Cost to drop the mast in British Columbia

Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
For those of you up in British Columbia - I just wanted to throw out a couple questions regarding costs to do mast work.

It was my hope this spring to have the mast brought down so that I could bang off a few outstanding jobs. I need to replace the Uppers, replace a halyard, re-do all the wiring and re-bed the deck under the mast step where water is getting into the core (a common C-30 problem).

I received a quote from a local rigger (who has a very good reputation, and to whom I took an instant liking upon first meet). The cost for the job was waaaay beyond what I expected, or can afford. When I delved into the quote, I saw that about half of the bill was for time to drop the mast and time to put it back up. 4 – 6 hours labour to pull it down and 8 – 10 hours to put it back up (which included rig tuning time). All those hours made the task about $1600.00

I’m very much a hands-on person and do just about everything myself if it’s at all reasonable. In this case, I was planning on having everything prepped with the rigging – boom off, turnbuckles loosened, etc. and this was accounted for with the quote. He figured we could shave a couple hours off the time by me doing the prep. So call it 4 hours out and 8 hours in.

What am I missing here?!?!?!?! I just can't figure out why it takes so many hours. The lift tower and rigger shop are on site at the boat yard, so there is no travel cost.....and like I said – the rigger is a solid guy with a good reputation…but if it costs that much to bring a mast down, how do all those US East Coasters afford to do it annually??? Honestly, I was expecting that part of the bill to be no more than $500.00
 
Nov 7, 2012
678
1978 Catalina 30 Wilbur-by-the-Sea
Stepping the mast should only take 1.5 hours each but will take a few people so maybe they are charging for the man hours. I had our new rigging fabricated off site and installed it myself in addition to new spreaders. $500 you are suggested seems like a good price.

The tuning once up you can do yourself, did mine myself, you just need a loose gauge. We did ours with the boat in the water and dropped in the motor at the same time. Took an hour or so, I retuned after a month as it was new wire, did not need much adjustment.
 
Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
Yes, that's about what I thought it should take... an hour or two. But good point about man-hours. if he was using 3 or so people you'd chew though cash quickly.
None of it is rocket science, so it's too bad I couldn't use my own people to help....but liability and all.....that would never happen. Even the Marina's yard staff aren't allowed to use the crane. Workers Compensation Board has strict rules around cranes.
 
Mar 2, 2008
406
Cal 25 mk II T-Bird Marina, West Vancouver
A couple of years ago the price quoted to un-step and step my mast at Thunderbird Marina was about CDN$400 plus taxes. This did not include storing the mast in the yard or tuning the rig after installation.
 
Aug 1, 2011
3,972
Catalina 270 255 Wabamun. Welcome to the marina
Thunderbird would probably be the same in Sidney.
 
Aug 13, 2012
533
Catalina 270 Ottawa
If you are well prepared, stepping and unstepping a mast (even on a 30) should not take more than half an hour each (I mean, the time under the crane). On a good day, it can take as little as 20 min; on a bad one - up to an hour (but if you leave it to professionals, they should not have bad days).

You need a minimum of three people (furler, mast, crane) ; I prefer to do it with 5 (i.e. 4 plus me). If you have only two people, there is a lot of running around involved (and the time gets longer).

Of course, this does not include the prep work (sails off, boom off, lines off deck organisers, turn-buckles loosened, etc.) or any of the work after you step it.

First time it might be a bit overwhelming (or hairy); if you haven't done it before, you may want to ask for help from someone more experienced. We do it each year; eventually, you develop the skills.

Good luck
 

bgary

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Sep 17, 2015
53
1985 Ericson 32-III Everett
I recently pulled the mast on a new-to-me 32-footer. I did the prep myself - pulled the boom off, coiled and taped/tied-up the halyard tails, disconnected all wiring, un-did the mast-boot and blocks (mine is keel-stepped), pulled all running rigging, unpinned and loosened all shrouds and stays, etc, etc. Took me about 4 hours to do it all. Well, maybe a little longer, because I also pulled off the main and headsail, folded them up, and disassembled the drum on the roller-furler so it wouldn't get damaged in the process.

Anyway, having done all that, from the time I pulled the boat into the slip at the yard until the time the mast was on a cart was about 20 minutes. So... yeah, if you do all that prep, 4 hours seems pretty high.

Same on the other end of things: it shouldn't take more than 30-45 minutes to get the mast back in the boat and connect/snug enough of the standing rigging to make sure it stays upright. After that, you can do all the rest yourself ("tune" the rig, pin and tape all the turnbuckles, reinstall boom, sails, running rigging, reconnect wiring, etc.)
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,600
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
'Round here you pay by the foot for mast dropping and raising. It's not an hourly thing. I think it's about $4.50 a foot - up and down. They also get storage fees and fees for wrapping the mast - a dubious practice. And, if the yard has to do any prep it's at the hourly rate which is $60 +/hour. So you want to get everything done ahead of the yard getting the boat in the work well. You just want them to pull the pins and hopefully not break anything (Or get a worker killed which almost happened a few years ago).
To answer the question how do we East Coasters afford it, the answer is we do the prep work, and tuning and we don't take our masts down that often. In my opinion, the yards are short sighted in the cost of taking the masts down, since there is so much work they would get if more of us took our masts down more often. But it's their yard and their rules.
 
Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
Thanks for your input gang, it's appreciated.
Seems like I was not misguided in my thoughts on the time this job should take. As I mentioned, it appears like this quote was treating it more from a "man-hours" approach, rather than a "task" approach. 3 or 4 guys at about $90/hr. I get it....but you can't tell me that a fella guiding the base of the mast is worth the same dollar-per-hour that the master rigger is.

I always think that if you just make these things REASONABLE, then people are willing (albeit perhaps reluctantly) to go ahead. This guy was great - knowledgeable, personable, experienced. But he has done himself out of the job by making it unattainable to the average person. Sails are the same thing in our area. They cost 3 times as much to have them made by a local loft rather than by mail from a company having them put together in China. Will they sail my boat 3 times faster? Nope. Do I care about that anyway? Nope. And if they wear out faster due to workmanship I can replace them TWICE as often and still be financially ahead!! To be clear, I'm not saying I would go to China for parts just because it's cheaper. I want made-in-NA parts WHENEVER possible...but the loft isn't making their own cloth...and this rigger isn't making his own wire....

Damn, I just hijacked my own thread.....
Anyway to get back to the main point - I have a new plan on getting the mast work done - Since I am switching to an energy harvesting Anchor light I can skip needing to upgrade the in-mast wiring. The upper shrouds can be replaced myself with the mast still standing. I do need to get at the deck under the mast-step to stop water ingress at the conduit. So I'm going to get some longer galvanized turnbuckles, and I'm going to clamp/lift the mast straight up with a piston jack, loosening the temporary turnbuckles as I go. Once I'm up 8 inches or so I will slide a support under the mast to protect me and cut/repair the deck, then reverse the process. Who knows - maybe I'll even offer to pay myself $90 per hour.....
 
Mar 15, 2013
197
Islander 32 mkll Comox Hrb.
Here in Comox it only costs $35.00 to use the crane on the government dock, and with three people at low tide it takes about half an hour to get the mast up or down provided some prep work is done.
 
Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
Here in Comox it only costs $35.00 to use the crane on the government dock, and with three people at low tide it takes about half an hour to get the mast up or down provided some prep work is done.
Wow, that's a good deal! Have you done it on your 32?
We have a couple of Gov't docks down here with a crane, but I assumed that (even at low tide) there wouldn't be quite enough height. It's a great idea. I should go out and do some measuring, and ask the Harbour Authority what the rules are.
Thanks.
 
Mar 15, 2013
197
Islander 32 mkll Comox Hrb.
I've done it several times with the 32 now, I just time it so the the rigging is slack and ready to unpin, and have planks over top of my fenders for riding against the piles at the wharf head. With my mast I put a cow hitched strap around twice and slide it up with a pike pole(with crane hook attached) until under the spreaders, and that is just about the perfect balance point for upending the mast being careful to lift it high enough to swing the self furling gear to lay along the mast, and then tilting the whole mess horizontal while slowly laying it all down on the push pit and pull pit. Then I lash it down and all together to trailer it home for the winter. It's actually easier than it sounds with some extra hands. I get a buddy to run the crane, and the wife and I do the deck work!
 
Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
Thanks Scotty.
I'm going to go up and look at the Tsehum Harbour manual crane this weekend. They have one there used to haul commercial fish gear.
 
Mar 15, 2013
197
Islander 32 mkll Comox Hrb.
You may need to wait for a lower low water and do it while the tide is falling, remember too that the load point is just below the spreaders. Good luck and hopefully you can save a little cash!
 
Aug 13, 2012
533
Catalina 270 Ottawa
I am assuming that your mast has single spreaders. If so, a simple loop around the mast sliding up to the spreaders is fine. If you have double spreaders, it is a bit more complicated.

Btw. You want to have the mast balanced, but a bit foot heavy (you don't want it to flip over on its own).

Of course, it depends on the height of the available crane, but you don't need to raise the mast too high. the lift point is just above the mid point of the mast, so you need a crane that can raise mast/2 + 10 cm.
 
Jun 5, 2012
153
Catalina 30 mkI Victoria, British Columbia
I am assuming that your mast has single spreaders. If so, a simple loop around the mast sliding up to the spreaders is fine. If you have double spreaders, it is a bit more complicated.

Btw. You want to have the mast balanced, but a bit foot heavy (you don't want it to flip over on its own).

Of course, it depends on the height of the available crane, but you don't need to raise the mast too high. the lift point is just above the mid point of the mast, so you need a crane that can raise mast/2 + 10 cm.
Yes, just single spreaders. A lot does depend on the crane...and if I can find a place close by to store the mast while I do the work. I would love to avoid needing to build a deck bridle for it to sit on