Good News! I finally have some pictures of raising the mizzen mast. As you will see from the pictures, we had plenty of help with the project. I was able to get Deana from S/Y STORYVILLE to be the official photographer, which is why we have so many good pictures. I would just like to mention the other folks involved in the mast erection. Main mast base crew, Stan and Frank. mizzen mast base crew, Captain Jim, Alan and Friend Jim. Port control line, Troy, center control line, Kat, and starboard control line Rick. Miss Kitty, general troubleshooter.

Since the mizzen mast is deck stepped, it is rather easy to raise or lower the mizzen mast when the main mast is up. Six people are all that are required, but eight are even better. The offer of beer and snacks is usually a good way to obtain the required personnel. As you will see from the pictures, we had a very large cast of folks, so it went very well.

Before you get too far into the actual mast raising or lowering, it is a good time to have a meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to let all the helpers know what their general responsibilities are, and who is in charge. Only one person needs to be giving orders during the critical part of the raising. It also helps to explain the process, so everyone knows the general action plan.

To start with it is a good idea to have something off the back of the boat on which to set the mast. I used two saw horses. Next, get all of the running rigging, standing rigging, and electrical wiring secured at the base of the mast. Then make sure that all of the control lines, that will be needed to control the mast as it is being raised, are attached to the mast.

For control lines, I used the main halyard as the lifting line. I tied a line around the top of the mizzen mast, and attached it to the main halyard. Two of your six helpers should be on the main halyard at the base of the main mast. One of them should be on the winch, and the other should be tailing. Since I had extra people for line handling, I also tied three lines at the top of the mizzen mast at the same attachment point as the line to the main halyard. One of the lines was went to port, and the second line went to starboard. I had one person on each of these lines. These lines are used to keep the mast from going from side to side as it is being raised. The third line stays in the center, and is a safety line in case the mast should go forward after it has reached the vertical. The last "control line" is tied onto the base of the mast. When the mast is moved over the stern on the boat, and the base of the mast is at the mast step, the control line at the base of the mast it tied off to the after cleats on each side of the boat. This is to keep the mast from shooting forward if the base should come off of the mast step. The last step in preparation is to have all of the standing rigging clevis pins near the base of the mast. These will be needed when the mast reaches the vertical, and all of the standing rigging needs to be attached to the boat.

Just to recap where our six or eight people are for the raising: two people are at the base of the main mast; two people at the base of the mizzen mast along with the supervisor, who was, in this case, Captain Jim; one person on the starboard control line; one person is on the center control line; and, the last person is on the port control line.

Now let's get the mizzen mast up!! First thing we do is get the mast at the back of the boat. Everyone helps with this. Now the two or three mizzen mast-base people get on the boat at the stern. The remaining five or so people pick up the mast and start feeding the mast to the three people at the back of the boat. The mast is fed onto the back of the boat until the base of the mast is at the step. At this time, the mast-base control line is tied off to the stern cleats.

Next, the two main mast people take their positions and start taking up tension on the mizzen mast. The three control people still on the dock are centering the mast. The main mast people really get into lifting the mast, the people at the base of the mizzen mast are keeping the base under control, and the three control line people on the dock are keeping the mast centered. Once tension is taken up on the main halyard, and the mizzen mast is at the vertical, in only two or three minutes!

Now that the mizzen mast is at the vertical, everyone holds their lines, except the three people at the base of the mizzen. They should have untied the standing rigging, and are now busy attaching the rigging to the chain plates and getting the clevis pins inserted. Once the port and starboard lower shrouds are attached, the hardest part job is done. Now the upper and intermediate shrouds have to be attached, and then someone has to go up the mizzen mast and untie all of the control lines. It is all over but the shouting. Remember those snacks and beer I mentioned earlier? Now is the time.

The following pictures take you through the process just explained.