Tip for raising the mast

[R.B.]

Well WOLFHELM is back in the water as of last weekend and this past weekend we raised the mast again. For those of you that raise your own mast, I learned a new trick this year. Our mast crane has a height adjustable boom. We put the sling around the upper spreaders and raised the mast . I raised the mast high enough that the wind instruments were just a little higher than the mast crane's boom. We then positioned the mast over the boat and lowered it using the boom rather than the wire. This ensured that the wind instruments were always safe from being damaged by the boom.

Another trick I tried this year was; I always have trouble aligning the pins used to attach the spreaders. This year I temporarily compressed the mast using a wood clamp, which allowed me to tap the pins into the holes.