Using your boom as a crane

[jimi]

An elderly gentleman of this parish seems to be reluctant to come sailing with me and I can only put it down to his advancing years andincreased weight impinging upon his mobility. So I had an Idea. Can I use my boom as a crane to winch Parahandy on board?

 

[Twister_Ken]

If you judge the breaking strain of your topping lift nicely, you should be able to drop him right in it, protesting all the while "Hoots mon, sh'nae ma fawt. Ra bluidy line sh'made in bluidy China."

 

[snowleopard]

It is perfectly feasible to use the boom as a crane. The critical part of the operation is deciding how to secure the line to the object being hoisted. If you tie it securely to the correct part the object will hoist itself aboard PDQ as soon as the line comes taut.

 

[shmoo]

Experience from PIW retrieval:

Don't expect to be able to use the topping lift for up/down once the boom is swung out -it will come off its sheave. Get a good up/down angle while boom is fore and aft and lock it off and use the main sheet for actually hoisting. Use halyard as belay/backup.

 

[tcm]

These days he is probably averse to short trips. hah! SHORT trips, geddit?

 

[PeterGibbs]

A nice thought but if the load unloaded itself into the oggin en route to the cockpit, would there still be laughter at the end of the exercise. Or would there be a writ for damages? I can't see an insurer taking a benign attitude to this one - in emergency, yes, but otherwise...

PWG

 

[Jonny_H]

When we were in the Isle of Man - the local charity boat (Bav 41?) moored next to us in Douglas. They used a block & Tackle off the centre of the boom to lift people in wheel chairs off the dock and onto the boat - looked like quite a good set-up. If you have enough clearance it would work well.

Jonny

 

[Poignard]

Having had a boom [recently surveyed and passed ok] unexpectedly snap in two whilst undersail, I'd recommend caution. There are rules covering lifting equipment, and if you kill or injure someone by using unsafe equipment there are plenty of lawyers around who would be only too happy to take you to the financial cleaners!

My boom snapped as a result of being weakened by hidden corrosion. From the outside it looked ok and I used to swing off it sometimes [thinks: maybe that's what did for it! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif].

 

[ShipsWoofy]

[ QUOTE ]
It is perfectly feasible to use the boom as a crane. The critical part of the operation is deciding how to secure the line to the object being hoisted. If you tie it securely to the correct part the object will hoist itself aboard PDQ as soon as the line comes taut.

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif crossing legs /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[ChrisE]

No, no, no. You can use a boom as a bittern but never a crane. It just doesn't make the right noise.

And I thought that you were some kind of yotting guru, stick to climbing.

 

[tcm]

SSh! They're all asleep! Coffee?

 

[snowleopard]

[ QUOTE ]
When we were in the Isle of Man - the local charity boat (Bav 41?) moored next to us in Douglas. They used a block & Tackle off the centre of the boom to lift people in wheel chairs off the dock and onto the boat - looked like quite a good set-up. If you have enough clearance it would work well.

Jonny

[/ QUOTE ]
Lucky them. In mainland Britain if you tried to do that you'd have H&S on your back in seconds. Not approved equipment! I'd like to take some of our wheelchair-bound clients on my boat and with a rigid boom it would be easy to hoist them but the rules mean I couldn't even think of it.