James,

I see you are also from NC. Where do you sail? Right now all the lakes are so low I have about given up for the season. The coast is a little too far from me to drag the boat right now especially with the cost of gas.

The bamboo sounds like a good idea. I happened to have the tent poles handy when I made the tripod. I drilled holes near the top and about a foot from the bottom. I tied the top together and put a loop at the bottom holes to keep the legs from spreading. Once you get used to setting up solo, it is hard to adapt to someone trying to help. It upsets the routine. The biggest problem to avoid is having the shrouds and wires hook on something as you raise the mast. Another pitfall is having a shroud twisted on a shackle on the mast. It will put a bend in the wire and require that you replace it. That can happen even with someone helping.

Howard