Dropping the mast-Oday 23

[Tim Daley]

Its almost time to haul my Oday 23 (1981) and I am not sure which,or how many of the shroud lines, forestay, etc. need to be detached in order to lay the mast down. When I purchased the boat the mast was down and all lines were detached so I had nothing to refer to. Any information would be helpful

 

[Josh]

Oday 22...

I've got an O'day 22 I just purchased, and the foot of the mast is curved on both ends. It's held in by two pins, and what this allows me to do is pull one pin, remove all but the forestay and lower the mast without the need for someone to put their foot at the base of the mast to keep it in place. Leaving one pin in does this, works like a hinge basically. Bring a friend, and have him help you hold the mast as you bring it down. It can be a bit heavy for one person, but with that pin in there and two people, it comes down with realative ease. Then you pull out the other pin, have your buddy feed the mast as you move the foot of it back and strap the sucker down! Then your done...Only the forestay was left secured on my boat, but I don't know if this is required or if this is just the way the previous owner did it. If anything, you'd have to really loosen up the turnbuckles if you weren't going to release the stays completely.Josh

 

[Gregory]

Dropping the mast

Unless you are trailering the boat, my first question is why do you need to drop the mast? I write this in response to make you life easier. I have owned my O'Day 23 for 12 years and only twice did I drop the mast and that was for some mast work needed at the top of the rig.So, other than mast work or to make it more water tight when covering, keep the rig up and ease the tension on the deck by loosening all stays. I think I have loosened my stays about a half inch to an inch (pending, are they fore or back stays or side stays. No mater what you decide, you wil do the right thing. Just for the ease of storage undo all stays and mark them, in the spring you will realize how much easier it is to find the correct stay-to-turnbuckle and what a time saver it will be.Take care and fair windsGreg

 

[Kirk Perry]

Mast is down

I just bought a 23, and the only disconnected stay was the Forestay. I was able to lay the mast down on the ground next to my trailer by disconnecting one of the upper shrouds.I am stripping the paint off my mast.

 

[Don Evans]

A Question For Greg...

Have you noticed any problems with shroud chainplates, or other rigging components? The mast-up/down during winter debate has been ongoing for years. You mentioned some reasons for dis-masting during winter layup, but the one argument I have read consistently is that the loosened rig will vibrate excessively, especially during winter winds, in essence shortening the life of the rig and the rig attachment points. Your experience appears to be otherwise.Don

 

[Rick Leger]

My method works great for my 25'

Tim,I like to bring my mast down each season and devised a method which works great on our O'day 25. I posted a hand drawing of my system which uses an extension ladder. This drawing w/ instructions is posted in the "PHOTO FORUM" section of this web-site. Scroll down and you'll find it second from the last one, it's titled "O'day 25 Mast Raise" by Rick Leger. Best of luck and e-mail me at RLeger@gis.net if you have any questions on this method.Rick