Advice on Selden Mast Removal

[Rick486]

Hi all:
Maxine is due for mast maintenance and I am looking for advice from guys who have had their yard take down Selden masts. Up to now, I have always had the dealer yard do the mast maintenance so I never really gave it a second thought because they are experienced in Hunter masts and, indeed, store all boats in the yard with masts down, so they get plenty of practice and are highly skilled.
However, due to COVID 19 and other reasons I find myself needing my home yard to take down the mast, with help from a local rigger. The rigger will accomplish the inspection and maintenance of the mast once it is down. I'm comfortable with the rigger because his guys have the Selden training and do local work on Hunters.
So, I'm asking for any thoughts/ideas/cautions anyone would care to offer. I have some specific concerns as follows:

1. The correct technique for lifting the mast from the deck with the yard crane. My yard does remove large masts with their crane so they are experienced, but my mast does not have winches near the deck so there is not a convenient attachment point for the line from the crane hook. The "traditional" technique is of course for the crane to lift a mast with two attachments, one at the winch level which carries the weight and a second attachment above the lower spreaders to steady the mast during the lift so it remains mostly vertical during the removal. Then there are light lines for ground crew to guide the mast to a setting down location. On my Selden mast the boom fitting is a possible lift point but I'm not sure there is enough strength margin in that fitting. Then there is the roller furling forestay to contend with. I will have the riggers present to assist during this evolution. Unfortunately, I did not see the dealer yard guys do the lift at last maintenance. Any thoughts on this?

2. The mast will be set down on wooden blocks or saw horses on the dock after removal. Any thoughts on the proper technique for that? The Selden mast is preloaded with a slight bend before installation in the boat so it must be set down carefully.

3. When the mast is down I expect the riggers to pull the mains'l furler from inside the mast, clean, lube, and reinstall.

4. I expect the rigger to disassemble the jib furler drum and clean/lube also.

5. I expect the riggers to inspect all the shrouds and turnbuckles and replace as necessary, lube and reassemble.

The rig was out 4 years ago so I don't expect any big problems, and I hope I won't need to sell my house to pay for this

Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Rick

 

[Nodak7]

Here is a picture of us raising the mast on our H41DS. We used large saw horses and a strap. Worked great! Have done this 5 times for our selden masts!

 

[jssailem]

Rick, the way they are lifting @Nodak 's mast is similar to the way my rigger and the yard lifted my mast. Of course mine is more of a telephone pole then your Selden, but the physics is the same.

A wrap attached to the mast section between the upper and lower spreaders. The this carries the weight vertically.

Here is the mast suspended on the crane after being plucked from the boat.

Here is the plucking

Here is the mast in the yard being worked on

All the work has been done. We moved the mast to a mast cart to roll the mast out to the landing yard next to the dock.

Here she comes. Lifted by the crane and being swung past the lamp post, over the edge of the pier down 20 feet to where the boat is sitting. This was a bottom cycle day of a Spring King tide. The tide drop was 12.4 feet. Plenty of room for the crane to safely lower the 40 foot mast to the deck.

I was a little nervous watching both ends of the mast. The bottom end swinging past the lamp post and the upper end precariously close to the crane arm. I could see the top of the mast gear getting sacked off.

All went well. no damage. The crane guys and my rigger were Mast Whispers that day.

 

[Nodak7]

BTW you will need pretty tall sawhorses to support the mast. The selden mast has very long swept back spreaders that are long! Other than that have fun!

 

[Dan_Y]

BTW you will need pretty tall sawhorses to support the mast. The selden mast has very long swept back spreaders that are long! Other than that have fun!

Search the Selden site for their Free Tips and Tricks Guide (I think it’s called). They go through the steps of rigging & tuning the B&R rig, including putting a choker sling on the mast and hoisting it.