Last November. I brought my F36 to a DIY yard for winter storage and
bottom work. The yards benefits were off set by distance, tolls and
a 55' fixed bridge. But, with a 6' tide, still a net plus.
Come March, I discover that the DOT has begun re-decking the bridge
and has hung a safety scaffold below. Checking the Notice to Mariners
(belatedly) I find that the public notice was given and permits were
issued for a five foot reduction in bridge clearance.
I did not want to remove the mast for a number of reasons including:
inexperience of the yard in handling a Freedom mast, not wanting to
disturb a perfect, non-leaking seal, not wanting to carry the mast as
deck cargo to another yard, and the cost of removal and re-stepping.
My best measurements showed a 55' mast hgt. including anchor light,
with all instrumentation removed except for the VHF radio antenna.
Hitting the optimum tide at my target launch date would give me 5.8'
below Mean High Water and a calculated clearance of 55.8'.
Accordingly, I figured a 15 degree heel would see me safely under the
bridge.
Having made the decision to heel the boat, the next considerations
were how to load, how much to load, what to load and how to rig the
boat. I wanted to deck load as much as possible and keep as much
strain off the mast as I could, while at the same time preparing the
mast for as much strain as needed. I opted not to use the main halyard
but instead installed a choker around the mast just above the fore
stay attachment point.
Using the blocks from my vang and the second reef line I created a 3
part tackle by attaching a block with becket to the choker and a block
to the boom. The free end of the reef line was then rove from the out
haul at the end of the boom up to the choker block, back down to the
boom block and back up to the becket on the choker block. Now I had a
crane with control lines that led through my deck organizer, clutches
and to my winches; Up and Down by the reef line, In and Out by the
main sheet and traveler. A preventer to a snatch block on the bow
completed the rig.
I began loading by filling the 60 gal. potable water tank below and
la****ng a 55 gal drum to the deck and filling that. It barely made a
dent, 3 degrees at best. I then decided on sand bags. At $1.75 for
each 50 lb. bag, they were cheap and easily jettisoned. After loading
1200 lbs at the toe rail, I still had only 10 degrees of heel.
On to plan B. I bought a 1 cubic yard bulk load polypropylene bag with
a 3300 lb rating for $40.00 , attached it to the boom and began
loading the individual sand bags into it. Ultimately, it took 900 lbs.
on the boom and 300 lbs. on the deck to heel the F36 to 15 degrees.
Ultimately, The boat made it under the bridge, but barely. For all the
figuring in the world and all the careful prep work, my VHF antenna
bent in half acting as curb feeler on the underside of the bridge. I
knew the height of my mast from an empirical measurement. I knew the
degree of heel needed for a worst case scenario. I had an accurate
method of measuring the heel. The only variable was the tide. I had a
tide prediction for the exact point I had to pass, including moon
phase. We got to the bridge exactly at the time predicted. All
indicators were good to go, slack water, calm seas, tidal indicator on
the bridge, known visible sand bar exposure at low tide etc. and still
we just made it. It appears that the tidal range prediction was not
accurate.
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