The cover that came with the boat when I purchased her back in 2014 is a mast-down cover, so I've taken the mast down all but I think 2 years when the schedule didn't work out and I had her shrink-wrapped instead. I do usually have a few chores each year with the mast as a result of looking it over, plus it forces me to work all the turn-buckles. I know I could just get the cover modified, but the cost of the crane for take down / put up is only a little higher than the cost to shrink-wrap.Just curious, why did you take the mast down?
In my limited experience, I've found that this depends on the boat. For mine, the connections are in the base of the mast. So when we take the mast down (or put it up) the crane has to hold the mast about a foot over the deck while I deal with the connections. I only have three--the VHF, the TV Antenna (which I've actually taken off the top of the mast, but I left the cable), and a multi-prong connector for the 3 lights on the mast (the masthead light, steaming light, and a deck light that doesn't work anymore). For another guy in our club, however, his connections were inside the compression post. When he took his mast down last year he had all kinds of trouble trying to pull the cables out of the post to get to the connections. So I think it just depends on the boat.Where/how are your mast wiring connections made up? I will need to unstep and replace the VHF cable one of these years.