Posted by Mark Darrah on September 22, 1998 at 00:46:29 in d164-14.ce.mediaone.net:
In Reply to: Re: Forward derrick posted by Mark Darrah on September 22, 1998 at 00:41:47:
Make that " I don't think that it was ever meant to be stowed against the mast".
: I got to thinking about it, and I don't think that it was ever meant to be mounted to the mast. The base of the boom would have had a pin that fit into the mount. This was for side to side movement.
: Then there would have been a hinge above the pin that allowed the up/down movement. There are many close up pictures of this kind of arrangement of other ships.
: This would have presented quite a challenge if they wanted to stow it against the mast. Since the mast is angled back, you would need to pull the boom past the vertical and then back (assuming you didn't crush the crows nest!). With that thing standing straight up, you would have no control over it as it could travel in any direction.
: The boom on the aft of the mast would never go past vertical, so it always had gravity to help control it's movement.
: My guess is that it was either stowed at an angle to the deck or even competely horizontal. Again, there are many pictures of these type of booms being stowed flat and tied down with ropes. Many ships had several booms attached around the whole circumpherence of the mast, and they could all be stowed parellel with the deck.
: NOW I'm going to bed!