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I was just thinking about it this weekend, one the mast is lowered it might be possible to use the MRS winch to "drag" the mast forward to the bow in a smooth controlled way, possibly by looping the MRS line around the bow hardware. Anyone ever give something like this a try?

Because I leave the boat 99% rigged up (including furling lines, etc) the mast shuffle for me is definitely a slow, finessed activity.

bobbob wrote:Because I leave the boat 99% rigged up (including furling lines, etc) the mast shuffle for me is definitely a slow, finessed activity.

I think you'd lose the 'feeling' you get by dragging by hand. If something were to get hung up you might not be able to tell and ultimately break something. It's slow and a pain but it's fairly safe.

I don't think my Mrs is strong enough... and besides, she doesn't take kindly to being told to 'come along'.

kmclemore wrote:I don't think my Mrs is strong enough... and besides, she doesn't take kindly to being told to 'come along'.

""possibly by looping the MRS around the bow hardware. ""

I don't think she would like that either!

Chuck

...awkward thread title!!

The mast needs nowhere near such force as the come along provides.

Agreed, but hey - hilarity ensued

The winch is not necessary, of course. The winch is not necessary for raising and lowering the mast either - but it makes the job much easier.

The MRS will usually come along unless I'm bringing a wench...

Not sure if the MRS (mast raising system) would help with moving the mast into towing position. Seems like too much capacity at an angle you don't need. Be patient and cruise the Internet for raising videos to get ideas. Erik Hardtle has a great video which helped me a lot. Figure out what your plan is for the spreaders and that will probably make it a good bit easier. Erik came up with an ingenious solution. Others have removable lifelines. I have the M and just unpin the spreader assembly to keep from having to deal with the spreaders/lifelines. Before that, I really struggled with it.

If you continue to have trouble, post a video so the smart guys on here can help you (unfortunately, I'm not one of them).

Sleeve the roller with a nylon tube, or make a hard roller out of HDP (like I did), and it will roll much easier than the stock setup. No need for mechanical advantage.

If my mast doesn't roll forward easily then something is hung up, which there is always something hung up. Same with raising the mast. It comes up with little effort so if I feel anything I know there is something wrong.

Yikes! I would never move the mast with power.

It's a slow, finessed activitity for a reason, because rushing it is a guaranteed formula for snapping something. How would you ever know if anything's hung up?

I use something to rest mast on while moving it if I have to let it go for any reason.I usually put large plastic bucket upside down on top of cabin. It makes it stress free to be able to let mast go at any time to take a break or fix something. And unhooking all life lines helps too.

DaveC426913 wrote:Yikes! I would never move the mast with power.

It's a slow, finessed activitity for a reason, because rushing it is a guaranteed formula for snapping something. How would you ever know if anything's hung up?

Mechanical advantage is not the same thing as power! The point is not to "rush" the process, but to make it easier/smoother. In fact, I would think this would allow you to *more* carefully watch if anything is caught.

dxg4848 wrote:I use something to rest mast on while moving it if I have to let it go for any reason.I usually put large plastic bucket upside down on top of cabin. It makes it stress free to be able to let mast go at any time to take a break or fix something. And unhooking all life lines helps too.

The above is the proper way to deal with rolling the mast back or forward. Have something to support it in case you need to stop and go clear a line. I have the same PVC mass support crutch at the step that fishheadbar&grill has and it works great. A bucket on deck would work too.

Well, yes and no. For a lot of the process there is more mast hanging over behind the mast crutch then in front of it - the forward end will naturally *rise*, not lower. Can't just rest it on a stand.

Anyways, I'm personally nowhere near this being a 1-man operation yet, I've always got an extra pair of hands helping

I do 'boat' completely by myself in about 40 minutes. I highly recommend the mast crutch that fisheadbar&grill designed. It works great as a second set of hands to hold the mast for you while rolling forward or back when the stays catch on winches and stuff. It works great and also keeps the mast from rotating when trailering.