Hi folks, well I hope I don't screw up my first posting. This forum has been a wonderful help to me. I bought an '82 16 a month ago and it's my first multihull. I am teaching myself how to sail her solo, as finding a willing daredevil around here is not easy. Especially for a 67 year old dude - even if he's fit and good looking. I removed the trap wires to simplify everything and that was a good thing. I read Berman's Cat Sailing and that too was helpful. I avoid more than ten knots of wind, and am training on a small fresh water lake. I weigh around 2 hundred lbs. and hiking and careful attention to main sheet and tiller seem to keep the hull I'm sitting on close to the water so far! I will probably be sailing on the Hudson River eventually and tides and currents will make it interesting - not to mention an occasional tug and barge.But let me cut to the chase before AOL crashes.
1. Have not found a need to secure trap wires to assist raising mast.
2. The boat came with a 2X4rig that forms a 6 foot crutch which I place near the tangs before raising. With this I can start right up on the tramp(no ladder needed).
3. Parking downhill is absolutely necessary if I want to be able to get the ball in the socket w/o a heart attack.
4. I use a line attached to the jib halyard to hold the mast up til I can get the jib stay attached.
Just wanted to make those points in case any other new folks come along and have the same problems I did. Feel free to offer any further advice. Hey the sun is burning through and wind is supposed to be ~ 7 mph with 70+ degrees temp . Heading for the lake, later, whoa