Ready to Roll

 My mast has a new berth.  It no longer resides in the basement hung from the rafters, forcing you to duck every time you go downstairs.  I had some friends over and together we organized a mast extraction through the basement window.  I had earlier in the day hooked the boat up to the truck and pulled it completely out of the tarp cover.  I set up two sets of block and tackle along the main ridge pole of the tarp structure and set two saw horses on the ground under neath them.  I further reinforced the tarp pole structure by tying off the four corners and putting cross ties between the two center pairs of poles so the middle did not bow out from the load.  This type of structure is not meant to carry a load, just a plastic tarp.  A 300 lb. wooden mast may be asking a bit much.

 We pulled the mast out and laid it on the horses.  I attached the tackle to two straps that I rigged around the mast.  I stopped to inform everyone that the structure may not hold and everyone should have an exit strategy worked out should failure occur.  We began to raise the mast by pulling on the 3:1 purchase tackle I had set up.  The tip was going up fine but the butt was having difficulty and was bending the pole almost to the point of failure.  We stopped and decided that we should redistribute the load better.  I had set the straps at thirds but obviously the base of the mast weighed more than the top so we shifted everything 3-4 feet and tried again. 

 This worked better and we had one person on each end pushing up as we pulled on the lines.  We got it up as high as the block and tackle would allow.  I went up and attached three tied down straps around the mast and ridge pole.  From either end on ladders we lifted/shouldered the mast up inch by inch and took up the slack in the tie down.  This way were able to raise it up a foot higher up to the peak and tie it off. 

 I climbed up on the boat and had someone back up the truck as I guided the mast over the center line of the boat.  Once everything was in place and cushions/pad set we manually lowered it a few inches to rest on the bow rail, coach roof and stern rail.  It was a nerve racking hour but everything worked out OK with no damage to boat or friends. 

 All that remains is finding a home port over the next month and trucking her out there.  Before that I have to figure out an electrical issue with the wiring on the trailer.  When I plug in the trailer the bakes go on.  Somewhere the brakes are seeing 12v all the time and locking up.  Unplug the trailer and the brakes go off.  The good news is the brakes work.  Each truck may be different, Ford, GM, etc. so I have to dope out which wire in the harness is the brakes and set it straight.

During the week I installed some brackets on the cradle so I could transport the boom safely .