Building the Gin pole. I came across an old Soling mast and cut the mast down to 24 feet. I used a chop saw as alum. cut likes butter on these. The mast had its original fittings so I simply attached a low stretch line to the hounds and used Harken Bullet blocks with S - hooks bent onto the lower blocks to use as adjustable "turnbuckles" to tention the new Gin pole standing rigging. I install two shrouds and both forward and rear stays, so I had four points holding the pole up. I used a sail tie as the lifting strap and a 4:1 block and tackle to lift the mast out of it's step. Once up, I was able to lower the mast onto the deck and remove the shrounds and stays. I made several mistakes that I will need to correct on the next go around. First the line I used on the Gin pole for stays was too light and had too much stretch. Second, the 4:1 block and tackle was not enough and this should be at least an 8:1 tackle system, the mast is very heavy. Third, because of the above mentioned changes that I need to make - when the mast lifted up out of its step, I drew the butt of mast foward where I should have led it under the Gin pole shroud and aft. My mistake left the mast out side of the pole shroud which forced me to loosen that shroud and splash the Gin pole over board. No big deal - but it looked messy and caused too much of a scene for my liking. This job in the water is a bit risky as the boat moves around while shifting my weight around the deck. My reasons for doing so stem from not having much of choice more than anything else.
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