is thick enough to resist the sheer load, and long enough to make a good lever, and yet hollow enough not to weigh 500lbs is hard to find . If I had a lathe I'd make a pin to thread onto that spurious screw and fit in the mast base and use the boom.
69Shark wrote:For my 22 with the odd boom, I'm going to hunt down an aluminum pole for stepping the mast.
Heh, yea that would be best, but a shaped piece of metal of which is thick enough to resist the sheer load, and long enough to make a good lever, and yet hollow enough not to weigh 500lbs is hard to find . If I had a lathe I'd make a pin to thread onto that spurious screw and fit in the mast base and use the boom.
If that is the case, just go to the hardware store and buy a large partially threaded bolt with a section that is 3 inches of no threads. I used a dremel and a cutting wheel to cut of the threads and the head off the bolt. I used a stainless bolt. I then took a sanding wheel on the dremmel and rounded the edges of my now 3 inch long pin. I actually made two pins this way for lady Jo! Figured I'd loose one one day! I did! LOL! They work perfectly. I forget the diameter but you can measure that. For some reason 5/8ths diameter pops in my head but don't quote me!
Since a precious owner had modified my boom and there was no longer a hole for the 5/8 pin, I used a piece of 2x4 the same length. I drilled a 5/8 hole in one end and made a 3 inch pin from a bolt, like Scott did. The other end of the 2x4 has two eyebolts facing opposite sides. You might think that a wooden 2x4 would not be strong enough, but is is. The pulling force that raises the mast is transferred at the top of the board. Mostly the board is just in some compression downward. It is a bit inelegant, but it works.
I got tired of using the boom and also made my own from a 2x4. I did beef up both ends with roughly a foot of 2x4, but I don't know that it was necessary.
When using the boom, I lost one pin inside the boom. The pin was always falling out of the boom hole. It was a pain!
On my C-26 I did not trust the boom as the rivets on the aft end were loose so I got a 10' piece of 1" black pipe and a cap. Drilled a hole for the pin and cut pipe 3" shorter than the distance from the mast finger to forstay chainplate and 2 eyebolts (jib halyard top and tackle of 2 double blocks to bottom and ratchet straps for bridles)
. If I had a lathe I'd make a pin to thread onto that spurious screw and fit in the mast base and use the boom.
