Baby stays...

[jav]

My 99x came w/ the mast raising pole and tackle, but the baby stays are missing...

Any suggestions on how I could make some?

The hole is still drilled in the mast (I assume at the right place), and those
brackets or whatever are attached to the deck.

Thanks,
Jeff

[James V]

jav - where are you at? Maby ones of us is close by and can show you theirs.

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

Hi JAV...I have a 99X also, and the baby stays have a stainless steel plate that slides into a deck attachment. The other ends of the two stays attach to a bolt on the mast. I leave them on. I dont have the dimensions. They are definately "important" in order to avoid loosing the mast when raising. Im able to handle the mast raising system alone...the system works well. A good suggestion is to get a set from a dealer..."pronto"...
Happy Sailing !

[Captain Steve]

The deck mounts are L shaped, with a screw to hold them in place when you slip them under the straps mounted on the deck. Do you have the bolt that goes thru the mast? It should have 2 tabs that have a hole for the bolt and a smaller hole for the cable to make the stay? If you have those parts you could make some at WM, stay cable and crimps available for DIY construction.

[Frank C]

The "mast tabs" that Steve refers to are permanently attached to the baby stays with a crimped cable. If you're lacking the stays, both sets of tabs (mast tabs and deck tabs) will also be absent.

Take a good look in all the bilge compartments to be sure you don't have them. Then look up the phone number in Costa Mesa, Macgregor Yachts, and ask for Bill. He'll probably sell 'em to ya for about 15 bucks, always requires a check in advance of shipment.

[Captain Steve]

Frank C makes a good point---as always---I own a 98 X, which I bought in 2001. When I was cleaning it out I found a clear plastic tube about 9mm in size. Later on I was reading the manual and it referred to this tube to check the ballast by sticking it in and holding a finger over the end, withdrawing it and observe the amount of water.

Point being, usually all the parts are somewhere!

I used to rebuild VWs. Always seemed I had extra parts when I was finished...always threw them in the trunk in case I needed them in the future!

[jav]

James - I'm in Columbia, SC...

I've looked everywhere for the cables, but there's just the hole in the mast and the small plates on the deck where they attach to.

The PO pulled the pole part out of his garage and I assume the stays are still in there too somewhere, but he's not answering my emails...

I'll try the factory and see if they will sell me some.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Ric K]

Jav :

Frank C is right ...I got the parts fpr my baby stays from Bill @ Mac Gregor, their phone # is (949)642-6830.
I too had parts missing from the PO. I had 1 side, but not the other. I used the main sheet to jury rig the one side, since I was buying the boat in Sacramento and towing it to San Diego. I don't sugjest you do this! My situation was an emergency.
The baby stays keep your mast from flopping from side to side when you
are stepping (raising) the mast. You could have a major problem like a bent or broken mast step, damaged mast , or worse sombody could get hurt.

Buena Suerte!

Ric :