Gaffer question, do I need some lubrication?

[AHoy2]

I am still learning the ropes with gaff rig (literally) and have an issue on my boat with the gaff being hard to haul up the last few feet and not dropping freely when lowered. All the running rigging appears to be correctly routed and I have been advised to lubricate the gaff saddle and mast, the question is what with? The mast varnish is in reasonable condition as is the saddle leather. Any special gaff unction I need to apply that will not end up smeared over sails and crew?

An Old Salt advised the use of of "Gaffer Grease", however I suspect this comes from the same stores area as a "Record Stand" so will not be asking for that straight off

 

[jerrytug]

(Grandmother/eggs warning) You should haul up the gaff with it parallel to the deck, then you won't have much friction at the throat against the mast. When you get the throat up, make it off but don't swig it up bar tight.
Then get the peak up, give it a bit of a swig. Then, you can swig the throat up some more and take it from there.

Dropping the gaff, again you have to work it out so the throat is not being pushed in to the mast by the weight of the spar, combined with the angle of the peak halyard. Checking the peak as you are lowering both will often tug the throat off the mast if it is stuck.

Working out your angles is more important than moose dripping or whatever.

Get a copy of "Hand,Reef and Steer" by T.Cunliffe, best practical book about gaffers, cheers Jerry

 

[FWB]

+1 on jerrytug.
I would add that for lowering I keep the gaff at the same angle as when it is set so that it drives itself down the mast.
Also make sure that the lacing around the mast is correct..ie not round and round but with the string from each eyelet going around the same side of the mast ... So first eye to starboard, next one to port and so on. I hope that is clearer than mud and apologies if you already knew.
You can hopefully see what I mean in this not too brilliant photo..

 

[NUTMEG]

Ditto all the above but would add that good mast varnish and smooth leather on the jaws helps a lot too. Nutmegs gaff got stuck on our delivery trip home and despite the above I had to use a boat hook and all of my 14 stone to shift it! Upon inspection with the mast down we discovered the varnish had all worn away and the grain of the mast was lifting providing a very rough surface, plus the leathering on the gaff saddle had broken up and was missing in places.

A liberal and regular smearing with tallow really works wonders too.

 

[FWB]

AHoy2, I see that you have a Yarmouth 23.
The OGA was planning to exhibit Septuagenarian Barbara Runnalls' Y23 Moon River at LIBS. She took it round Britain solo last year.
I have no idea if the plan to exhibit came off, anyone been to LIBS know?

 

[dylanwinter]

balls

Ditto all the above but would add that good mast varnish and smooth leather on the jaws helps a lot too. Nutmegs gaff got stuck on our delivery trip home and despite the above I had to use a boat hook and all of my 14 stone to shift it! Upon inspection with the mast down we discovered the varnish had all worn away and the grain of the mast was lifting providing a very rough surface, plus the leathering on the gaff saddle had broken up and was missing in places.

A liberal and regular smearing with tallow really works wonders too.

mine has balls or beads on it

not just on the jaws but also at three places along the luff

the angle of the gaff is important when raising/lowering

it locks up when the angle of the gaff is too steep and also when it is too shallow

Dylan

Coo - hark at me! - remember to remove the pipe from your mouth and shove your cap over at a jaunty angle before offering advice

 

[prv]

Lots of good advice about the angle of the gaff etc, but to address your specific question the answer is yes - tallow. You can buy tubs of it from eBay under the name "Monument" - it's used by electricians apparently to lubricate cables being pulled through conduits. I used to keep all the various leather bits on Kindred Spirit well greased with it, for protection as well as lubrication.

On Stavros we used to smear a thick layer of tallow over the topgallant masts themselves; I started trying this on Kindred Spirit once but realised it was going to become a huge mess and wasn't necessary.

Pete

 

[AHoy2]

Thanks all for the responses. I think I need to pay more attention to the gaff angle before looking for any magic potions other than something (tallow?) on the saddle leather. The luff on the mainsail is fitted with loops and parrell (?) beads not continuous lacing and I have sized the loops to give the same mast/luff spacing as at the foot and head. I may try lacing as an alternative. I did read somewhere that the throat halyard must be vertically inline with the head fitting on the gaff to avoid a levering effect on the saddle, still need to check this out.

Jerry, thanks for the book recommendation.

BTW, checking boats in the marina during the strong winds recently I did notice the significant reduction in windage of the short gaffer mast v. some of the tall-rig boats around (taking account of boat size, there were some bigger gaffers on the pontoons). Must be an equally big benefit if caught out in a blow at sea.

 

[AHoy2]

AHoy2, I see that you have a Yarmouth 23.
The OGA was planning to exhibit Septuagenarian Barbara Runnalls' Y23 Moon River at LIBS. She took it round Britain solo last year.
I have no idea if the plan to exhibit came off, anyone been to LIBS know?

Yes, Moon River is at LIBS. Barbara has reported back that in addition to interest in her adventures there has been a lot of interest in the boat and enquiries about availability.

 

[prr]

I am still learning the ropes with gaff rig (literally) and have an issue on my boat with the gaff being hard to haul up the last few feet and not dropping freely when lowered. All the running rigging appears to be correctly routed and I have been advised to lubricate the gaff saddle and mast, the question is what with? The mast varnish is in reasonable condition as is the saddle leather. Any special gaff unction I need to apply that will not end up smeared over sails and crew?

An Old Salt advised the use of of "Gaffer Grease", however I suspect this comes from the same stores area as a "Record Stand" so will not be asking for that straight off

If you're single-handed on a small gaffer - flick the topping lift over to the windward side of the gaff first .Top it well up, nip up the main sheet. now when you pull up you should come more head to wind, with sail and gaff free of friction out to leeward.....

