Greasing the Mast
So we needed to grease the mast in order to get the main sail cars to move with ease up and down the mast. This requires someone in a boson chair to go up the mast. The question becomes, can I really do this and what is it going to take?
The mast is 63' from the mean water level (MWL), which incidentally makes us Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) friendly, but 63' is still 63' I don't care how friendly it is. 😀
When we came up with the plan, we were anchored in "the keyhole" at South Lake in Hollywood, FL. The morning of, was not windy. However, by the time we were ready to take on the endeavor and had gathered all the necessary materials, a steady breeze had formed. If you know anything about boats, whatever you feel at water level is magnified at the top of the mast. In other words, she was a rocking and a rolling at the top of the mast.
I began to feel fear gripping me. I wasn't afraid for my life, but there was some definite trust issues in play. Have you ever been on a high ropes course? Well, I have many times, love them, super fun, but this is not that. The mast leans back, just ever so slightly. If I were to lose hold up above the spreaders(allow the shrouds, standing rigging, to better support the mast) it would mean I was hanging 50-60' about the boat with nothing to pull me in, or so my fear was telling me. Fear is a good liar.
So what did I do? Based on knowledge, the equipment is solid, combined with Dave's encouragement to take it on little by little, I began to make progress after some considerable hedging. A little support and positive affirmation goes a long way when fear encroaches.
You may at this point be saying why doesn't Dave just go up the mast? When you go rock climbing someone at the bottom has to manage holding you should you fall. In rock climbing you do the climbing not the one the ground. On the boat, this is different. The one on the ground/deck has to hoist the other using the winch. We do not have an electric winch. It makes more sense for Dave to hoist me rather than the other way around because I am smaller and lighter. I would have considerably greater difficulty hoisting Dave up the mast therefore it fell to me.
So up the mast I went little by little. About 5' at a time focused on cleaning all the way up, and then greasing all the way down. I did stop to get some go pro footage at the top. Dave tried to get some video drone footage, but the batteries were not charged all the way so he could only get photos. He asked if I could wait, and the answer was a definitive no. Not because I was afraid at that point, the boson chair become quite uncomfortable at the top due to the proximity to the block at the top of the mast. When you get so close to the top the chair starts to dump you out so to speak. Very disconcerting to say the least.
Once down, we tested the sail by raising and lowering it a couple times and all was well with the world. I conquered some gripping fear with trust and we now have the MainSail negotiating well with the mast.