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The baby stays are part of the mast raising system 0n my I used to leave them on all the time . on the they are made of 5/16" line I beleive & they attach with u-shackles to the two stanction bases on the deck & on the mast bail about 6ft up . I have raised my mast on the water a few times & several times I had problems when someone would go by doing 20mp/h in a 6mp/h zone creating 2-3ft swells or in a gust of wind as the baby stays do not give much support when raising the mast on the first one third going up it can sway quite a bit and bent my gine pole ss base plates . So I made & installed baby stays on my gin pole also , If you have hank on head sails it is not so much a problem but with a furler and a installed headsail their is alot more weight to contend with . Alot of the marina's will not let you raise or lower the mast period for insurance reasons others make you go too their mast raising station & if your not a member may charge you to use that area whether or not you use their mast crane . Also your mast would stick out about 10ft aft of your stern & this could make it vunerable to damage if your not around to monitor it , is their clearance at the covered slip for this


I'd opt. for a large 10 ' x 10' white plastic tarp throw it over the boom for a boom tent , you can also do this up front with a smaller Tarp

J

Highlander wrote:The baby stays are part of the mast raising system 0n my I used to leave them on all the time . on the they are made of 5/16" line I beleive & they attach with u-shackles to the two stanction bases on the deck & on the mast bail about 6ft up . I have raised my mast on the water a few times & several times I had problems when someone would go by doing 20mp/h in a 6mp/h zone creating 2-3ft swells or in a gust of wind as the baby stays do not give much support when raising the mast on the first one third going up it can sway quite a bit and bent my gine pole ss base plates . So I made & installed baby stays on my gin pole also , I


I'd opt. for a large 10 ' x 10' white plastic tarp throw it over the boom for a boom tent , you can also do this up front with a smaller Tarp

J

That was the same thing that happened to us ! The Gin Pole base bent when the mast swayed out over the boat next to us. I am hoping the baby stays will prevent this . It seems to me they should , but you are saying they won't . No offense , but I hope you are wrong !

The ones I made attach to the mast about 6 feet up and tie down to the forward lifeline posts .
The hole was already drilled in the mast . A 5/16 allthread fits it perfectly .

Gypsy
Here are the baby stays they do not do nothing untill the mast is raised about one third so the mast can & does sway & will bend the gin pole base plates as these are what also take the strain before the baby stays do as the mast sways it pulls on the gin pole at the top thus bending the base plates which are a pita
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 0005-1.jpg

here's my baby stays on my gin pole
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 0004-1.jpg

they attach to the same stanchions as the baby stays
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 0003-1.jpg

J

I will try the babystays on the gin pole. Its base was bent , but straightened , so its not as strong as original .

What happened to us was a wave rocked the boat , when the mast was about 5 feet above the crutch. The mast swung out over the neighbors boat and the gin pole base bent .
Baby stays on both mast and gin pole probably would have prevented this.

I dropped my mast in a marina once and the harbor master wasnt pleased with me. This is something you do want to clear ahead of time. He was ok once I explained the mast only weighed 150 pounds and was easy to control.

With the factory installed mast raising system its absolutely safe and no problem to raise / lower the mast on the water. Although my boat ( now a M, before that I had a X for 10 years) is stored on a lift, every time I go out I have to go underneath a bridge and I have to lower and raise the mast completely. Alone - I look for a dock to tie to and raise the mast, if somebody is with me we do it underway going slow.
Hans

Loefflerh wrote:With the factory installed mast raising system its absolutely safe and no problem to raise / lower the mast on the water. Although my boat ( now a M, before that I had a X for 10 years) is stored on a lift, every time I go out I have to go underneath a bridge and I have to lower and raise the mast completely. Alone - I look for a dock to tie to and raise the mast, if somebody is with me we do it underway going slow.
Hans

Nobody is saying its not safe but it is a major PITA if the conditions are not right , try doing it in three ft swells with dorks in 35ft & bigger boats cruising by you doing 20mp/h or more in 6mp/h no wake zones waving to you as they go past totalally oblivious to what they are doing they should not be riding a bycicle never mind driving a boat it is not always poss. to get into a nice quite cove with no wind & or wake to perform this duty

But that said the mast raising system meets the min required status for what it was designed to do I've had issues with it when raising the mast in my driveway on a windy day !!!

J

Highlander wrote:Nobody is saying its not safe but it is a major PITA if the conditions are not right , try doing it in three ft swells with dorks in 35ft & bigger boats cruising by you doing 20mp/h or more in 6mp/h no wake zones waving to you as they go past totalally oblivious to what they are doing they should not be riding a bycicle never mind driving a boat it is not always poss. to get into a nice quite cove with no wind & or wake to perform this duty

But that said the mast raising system meets the min required status for what it was designed to do I've had issues with it when raising the mast in my driveway on a windy day !!!

J

We practiced in the backyard , several times ,and raised everytime without a hitch , but that was under perfect conditions .
Like you said , Dorks flying by a no wake zone , while we were raising it , is what caused it to swing out . After we got the mast stabilized , We went to the back of the marina and tied the boat to the dock , tightly and we were okay.

The mast raising system will raise it , but it isn't nowhere as easy as the video shows it .

I've been following this thread with some interest. We have used the 's mast raising gear plenty of times on land and also quite a few times on the water.
The baby stays on the mast raising gear only provide support when under a significant load. This is fine on land but if there is any kind of sea running, the movement of the boat can render them quite useless. The the mast can and does flop around all over the place. In addition they are placed quite low on the mast, so even when they are under tension they do not provide much support against lateral mast movement.

On a previous boat, I fitted additional inner shrouds to the mast. The lower end of each shroud was in line with the mast's hinge, so the tension on the mast remained the same through the full arc of mast lowering. They worked well to keep the mast under control when hit by a wake from a passing power boat and even if there was choppy water.

Has any tried something similar with a Mac?

Back to the original Question.

I've kept my M in covered slips with the mast down over the water, on dry storage lots away from the water with the mast down, in dry parking slips with the mast up near to an unobstructed boat ramp and in wet slips. Overall I prefer the wet slip arrangement.

While in the covered slip we did not have a problem with putting the mast up after lowering the hoists and launching while the boat was in the water. We anchored and put the mast up. That simple. It was quick to put the mast up from a covered slip as we kept the baby stays on full time and didn't have to keep everything tied down for towing. You just anchor the boat and raise the mast. The more protected the area the less likely you'll be losing tools, etc. The water is unforgiving in that regard. It's a pain to have to climb down when over the pavement and retrieve a dropped tool. But over the water you just have to keep a supply of spares. Even setting them down in a rolling sea can result in them sliding overboard. But with the baby stays we had no problem with the mast swinging about.

I even arranged a hoist above the boat under the roof cover to hoist up the mast to keep it in storage when motoring in the winter time without the mast.

However all-in all like I said, there's nothing quite as nice as a wet slip to just drive to the marina and get on the boat and go. Plus the marinas generally have other amenities that make the experience more enjoyable, e.g. showers, restroom facilities, laundrymats, RV parks on location, electricity, boat clubs, camaraderie, swimming pools, etc.

Kind Regards,
JonBill

We keep our boat in a wet slip , for about 6 months a year , so raising the mast is usually a once a year ritual.