Gallows assembly attachments

[DanaDCole]

On page 263 is the following statement: "The flanges were bolted through the deck, with nuts accessible through the lazarette. The gallows assembly needs to be very strong." In my case, even though I drilled the holes in the exact center of the seat-back tops, the poles hit the sides of the hull before reaching the deck. So I had to build it up with bits of 2x4 glued to the deck to get the flanges high enough to meet the poles. Rather than try to drill holes in that very small space, I decided to put some pretty hefty wood screws into the 2x4s instead. (If the flanges were sitting down on the deck, bolts would probably have been a better idea.)

I don't think I will have any problems with the screws instead of bolts, but the "gallows assembly needs to be very strong" part leaves me a little confused. Bolting the flanges could imply that there will be a strong upward pull on the flanges--the wood screws will easily handle any side-to-side forces and quite a lot of upward pull. And, the screws will most definitely withstand a lot more upward force than the little set-screws in the flanges will. Then there is the attachment of the gallows itself to the poles to think about. At this point, my gallows is just sitting on the poles. It is a very tight fit and requires some force to remove it, but not as much as the flange screws (or most certainly bolts) can withstand. So am I supposed to put a bolt through the gallows and poles at the attachment point? That doesn't make much sense to me with as I said nothing but the little set-screws holding the poles in the flanges.

Also on page 263 is a statement that holes are drilled on both sides of the gallows notch to tie down the mast and boom, etc. while on the road. To me this means that road travel can cause the rig to bounce out of the notch. I don't see that creating enough force to pull the poles and flanges out of the deck! At the worst it might pull the gallows off the poles. That does not seem very likely, knowing how hard it is to get the gallows off the poles, on my boat at least.

I think a better solution would be to run a line around the rig and attach it to the two stern cleats. (And try to avoid rough roads! Bounces that are hard enough to pull the gallows apart would do much more damage in other places it seems to me.)

[craig]

I don't use the boom gallows on my boat, so I can't speak to your exact question. But I can confirm that the rig bounces quite a bit when travelling. I've taken to tying the mast down to my support beam to prevent it, and I recommend you do tie the mast to the gallows and make sure the gallows is firmly attached to the stainless poles.

[ddemasie]

The instructions do say that the gallows is optional - how do you secure the mast while trailering the boat? And - are there any issues with the boom swinging too low in the cockpit while under way, or reefing?

I am considering options right now.

[craig]

The gallows is optional, although it is convenient. I decided to avoid it because aesthetically I like the look with a bare transom. It also adds a bit of wind resistance and weight. As an alternate, I rigged a temporary post from the floor of the footwell, through a U-shaped piece of wood connected to the center of the transom skirt, and up to about the height where the gallows would be. The end of that post has a U-shaped plywood cutout to accept the mast. I tie the boom and gaff to the mast for trailering to keep everything secure. This system works fine, but since I later cut out a place to put a mizzen mast (Pete/tattoo wrote about his here on the forum), I have switched over to using a support post through the mizzen mast support system. Wherever you put it, the mast is removed for sailing. The mast must be kept upright, and the boom and gaff are kept from falling into the cockpit by using either a topping lift (a line running from the end of the boom up to the mast, which prevents the boom from falling below a set height), or preferably, lazyjacks (lines running from either side of the sail to the boom, that will keep the gaff and sail from falling when the sail is lowered). Using lazyjacks have made stowing the sail much easier, since you simply have to loosen the halyards and the sail falls into a neat bundle. Pete/Tattoo wrote about his lazyjack system on this forum too. I simplified it to have a permanent setup without the adjustable line he used running from the deck to the mast top.

- Craig

[ddemasie]

Thank you, Craig. I just took a look a the Tattoo lazyjack design posting, drawing, and picture. I may do something just like that - One final question - do you know if the Lazyjacks interfere or chafe the mainsail while underway, or effect the trim or overall mainsail performance?

[DanaDCole]

Well I do plan on using the gallows, so no one has really addressed my question as yet. I thought about a boom crutch, as Craig describes, but after reading through many posts on this subject, the gallows seemed a better alternative. I have several posts on there, one of which includes a picture of Sam Devlin's combination boom crutch and trailer tie-down.

As to the lazy jacks, I plan on installing those also (see Pete McCrary's posts for some good ideas on making lazy jacks for the PocketShip).

