Not that hard. Can be done by 2 people, 3 makes it easy.
Build a mast crutch - I use an 8' 2x4 with a roller mounted at the top, and a cut in half square U-bolts rigged to be L shaped pintles to fit into the transom rudder gudgeons.
Remove front pin from mast foot bracket, so that mast can pivot aft on the other pin.
Tie a longer line to the jib halyard. Cleat off jib halyard end on mast. Give line to someone on the ground in front of the car. Have them pull the halyard to put slack in the forestay enough to unpin from the stemhead fitting. Have ground person continue to hole the mast up (very important
)
One person stands in front of the mast, facing aft. 3rd person can stand in cockpit for additional help. Not strictly necessary.
Cabin guy (#2) holds onto mast, and lets it down as ground guy (#1) slowly lets out halyard line. Cabin guy can walk forward (which is really aft ward) with mast between legs.
With a tall mast crutch such as mine, there isn't much distance to lower the mast before it's in the crutch.
At this point, I unpin the aft pin from the mast base bracket, lift mast, and walk it forward, as it rolls on my 4" bow roller mounted to the mast crutch. Actually, I'm more preventing it rolling forward due to the fairly steep angle.
I affix mast to bow pulpit, go to stern, and position trailering/storage crutch. This is basically 2 pieces of wood in a X config that fits onto the floor of the cockpit, and is tall enough for mast to be level with bow pulpit. Then I lift mast off crutch, and ground person removes stepping crutch from transom rudder fittings. Just lay mast into storage crutch, and fasten. I use a nylon cam buckle strap attached to the aft cleats.
For further storage, or to use mast as tarp ridge pole, I use a similar X crutch at the back of the cabin to support the middle of the mast, and it becomes very rigid. Some people have rigged a short crutch to mount in the mast step. Not a bad idea…
Affix your shrouds as needed to minimize movement and chafe against mast. Some will remove from chainplates and wrap along mast with pallet wrap (like a big roll of saran wrap.)
Hope this helps.
