Nothing as elaborate or functional as Jeff's and other whisker poles, but the attached photo shows what I used.

It's a 6' long telescoping boat hook.  6' seemed like a good length but it was too long.  Go with a 4' that extends to 8'.  From the cabin it was easy to attach it to a shroud instead of the mast.  Probably not a good idea because you could break the shroud, but I never had any problems and used it for a lot of years.

Lee
1999 Rhodes22  AT EASE
Claytor Lake, VA

Whisker Pole.jpg