Rigging up at anchor

Due to a low level bridge across Ross river (clearance 6m) the only sailboats that can pass are ones with mast tabernacles.

Yacht with mast tabernacles

In Ross River  Teria begins a journey with her mast down at the barnicle street ramp. Motoring is required to get past the bridge where the anchor is dropped and rigging up on the water can start.

I've thrown in some plain english to combat sailing jargon for those new to this.

Anchored mast down tied to pulpit rail.

Mast stepped (attached) into tabernacle (hinge with pin on deck). Spinaker halyard (lift rope) attached to pulpit (front rail) to help with raising (prevent mast falling back). Halyard tail (end) exits mast base and is tied off on black cleat once mast is up.

 Mast raising - It's the hardest and potentially most dangerous part of rigging up. It's like weight lifting in a watery slightly rolling gym with asymetrical equipment. I break it into 3 stages, it is possible to catch a breath between stages. Slack is taken up on the halyards tail  to act as the mast fall-back preventer. It can be done solo but is far easier with  crew on the halyard tail as this allows 2 arms to be used for the mast lift (push-up) instead of one.

The previous owner of Teria was a nice chap about 6'3",  85kg and mid 30's  so his mast raising demo made it look like child's play. He just grabbed it and up it went in one swift move. However I'm 5'11" ,72kgs and mid 50s so that image was shattered on my first attempt to raise mast. I added a few extra steps to make it achievable without herniating..

Stage 1: Mast was lifted from pulshpit rail up onto a wooden crutch, this makes the initial mast lift a bit easier. It is about 10 degrees from horizontal

Stage 2: I stand in the cockpit get under it as far forward as liftable then lift to shoulder height. using bent knees and straight back. Shuffle forward to gain height. It gets to about 20 degress from horizontal.

Stage 3: The main lift - 20 degrees to 90 degrees. Bend knees and push up with arms suddenly. Walk forward, slide hands down mast as it goes up then push into it. It requires a good sized burst of strength for a few seconds. Once lifting momentum is going push harder until it's past 45 degrees and over "the hump". Very important to take up the halyard slack as the mast tends to bounce back when it hits vertical and the side stays go tight. When the halyard is cleated off properly it's time to say "whew!" and wipe the sweat off the brow. Although the distance from the fulcrum decreases as it goes up, the downwards falling force of the mast also decreases as it gets near vertical.

The ante is upped further when raising it solo. One hand for the mast lift and only one for the halyard. But you really need 2 hands to pull in the halyard... a good strong healthy set of teeth required to achieve this. It's a  dinghy skipper's method. Haul and bite. It's good for now but when the inevitable sets in then other mast raising methods such as garage door springs or shear-legs may need to be devised and built.

The mast is standing, held up by side stays and the spinaker halyard on the front rail.

The forestay is released from the mast and is tied to the top of the roller furler with a lanyard. (Sampson post secures anchor chain or rope)

The jib (sail) is "bent on". The tack (lower front corner of sail ) is shackled to the roller furler. Spring  piston hanks snap onto the forestay.

The jibs clew corner is shackled to the jib sheets ( 2 to 1 purchase pulley)

The jib halyard can be shackled to the jib head.The jib is raised by the halyard and cleated (tied) off. It starts flapping in the wind, so quickly dash back to the cockpit and haul in the jib furling line to wrap the jib up around the forestay.

The backstay need to be rigged up. It is clipped into a bridal which has a pulley system to tension it. Tensioning this tightens up the jibs forestay too.

The mailsail is "bent on" to the mast. Teria has plastic sliders in the luff groove, a rope around the mast stops them from falling out. Luff sliders as opposed to a luff rope are good as the sail is always secured to the mast when dropped, good when in a strong wind...(NB topping lift rope (with green bits) hold the end of the boom up when sail is lowered)

The gooseneck is attached to it's mast slider track. It is a roller furling gooseneck designed for boom rotation..but teria is refitted with slab reefing instead (slab reefing lines and pulley on boom). That's the main halyard and cleat on the mast. (also a currently unused spinaker pole fitting at front of mast)

Down aft - The backstay bridle is tightened. The mainsail sheets (white sail control rope) with blocks (pulleys) and a cam cleat is clipped onto the traveller (slide across the back of boat). (NB Tiller from rudder goes under traveller)

Boom end - Main sheets always left shackled on..the toping lift clips to swiwel tang.  Part of slab reefing system. Cleats for clew outhaul tensioning.  

Mast tabernacle detail. The pivot pin is held in with spring clips. The boom vang pulley is shackled to the mast tabernacle.

It's about ready to go sailing now.

Next is haul up the mainsail. Make sure the boom is raised in it's track. Teria has no winches,,so "sweating it in"  required while the bow is pointed into the wind. Then the boom is pushed down and clipped in to tension the sails luff.

Usually the wind is blowing from ahead when on course to exit the river.. so the motor is fired up and the center-board lowered before the anchor is raised. Motor - sailing under main sail helps drive the hull against the wind, sometimes against the incoming tide too. Steep waves often build up once past the protective sandbank so hull speed is dropped to 2-3 knots to get through comfortably. Really only about 3-4 horsepower is required when motor-sailing. The 10 hp engine is usually just idling to half throttle. motor-sailing out has an additional safety factor, if the old motor ever died at the critical time it would be easy to swing about and sail back in to calm waters. (Returning is usually just sailing downwind to the anchor spot, then turning the bow into the wind to slow the boat down for anchor drop..

Once out there, it's always a great time to hear the jib unfurl, flap and quickly go silent as the wind fills it. The motor is idling until it can be established if wind power alone is strong enough to drive the hull at a respectable speed. Once the motor goes silent, the boat heels over, the wind and sea forces take over and Teria surges forward with a life of it's own.