Hey everyone, winter is finally starting to wear off and everyday I'm wanting to take out my solcat for the first time. My problems are that I now have a way to get my mast up (bought a winch) but I was not thinking and am a poor 18 yr old so I only got a one way winch, I have no idea how to get the mast down without basically dropping it in a freefall and taking out the garage behind it. Any tips?
Next thing....there's a couple soft spots on one hull, I was reading and it seems that it is delamination? That seems like it can be fixed through injecting lamenting resin into the hull.
The boat was sitting outside for 14 years before I got it off craigslist, so lots of TLC, but those are the 2 big things holding me back right now.
Thank you for reading and any help you can give!
Solcat/General beachcat Questions
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- Rank: Lubber
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Posted: Mar 22, 2009 - 10:21 PM
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Posted: Mar 22, 2009 - 11:46 PM
Hi Ashi
I have been sailing a 76 Solcat for several years and agree with you that raising the mast is the worst about rigging this boat, that said Send me an E-mail address and I will send a method of raising your Solcat mast along with pictures.
Jeff O
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Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
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Posted: Mar 22, 2009 - 11:47 PM
Hi Ashi
I have been sailing a 76 Solcat for several years and agree with you that raising the mast is the worst about rigging this boat, that said Send me an E-mail address and I will send a method of raising your Solcat mast along with pictures.
Jeff O
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Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
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Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 12:04 AM
Hi Jeff
Thank you for replying, I will deffinately send you my email. Though I'm pretty sure I can get the mast up, my problem now is how to get it down.
Any tips on that part? -
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Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 05:17 PM
I winch up the mast on my Nacra, use the same winch to let it down. Release the brake and let the handle turn slowly to lower the mast. Remember it gets harder to hold as the mast gets closer to the ground. -
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Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 11:24 PM
Well as much as this sounds like the obvious, how ever you got it up do the same thing in reverse. Just have some one on the tramp and on the ground to help cutch the mast so it doesn?t hit the ground and get bent or otherwise damaged. Make sure you secure the mast to the base so it doesn?t come up off the receiver.
You can give me a call if that would help.
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Jeff O
N5.0
solcat 18(sold),
N5.2,
H16
Camarillo CA
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Posted: Mar 24, 2009 - 11:50 AM
Do NOT have someone stand under the mast as you lower it (nor car, dog, girlfriend, house, etc). It is better to drop and bend your mast than to kill someone if it breaks free. If you have to have someone help... have them stand to the side and step in at the last second....
I learned this the hard way when my mast hinge broke on my H18 while lowering it.
Contact jeremy@surfcitycatamarans.com for advice on your delam problems.
Homepage: http://www.surfcitycatamarans.com
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Posted: Mar 24, 2009 - 12:37 PM
Yes, don't take the term "catch" too literally when talking about lowering the mast.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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Posted: Mar 24, 2009 - 02:27 PM
you may also want to look at the E-Z Step mast system (murrays.com). it is an AMAZING pain to get adjusted .. but once its set... you dont need to mess with it. it takes about 15 min to install and the rest is done with the winch.
down is easier....
PS if you use a winch ... and it slips out of your hand ... NEVER, EVER, EVER try to grab it as it spins... its a sure way to crush your bones.... -
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Posted: Mar 24, 2009 - 11:08 PM
Who Died?
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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
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Posted: Mar 25, 2009 - 08:45 AM
my h18 mast missed my gf by about 2 inches (thats after she stepped away).
I have had other peoples masts hit my catamarran. -
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Posted: Mar 25, 2009 - 05:23 PM
I do this every once and a while at the sailing school i work at with Hobie 16's and 18's, what we do is have a line attached well to the forestay and have someone who you trust hold that, while one person stands on the cat right at the base of the mast and holds it to make sure it goes down straight, (the guy or two holding the line attached to the forestay really controls the lowering), and one person steps in to catch it before it hits the ground at the end
it is definitely a job for three or four people over the age of ten =)
p.s. the guy who stands on the cat to guide the mast should not stand with it between his legs when he lowers it -
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Posted: Mar 25, 2009 - 10:43 PM
Often i ask someone to grab a line clipped to my halyard.. just a little help makes it MUCH easier....
i do agree with having someone hold a saftey line while raising and lowering the mast... but i dont agree that they take most of the load.
after the mast is lowered 1/2 way they can not hold the weight of the full mast. the person on the trampoline still is needed to guide/walk the mast down.
I recently watched a couple try to use this method and the girl had the saftey line... i watched her get over powered... and drop the mast... bending it.
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Posted: Mar 28, 2009 - 09:32 AM
I have pulled up Sol Cat masts with a winch before, alone too. Not something that is easy to do. But when you sail alone, gotta do what ya gotta do.
Currently I am working on a pin-on frame to raise the mast of my G Cat 5.7. Something else I have made that helps me raise and lower by hand is a 7 foot long stainless steel one inch pipe with a detachable V shaped head made of aluminum. Two lines attached to the V head are tied to the tramp lacing... and it supports the mast so I can slide it back to pin it on the ball.
The stock mast base on the Sol Cat does not allow pinning the mast... at least on the Sol Cat I used to sail did not. It made it tough to do it alone.
When I am done with the bugs... I will post some photos.
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Posted: Mar 28, 2009 - 12:26 PM
We (being two people total) use a line attached to the forestay that runs up to the rack on our camper shell of the truck. If I have a lighter person helping then I take a couple wraps around the rack. It just helps take the weight off until it is lower to about a 45 degree line. Then it is all up to the person on the tramp. But by that time it is easy for me to lower. Hope it helps. We also only have a 16'
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