[Jeff_H]

The Hunter 27's had a very heavy mast and rigging for a 27 footer. I would not think that you could lower the mast without a crane, or shore mounted sheer legs. At least around here, pulling a deck stepped mast isn't all that expensive.

Jeff

 

[Jeff_H]

This is really helpful. The closest mast crane to the marina is a 5/6 hour sail away. My husband has decided to make an A frame with 20' 2x4's and your picture looks similar to what he is proposing. Perhaps the ladders will be even easier and also more stable.

Also, we are planning on sailing the San Juan's next summer for a couple of weeks and your blog looks to be a valuable resource.

Thank you for you reply and your detailed description!

Unfortunately, 2x4's aren't even close to strong enough. I helped a fellow find a replacement mast after he had tried and failed using 2x4 sheerlegs on a much lighter mast than you are dealing with. (C&C24). His insurance did not want to cover his lost mast since the insurance company saw this as purposeful negligence on the part of the owner.

After some pretty big legal fees the insurance agreed to pay for the mast, which led to them totaling the boat, because a new mast extrusion cost more than the boat was worth. The owner bought the boat back from the insurance company as salvage and eventually found a new used mast. When it was time to step his new to him mast, he used 2x8's with a 2x6 fastened to make a Tee. section for the sheerlegs. But that was a much lighter mast.

In your case, motoring 5-6 hours each way is way cheaper than buying the wood to build a structurally sound set of sheer legs, or buy the ladders, and is a whole lot less risky.

Jeff

 

[Jeff_H]

My first try at a gin pole for my 40lb, 25ft mast for my Mariner 19 was a failure. I used a 2x4, and it broke at the "jaws" that wrapped around the mast, dropping the mast diagonally across the stern.

For my next attempt, I used a 2x6 and reinforced the jaws on the outside with metal angles. This has been successful, but I also added baby stays to reduce any strain on the jaws caused by mast athwartships sway. Wood is a pretty good material for pure compression, but not so good at tension, and tends to suck in shear. Considerably beefier wood is required for shear forces than for the same forces in compression.

Fred W

Fred @PGandW

All very good points. In this case the real issue would be 'buckling' since each leg of the sheerleg would be roughly 20 feet long with only a 1 1/2" dimension to the column. That was why the successful set of sheerlegs for the C&C 24 mast was a tee section.

Jeff