MacGregorSailors.com

OR OR OR you could just take a line from the mid mast to the engine with a tie-down strap with a tensioner on one end, pull the mast back with the tensioner and manually tighten the shrouds. thats what I did and it worked perfectly. front furler spins in and out like a top folks. my work is done here.

PS: it was such a freegin pain to register for this site just to share that gem with you all!

Thanks Michael, an informative and Fun post

Bob

Definitely on the list to do this month.


It also reminded me to reapply silicone caulking at the chainplates.
(Who hasn't enjoyed the bliss that one can only get from sponging out the bilge after a good thunderstorm?)

Would you caulk prior to retensioning, or after the rig is tuned?

Hakuna Matata '97X

iamspartacus1,
There is nothing like simple. Your idea is perfect. Many of us M owners have a backstay that would do the trick.

When I bought my boat at BWY, they showed me this tool.

Ray joked how easy it was to make one, but for those too lazy to do so, they also sell them. He showed me how you simply put the "screws" in the holes of the adjacent stays and apply pressure to allow the pins to be removed and moved to the next hole.




--Russ

What is the dimension between the bolts ? on the oak wood tool.

bubba wrote:What is the dimension between the bolts ? on the oak wood tool.

I don't have one, but the distance would be approx the distance between shroud turnbuckles.

I'm a terrible artists, but you insert the bolts in the two shroud turnbuckles and use the leverage from the off of one to tighten the other.

..so slightly LARGER than the shroud hole spacing between the plates, of course....

RussMT wrote:.




--Russ

Looks like something to repel pirates.

Glenn

The Mutt wrote:

RussMT wrote:.




--Russ

Looks like something to repel pirates.

Glenn

It's a multipurpose tool.


--Russ

I used the one from BWY (just like the picture) and it was extremely easy to use. No LOOS gauge but I tuned to the low note and the stays had some slack in them from the factory. The boat sailed much better and quit rounding up and also sailed flatter. It really had an impact on the heeling where the boat would roll over on gusts to where I could actually feel it surge forward and power up - very fun.

Winds were around 12 knots and I was cruising at 6-6.5 knots up wind. Very nice sailing.


Jim

And that web site is...?

AWKIII wrote:Or you can save the time and trouble and order one from our website for $25.00.

We have been making them for years.

Art

dlandersson wrote:And that web site is...?

AWKIII wrote:Or you can save the time and trouble and order one from our website for $25.00.

We have been making them for years.

Art

Old thread and I believe Art is no longer in business.

If you can't make one of these yourself from a stick and 2 bolts, you can buy one from Blue Water Yachts. For $19.
http://bwyachts.com/web%20catalog%20312 ... /tools.htm

If you can't make one of these yourself from a stick and 2 bolts, you can buy one from Blue Water Yachts. For $19.

Owww. If one cant make one of these, one has larger problems ....

If you do make one of those just be sure you use a dense hardwood or metal. Don't use a softwood like pine. I threw one together with a scrap piece of lumber and it was worthless. I went ahead and made the tool from a welder's vice grips.

The handle from an old hockey stick, cut to length, is the perfect dimension and material to make this tool from, if you have easy access to one. Comes with a ready-to-use surface finish. Hockey stick handles are good for lots of other uses too (of a pre-selected wood grade for strength) although they're rarer to find in wood, now that aluminum has taken over that task.