How to measure mast height ?

[fireball]

no - any old herring will do .... it will attract the seagull - you can then get a crew member to stand on the bridge and shoot it - it will get enough sideways movement to miss the deck and hit the water - thus giving the height of the top of your mast from the water....

 

[Lakesailor]

Apparently that's true.

Oh, congratulations 100+

 

[landaftaf]

thinking about that I have the answer - all you need to do is put a long bendy bit on top of the mast - then you can go under any bridge without having to worry as it will bend - no problems ...........

 

[Lakesailor]

But to return to the original question.
How long is your bendy bit?

 

[tcm]

10 ways to measure the mast height

1. set off in boat, launch dinghy, attach a painter around backstay (assuming not fractional rig) the undo seacocks in (say) 50 feet on depth sounder, measuresmall additioanl amount still above the water with tape measure (or depth to top of mast a)nd allow a bit if the boat took a long time to sink as tide might change or there was an offset on the sounder. Then call coastguard or insurance company to refloat.

2. Get a really massive long bit of wood or plastic a good bit longer than the mast, and blather up the end with a load of spray grease and then on tiop of that some talcum powder. Attac the non-greasy end to the mast with cable ties as high as you can and mark carefully where the botton comes to, then drive up to a lowish bridge and when you take the it will be obvious where the extension whacked the bridge.

3. Find someone in the marina with an annoyingly/impressively active son, and agree to sendim up the mast with tape measure.

4. Look up in the boat ads on the internet how high the mast is. Or find some handy knowall at an owner's club.

5. Ring the supplier or manufacturer say you are considering one just he same in black, and they'kl find out pretty pronto.

6. Instead of the boatsinking idea which is a bit daft, try find somewhere in the channel islands at springs with massive tide, and use somewhere like the fuel jetty at jersey to get a bit more height. Or the fuel jetty at roscoff is ok too.

7. The rockthrowing idea won't work cos to be of any use you have to either hit the bird and it falls instantly with no staggering, PLUS it disregards the frictional forces which the bird to a terminal velocity. So this isn't even on the list really.

7a. Look out over the marina and find a few boats with the same mast height and see if any with approx the same height of mast know the height of their mast. Or indeed, if they fancy the yachtsinking idea if their boat is crap and they fancy the insurance.

8. Buy or borrow one ofthose irritating shiny balloons and a long string. Float it in calm conditions up the mast and then pull it down and measure the string. Hey, this is quite good one!

9. The halyard idea is good, but you have to gues the extra bit to the very top.

10. Buy some drainrods, and knectem together and twangle them up the mast in around the ropes and measure the length when you've gottem lined up to the top.

 

[Lakesailor]

Re: 10 ways to measure the mast height

Have you been away for a bit? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Dav-al]

Any ideas for measuring mast height WITHOUT climbing the mast or using a sextant?

Ta Chris.

a 2 + b 2 = c 2
length of the foot= b2 (length of the bottom edge)
length of the luff= a2 (leading edge)
length of the leech= c2

You should be able to measure from the gooseneck of the boom to the lower portion of the mast. Then, add that to the length of the "luff"- (leading edge). now you have your answer. Also, you have all the angles and lengths/measurements to measure nearly everythin atop of the boat; i.e. forestay, shroud, leech, etc.

 

[Mark Miller]

https://www.riggingdoctor.com/life-aboard/2017/12/23/measuring-your-mast-height

 

[Malabarista]

Not sure of the rules but as this thread is quite the funniest thing I have read in a long long time. I would like to give others the chance to read it. It was over ten years ago
Strangely enough it came up in a search for silicon radiator hose.

 

[VicS]

Not sure of the rules but as this thread is quite the funniest thing I have read in a long long time. I would like to give others the chance to read it. It was over ten years ago
Strangely enough it came up in a search for silicon radiator hose.

Try searching for silicone radiator hose.

 

[scottie]

Ah the good old days with a few well Kent faces
Who thinks that it was more fun then ?

 

[Malabarista]

Try searching for silicone radiator hose.

I was saving the e in case i needed it later ?

 

[dolabriform]

One of the best threads I've ever seen, can it be made a sticky please?

 

[Big John]

I know because we've tried this - the stone method won't work because the stone is still accelerating as it falls below the height of the mast and so there is no way to get an accurate time measurement. In order for that method to work you would have to throw the stone sufficiently above the height of the mast so that it is traveling at a constant speed for the entire length of the mast. We tried throwing, catapult and even considered attaching it to a mini-flare to get the height. In the end we resorted to using a tape measure attached to the main halyard. But then that led to a whole other set of problems with getting the chewing gum sticky enough to hold the halyard and tape measure together.

The stone will not fall at a constant speed no matter how high you throw it.
The stone will accelerate at 32ft per sec per sec. Standard physics.

 

[dolabriform]

The stone will not fall at a constant speed no matter how high you throw it.
The stone will accelerate at 32ft per sec per sec. Standard physics.

Errr.. no.. Send it high enough and it will reach terminal velocity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_velocity

 

[dolabriform]

I was saving the e in case i needed it later ��

I always keep a spare in the fridge!

Naughty Naughty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFJdUJg4wOk

 

[richardabeattie]

Measure the distance between the mast track rivets and count the rivets?

 

[weustace]

Not sure of the rules but as this thread is quite the funniest thing I have read in a long long time. I would like to give others the chance to read it. It was over ten years ago
Strangely enough it came up in a search for silicon radiator hose.

Hear hear! That was hilarious...I clicked only because I wondered how even the YBW fora could make "how to measure mast height" into 12 pages. I wasn't disappointed.

 

[fisherman]

Now come along, wasn't any one of you a boy scout? Staff of known height, known distance from mast, align the tips of both, apply ratios.
5ft staff, 6ft from eye, 60ft from mast, mast is 50ft....or is it 55ft?

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Haul your recording barometer to the top of the mast. The difference in barometric pressure, compensated for temperature, will give you the height of your mast. Note: You will need a recording barometer with good resolution.

Failing that, tie the barometer to your main halyard and set it swinging. Time the swings and use that to calculate the length of your halyard and hence your mast.