It's a long story but...the short version is...<br /><br />I have an antique sailboat designed in Holland, which means the mast is capable of going down to get under bridges over the canals. It's a 1967 and the mast has only been down once that I know of since 1971. Anyway, I had been hoisted up the mast 3 times to scrape old varnish and clean it before I went to the second owners house in DC and got the spinnaker poles for the vessel. While I was there he said he had a contraption for getting the mast down, but he didn't have the wench for it. Needlesstosay, I took it and promptly used it. Unfortunately, I used an old block set up that couldn't withstand the weight. It was straight out of a movie. The lines started snapping and I let it down as far as I could before the brass snap clip holding the block snapped. Luckily, a friend was at the stern guiding the mast into it's craddle. Due to our impetuousness, we messed up the lights, the boom and the track for the mainsail. However, now we are experts.
Im glad no one was hurt and no serious damage.