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Tips for Craning OutHaving
just had my yacht craned out for the first time, I thought I would
summarise the steps taken and the lessons learnt to help take the
stress and mystery out of it for future first time owners.
Tips for a first time crane out at Fisherrow:
- The
day before crane out the yachts are beached as close to their winter
parking spot as possible. Bear in mind you need to be onboard well
before hightide in order to get it into position in the highest water.
The harbour master will inform you of your space.
The
yachts are either moored fore and aft or rafted 3 deep at the east
wall. You will need two long lines to control the yacht when lifted by
the crane, 60 feet is fine. When mooring the night before you can use
your bow line to attach to the cable on the wall and drop an anchor
back in the harbour mud. You can drop that as you approach the beach or
row it out after the fact. Depending on the forecast weather overnight
you can decide between leaving it far out in the mud for security or
close in for ease of retrieval. You'll need a full complement of fenders either side, you can also raft to the windward boat to prevent bumping.
- You
need to remove your boom and remove your backstay as these can
interfere with the lifting strops. You are not allowed on your yacht
while the crane is working in your area, so you need to be there early
or do this the day before. The crane starts with 5 yachts to the West
of the harbourmaster's office, then it moves to the dinghy parking area
to the east of the officer. Finally it lifts the largest yachts to the
east wall.
- You are advised to slacken your guardstays
in case the lifting strops damage them. Most folk attach their fenders
to stays and winches because of this.
- You
need blocks of wood of differing thickness to allow the yacht to be
levelled on the hard. I used lengths of cut up planks 12 inches long, 3
inches wide and both 2 inches and 1 inch thick. Other owners use much
deeper blocks to lift their yachts higher and allow easier working on
the underside.
- Think about removing your outboard
as they are vulnerable to thieves when the boats are beached. If your
tender stays in the carpark throughout the sailing season this will
need unlocked and moved for the crane out, it can return to under your
yacht once everything is done.
Mark McClelland 19 October 2013
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