Boat Tour: Setup

Boat Tour: Setup of a Cruising Specification West Wight Potter 19 We begin by removing the tiedown straps that keep the boat on the trailer. This one goes over the bow, and is there in the event the winch should fail whilst towing The second strap is toward the stern of the vessel Boarding the boat is made easy by use of the swim ladder Once aboard, we can start preparing the mast for raising At the bow, the mast is lashed to the pulpit when not in use The shrouds are lashed to the mast for safe keeping A wooden block is used to support the mast at the mid point Here, the mainsheet is unlashed from the mast Now remove the adjustable backstay, which is being used to hold down the mast at the stern of the boat Next step is to remove the securing bolt from the mast tabernacle Then loosen all halyards and the mast raising tackle Now the mast is free and can be moved aft ready for raising Attaching the mast to the tabernacle Here we can see the "gin pole" laid out on the foredeck This pole is used to help raise the mast It's a piece of galvanized steel pipe with two lines attached The gin pole connects to the base of the mast, and the two lines clip to padeyes on the deck Here's a shot of the "block and tackle" used to raise the mast The dark red line is the one to pull but not yet The block and tackle is attached to the stem fitting at the bow Returning aft we make sure that the shrouds are not twisted at the tangs The mast is ready to be raised The jib halyard, shown here on the left is kept attached to the pulpit it provides an extra layer of security, as it also can be used to support the mast temporarily The mast is fully raised now, so time to remove the block and tackle and the gin pole The forestay is detached from the block and tackle and reattached to the stem fitting The forestay is attached to the stem fitting with a quick release lever The lever tensions the rig which then requires no further adjustment Tape is added to ensure no possibility of the quick pins coming loose Next, the bow dockline is flaked onto the deck It will be used to help with the launching of the boat from the trailer The adjustable backstay is brought into tension And the mast crutch is removed Shown here, is the 3d printed custom mastgate that keeps the sail slugs in place when the sail is being reefed it's necessary to remove this before fitting the boom and mainsail The boom and mainsail are brought up from the cabin and the aft end is attached to a wire lanyard connected to the backstay the gooseneck is fitted into the slot on the mast followed by the sail slugs Next the mail halyard is attached and the last of the sail slugs are inserted the mastgate is replaced into the mast some dry-lube is applied to keep things working smoothly The mainsail has a downhaul for tensioning the luff The control line is run through the block and cleat Jonah does not have a topping lift, but instead has a boom kicker The kicker attaches to the base of the mast via a boom bail As does the boom vang Next, the mainsheet is attached to the aft end of the boom The tiller cover is removed And the retractable keel is raised into the fully up position using the winch She's almost ready for launch now Stashing the swim ladder... we won't be needing that for a while now The bow dockline is tied to the trailer with a slip knot, to stop the boat from floating away after launching Driving to the launch ramp No video of me launching, as i was too busy There she is at the end of the dock, almost ready for adventures! The keel bolts, used to support the keel when the boat is not in use are removed Lowering the keel to the fully lowered position The kick up rudder is dropped down A figure 8 stop knot in the mainsheet Lowering the outboard into the water She's ready to put to sea!