Adapting a boathook to do double duty
Issue 93 : Nov/Dec 2013
To make my own whisker pole, I developed an alternative approach to that described by Clarence Jones (“An Inexpensive Whisker Pole,” May 2012). My device begins with a West Marine telescoping boathook, model #289480, and the same Forespar Lexan snap-on hook. The business end of the boathook is threaded with the same diameter and pitch as a paint-roller handle.
The diameters of the Forespar fitting and the boathook handle are nearly the same. At my local metal market, I found a 6-inch length of aluminum tubing that slipped over the handle end of the boathook. I rolled up the rubber handle, slid on the tubing, secured it with self-tapping screws, then rolled the rubber handle back down. After a bit of work with some coarse sandpaper, the Forespar fitting slid into the end of the 6-inch extension. I epoxied it in place.
For the other end, I bought an inexpensive paint roller and cut off the metal roller part, leaving about 3 inches. Like Clarence, I used a piece of tubing to protect the sail.
The beauty of this device is that I can have the boathook do double duty as a whisker pole by simply screwing on the paint-roller end. I poke the spike into the clew of the jib and clip the snap-on hook into a ring on the mast.
David Wrate lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where he and his wife, Cindi, cruise the beautiful Gulf Islands in CinDino, their 1978 Crown 34, a truly good old boat.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
