Spinnaker Pole

[woolamaloo]

I mounted my whisker pole outside the stanchions and while the spinnaker pole took up so much room on the foredeck, I didn't like it outside the stanchions. You can see in this picture that there's no place to step.



I got the idea to leave the aft end of the pole in the deck chock and only hang the front of the pole from the stanchion. It had the added benefit of making the two poles parallel when viewed from the side.


In this pic, you can see that I left the foreward deck chock. Just moving the pole that few inches gave me much more room to walk around.

 

[nquigley]

Loren, Those chocks work well when the pole is in them. When the pole is in use, they become a great source of shin bruises and tripping of foredeck crew! A friend advised me to loosen the screws on the clamps just enough to rotate them parallel to the lifelines. Problem solved. Also I learned that if you leave the chocks in the full open position (when rotated parallel to the lifelines) sheets will no get tangled in them! Another problem solved. Now every time I see these chocks on a boat, I see if they are loose enough to swivel (most people have them too tight) and therefore don't know they are a problem.

On my 32-3, my aft chock (same type) is mounted outboard and the forward one, inboard. Only ~10" of the pole extends past of the aft mounting chock: it projects ~2" beyond the toerail. It keeps the side deck clear, and keeps the pole's forward end well inboard.