We set up our new sailboat, Bella, in the driveway last weekend to see how much fun it would be to raise the mast with the mast raising system built into the trailer of our new to us Precision 23. I must say it was relatively simple, but we did learn the hard way about a couple of things.

We set it up as shown in the picture (picture from PBW) with the winch strap and jib halyard meeting in about the same position. Every thing worked as planned until the jib halyard went past the black rubber trailer roller attached to the top of the gin pole. We now have a very striking two-tone jib halyard, the bottom half a rich, dark black color and the top half, bright white. It is indeed very pretty to look at. Not. After the appropriate expletives were issued I examined the offending roller more closely and found that it was bolted too tightly so that it could not roll, I guess it did not realize that it is named “roller” for some very good reasons. Also, I noticed that it was sun damaged as well. Jeez, you would think a little thing like baking in the sun for six years wouldn’t be a problem for a big strong rubber roller. So I guess we will buy a new halyard and forgo setting any new fashion statements in the running rigging category. A new roller would probably be a good idea too as there is a nice groove where the line burned its way through the roller. For our second attempt we let out more strap so that the halyard would not go over the roller.

On to our second lesson. Our new to us P-23 came equipped with a Schaefer Marine CF500 Snapfurler which we can’t wait to use this year. Anyways, I had seen some where that when raising the mast one should allow the headstay and furler to lay along side the boat and that as the mast is raised it will swing harmlessly forward. Well ours promptly fell off of the mast at about the halfway point with a heart sinking crash. Again, more expletives as I made my way to see how much money this little lesson was going to cost us. I was relieved to see that the only thing I could find was that the top cap for the foil extrusion was slightly damaged. Seeing that nothing structural was damaged, we reinstalled the headstay/furling unit and raised the mast again, this time keeping the furler on deck in front of the mast where we could more closely keep an eye on it. We also bagged the drum assembly with one of those reusable grocery bags that are made out of indestructible fibers so that it wouldn’t scratch the deck or catch on anything. The mast was raised to the top without incident and was very satisfying to see.

Afterwards I went to the Schaefer Marine web site to see about ordering a new top cap. In the parts section it is the first product listed for our model (CF500). I am guessing that is because I am not the first customer to need a new one. I placed my order for the new cap with a sigh of relief, less than $9 for this lesson. To my surprise it was waiting for me at my doorstep Thursday afternoon when I got home form work. I was impressed with their turn around time. After all, Schaefer Marine is located in Massachusetts and we are located in Minnesota. Thank you Schaefer Marine for the quick turnaround.

Now I can continue going through my long list of inspecting, screw tightening and cleaning chores to get our new pride and joy ready for the upcoming sailing season.