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How Thomas Bodine Raises the mast on a Nimble Artic 24

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I have a nimble Arctic 24 or 26. I call it a 26 because if you measure from the bow to the back of the rudder the length is 26 ft. The mast of a Nimble Arctic or Kodiak is 120 lb in weight. This is difficult for an old man like me to lift alone. It's difficult for three men to lift as a team. So I designed and tested and built a Gin Pole powered with an electric winch to help me raise the mast. This article describes the process I use for raising the mast. The mast is held up by a mast crutch when stowed for towing, which I have modified so there's a wheel on the crutch part making it easier to push the mast back before raising or pull it forward prior to towing. When I travel down the road I secure the mast in place with the traveler connected to the fairlead on the top of the mast portside. First thing I do is prepare the boat and take the Boom and the Mizzen mast and put them on the ground at the stern of the boat. The Mast ...
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S/V Bagatelle Gin Pole Upgrade

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After my last trip to go sailing in December of 2025 when I got the gin pole down on the ground I noticed that it was broken. Fortunately it didn't break while I was lowering the mast or we would have had a crisis. When I built the pole originally I just grabbed a spare 2x4 I had on my wood pile to use as a pole and it wasn't weatherized in anyway it was just a standard 2x4 so 2 years of sitting out in the weather not being fully painted yielded this kind of condition. It as cracking at the pivot point. Below you'll see the full length Gin pole, note the bend just past the winch Below is the rot that occured beneath the winch, the cause of the break. My quandary was how to repair it. I could replace the 2x4 with another 2x4 that's treated or I could replace it with a steel or aluminum beam that would not fail so quickly. I know that a steel pole 102 inches long would be really heavy at 46 pounds. Aluminum would be lighter at 15 pounds. wood would weigh in at...
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My Saga of Designing and building a Nimble Artic Gin Pole for Mast raising

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Bagatelle Gin Pole Design Saga Bagatelle is a Nimble Artic. Her mast weighs about 150 lbs. I can lift maybe 50 lbs above my head. So I find it difficult to raise her mast on my own. I decided to design a gin pole to help lift the mast. I watched a couple of videos on Youtube Raise or Lower a Mast with a Gin Pole (Yachtorial) Andrew Price https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM-FjH_DlqY 1971 O'Day Mariner mast Raise with DIY Gin Pole (Brad Builds Tables) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsReBbNHFsw My first concern was how to attach the gin pole. My first try at attachment was to cut the mast end of the gin pole to fit the mast. Then add hooks to the side to provide a connection for a ratchet strap to hold the pole to the mast. I tried to use this to raise the pole, I found that the gin pole would rotate about the mast so to use it, I needed an extra hand or two to steady both the Gin pole and the mast when going up...
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