Hi Donglai,
Comments:
Raising the mast on an M15 is an easy one-man job, once you have done it
the first, second and third times...
Then it's just becomes routine job. (I'm talking as an 85 year old that
did it by myself till last year when I sold my M15 to a new young crew)
The problems you encounter are:
shrouds and topping life tangling with the mast support or hang up on the
cleats as you raise the mast. Then you find it will come up half way and
no further. Back to square one, and clear the shrouds and lines so that
they run clear.
another problem is that the heel of the mast might not get into the mast
step so that you can insert the bolt. The angle of the mast between mast
support and the mast step is wrong.
The solution to this problem is either a longer aft mast support, which
raises the aft end of the mast, or slide the companionway hatch closed
so that the mast is not blocked by the companionway hatch forward edge so
that the mast can be put into the mast step.
I don't know if you have a tensioning device on the forestay. When I got
my M15 it just had a fitting on the forestay and I was supposed to pull
on it till I could insert the clevis pin in the fitting and the bow
fitting to lock things in place. A very unsatisfactory state of affairs.
One of those things that requires three hands and a new vocabulary of
cuss words, as the clevis pin falls overboard and hits the ground (or
water as the case may be)
Another M15 owner in Alaska told me to get WEST Marine item No. 246175
"Quick Release Shroud Lever" price about $20 and a "Ball-Lok
Quick-Release Pin" - but it comes in three different lengths
and in different diameters, so it will have to be selected to match the
Quick Release Shroud Lever hole diameter and width configuration.
I have used the Quick Release Shroud Lever and the Ball-Lok Pin as long
as I have owned the boat, and it makes life easy to step the mast; secure
it; and add some tension to the forestay.
==========
Electricity:
In the last year I owned my M15 I installed a small electrical
distribution panel just inside the companionway on the starboard side,
and put a motorcycle battery in a small battery container in the aft end
of the storage area under the starboard berth. That made running the
power line to the distribution panel easy.
My reason for doing this was to power my GPS, which I like to use as a
speedometer while sailing.
Normally the GPS runs on 4 AA batteries, but if you keep it running by
the hour, you will find that you become an unwilling part owner of a
battery company.
The motorcycle battery was small enough, and light enough that I could
easily remove it to take it home after a weekend of sailing and recharge
the battery.
It also allowed me to run a SONY CD player and two small speakers for
some Vivaldi or Mozart accompaniment while sailing.
My setup might have sufficed for the new LED running lights, but I wasn't
doing any night time sailing anymore. So that was of no concern to me.
==========
Compass:
I bought a small Danforth compass and mounted it on a teak board that fit
against the cabin bulkhead lying on the sail locker surface.
That way, I had a compass on either tack that was easily readable by the
helmsman. The cockpit cushion kept it in place. It might not have been
calibrated and adjusted to 1 degree accuracy, but then I never could hold
a course that accurately either....
Mounting one in the cabin bulkhead is a mixed blessing as far as I'm
concerned. Half the time it is on the "wrong" side of the boat for easy
reading - unless you install two.
A GPS makes a much easier to read instrument, and tells you if you are on
course to your next way point as well.
==========
Keep the questions coming. We'll try and give you answers.
Connie
ex M15 # 400
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