[craig]

If you don't loosen the lazy jacks, then they will certainly interfere with sail trim and chafe the sail, too. I have mine with a stainless steel clip that I can undo to loosen then while sailing, then tighten before lowering the sail. Or, you could use the system Pete installed with the line running to the deck, and not need a clip. The topping lift (a single line) wouldn't need an adjustment since you could tighten it such that it hold the boom lower than the boom is kept while the sail is raised.

Dana: I think you shouldn't worry about the flange. Wood screws and 2x4 seem strong enough to me. I don't know how the wood gallows attaches to the poles, but I still think glue or a set screw or something would give peace of mind there.

Craig

[chaertl]

Hi Dana,

It sounds like you're gallows is more then strong enough. I will say the hole in the center come in very handy for securing the gaff and boom when the sail is down though. The first thing we learned was to keep the sail under control or things get real hairy real fast. On the first time out with the complete sail rig the wind took everything over the side before we could raise the sail. Ever since I've got a 1" nylon strap through those holes with a quick release latch on that prevents that from happening. There's two more around the sail and boom too. After turning into the wind it's three quick flips of the latches and raise the sail but nothing mores until you're ready. To this date I've had no problems with the set screw connections either. One little hint on those is to take a drill and put a dimple in the pipe were the screw will hit. Makes it harder for the pipe to pull out unless the screw backs of farther. One other tip is to make the holes in gunwales a little on the large size. Last time I removed the gallows for varnishing the wood had swelled and squeezed the pipe. Made it real fun pulling it out.

Take care,

Chris

[DanaDCole]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughtful replies. Although I was only asking for opinions on how much upward force to counteract when securing the gallows, some other interesting topics came up. I will point out, though, that I started a thread on October 4, 2013, called "alternative to gallows" in which most of these topics were discussed. Some very interesting posts followed, which are worth reviewing.

Topping lift: I thought this idea was mentioned in the thread, but I reviewed it quickly and did not see it. Anyway I was considering that along with a crutch for trailering, but I am at a loss as to how you make one work on a gaff rig. Must be pretty ingenious. I'm speaking from total ignorance because I haven't even launched the boat yet. Someone please enlighten me.

Crutch instead of gallows: This is a good idea for trailering, but what happens when you douse the mainsail while still on the water? I'm doing some guessing here because I haven't even finished varnishing the spars, but it seems to me that if there is any kind of cross-wind you are going to have a real mess on your hands with not only the sail blowing all over the boat and into the water but uncontrollable boom and gaff getting in the way. A topping lift would help some here, but lazy jacks would be of much more help containing the sails and keeping the boom and gaff up, although they can still blow around. If you had a crutch you carry with you and can easily set up, that might work. Dave Archer has a terrific idea for a crutch that is easy to remove and set up in one of his posts. Right after that post, John Harris praises Dave's idea and also shows a design for a "scissors" crutch. John H. doesn't specifically recommend the gallows over the crutch, but I think you definitely need one or the other. There are always advantages and disadvantages to either system, so everyone must decide for him/herself. I'm going with the gallows for now, but I may try building Dave Archer's alternative at some later date. I think the boat looks "cleaner" without the gallows, and of course there is the issue of weight at a fairly high point. (Also Charlie Huie mentioned that the gallows is a real bug-catcher on the highway.)

Lazy Jacks: I definitely plan on installing lazy jacks and have purchased all the materials Pete McCrary mentions in his post on the subject. If somebody knows of a better method than Pete's, please don't post it because I have already bought everything. One of the first mods I made to my Skerry was to install a halyard. Before I installed the halyard (and block) it was really scary to try and douse the sail and lower the mast on a windy day. You have to do it standing up in a very tippy dinghy--not fun. Anyway the halyard system worked great except that when I was trying to row in to the dock I had sails all over the place and in the water--I'm sure the onlookers found this extremely funny. So I devised crude lazy jacks and that made a huge difference. They also made it much easier to flake the sails.

So thanks again. This has been enlightening and I hope of some help.

[DanaDCole]

One other quick point. I have a large tarp that I throw over the boat to protect it and keep out the leaves. When I get the tabernacle and mast installed, the tarp will be more like a tent--will look a little nicer and I will have easy, covered access to the boat to work on it. This will only work with a gallows or crutch though, and the crutch might be better for keeping the shape of the tarp more "tent-like."