Rubbing an old candle on the mast helps & wont stain your sails

 

[prv]

BTW, checking boats in the marina during the strong winds recently I did notice the significant reduction in windage of the short gaffer mast v. some of the tall-rig boats around (taking account of boat size, there were some bigger gaffers on the pontoons). Must be an equally big benefit if caught out in a blow at sea.

I have an Uffa Fox book on yacht design from the mid 1930s. At the time, practically all racing yachts had switched over from gaff to bermudan, but bermudan was still considered very much less seaworthy in the event of bad weather. Not without evidence, as several yachts were mentioned as having been dismasted in conditions in which, under gaff rig, they had regularly raced with significant canvas still up. The book did predict, however, that as experience with building bermudan masts grew, they would become more reliable until they were just as safe as gaff rig

Pete

 

[AHoy2]

I have an Uffa Fox book on yacht design from the mid 1930s. At the time, practically all racing yachts had switched over from gaff to bermudan, but bermudan was still considered very much less seaworthy in the event of bad weather. Not without evidence, as several yachts were mentioned as having been dismasted in conditions in which, under gaff rig, they had regularly raced with significant canvas still up. The book did predict, however, that as experience with building bermudan masts grew, they would become more reliable until they were just as safe as gaff rig

Pete

I was considering the bare poles situation (moored/anchored/running-off) rather than under canvas but I will have to agree that none of my bermudan rigged boats ever felt like lose losing a mast, but then I don't race my boats whatever the rig :>)

 

[AHoy2]

If you're single-handed on a small gaffer - flick the topping lift over to the windward side of the gaff first .Top it well up, nip up the main sheet. now when you pull up you should come more head to wind, with sail and gaff free of friction out to leeward.....

Rubbing an old candle on the mast helps & wont stain your sails

prr. No topping lift on my rig but one to bear in mind if I need to apply it on other boats. Will deploy one of my home stock of candles to the boat for dual use mast lube/romantic lighting use as required.

 

[Mel]

I put dubbin on the leather on my gaff saddle annually. Got a pot of dubbin from a Horse Tack shop in tub.

 

[Rum_Pirate]

On KATE

we learnt the hard and quick way :

How to Raise a Gaff

By Classic Boat // March 11, 2011
By RICHARD TOYNE

Large gaff-rigged vessels would traditionally have had the falls of the throat and the peak halyards on opposite sides of the mast, with the throat to port and the peak to starboard. This allowed two or more people to haul on each rope without obstructing each other.

On a small boat however, where the sail and gaff are light enough to be hoisted by one person, it can make sense to run both halyards down the same side of the mast. If they are arranged with the same number of blocks, and hence the same amount of demultiplication, the sail can be hoisted by holding the two ropes together and pulling on them as if they were one.

As the sail is being hoisted, the gaff should be kept horizontal. This distributes the weight evenly between the two halyards, and makes it comparatively easy to sweat up the throat and tension the luff of the sail, before it is peaked up. When the sail is being lowered, the gaff should be kept at the same angle as when it was set, so that the weight of the gaff will help the gaff jaws slide down the mast.

This entry was posted in Practical Advice, Sails and tagged Gaff. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to How to Raise a Gaff
Rum_Pirate says:
April 5, 2013 at 1:42 am
The following should be added after last paragraph.

The boom (certainly on larger vessels) should be raised using the topping lift before raising sail.
This takes the weight off the sail, the gaff and the halyards.
After the gaff is peaked up the topping lift can be eased.
The weight of the boom then stretches the sail into shape.

http://www.classicboat.co.uk/practical-advice/how-to-raise-a-gaff/

Apply some lanolin (or anhydrous lanolin) to the saddle.

 

[AHoy2]

Rum_Pirate. Thanks for the text and lanolin tip. The text describes the method I use but I have been lowering the gaff angle prior to easing the throat. As mentioned by others this is probably the cause of my problems, at least on lowering. Your added text re topping lift and the mention by prr has me considering if there should be one, so I will check the boat reviews and class info on what is the norm.

Nice photo of Kate, the 3rd reef seems very deep have you had need to use it?

 

[jerrytug]

I would like to hear about that mega3rd reef as well!

 

[Rum_Pirate]

Rum_Pirate. Thanks for the text and lanolin tip. The text describes the method I use but I have been lowering the gaff angle prior to easing the throat. As mentioned by others this is probably the cause of my problems, at least on lowering. Your added text re topping lift and the mention by prr has me considering if there should be one, so I will check the boat reviews and class info on what is the norm.

Nice photo of Kate, the 3rd reef seems very deep have you had need to use it?

I am privileged to sail on KATE, as I do not own her.

The rig has been changed to that of a yawl, and the jibs are now roller furling, mainly because of the raw muscle power required with the original rig. Took 7 to sail her comfortably, 5 was workable, 3 was damn hard work.

Yes, we have used the 3rd reef, but generally found that the first reef was adequate for sailing around here.

The mega reef was because the massive barnyard main was recut to suit the yawl rig


KATE now looks like this:

 

[Rum_Pirate]

As to reef this shows how the main was laced on the big main on KATE

 

[viva]

I dress the gaff jaws with dubbin but to protect the leather rather than a lubricant. For lowering I find the peak angle is crucial and the peak must be held high. If it gets stuck on lowering I have the throat and peak halyards in each hand and give them a jiggle, ie raise/lower, and this usually gets the gaff moving under its own weight