getting the mast down

[hellerjo]

I am planning to take the mast down in the spring to install a wind vane.
Also to install a pro furl furler.
I would like to do it in the safest way. I don't want the mast to be destroyed in the process. I only have 2 helpers (wife) and my sailing buddy. (both not the best helpers.) I hope they don't see this post.
I've been reading up on using a gin pole. Or an A frame. Which is more advisable to use? I have already bought a 7' 2X4, and I am making a crutch to mount on the pintles where the rudder goes- how high should this be.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Joe

 

[Alan]

You can do this job yourself very easily. You don't need any 'helpers' for this. Check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM8m-Orrspo&feature=fvsr

 

[inarathree]

Hellerjo, I took down the mast on my H22 last month, while I had her out of the water for maintenance. Taking down the mast (and then stepping it) wasn't all that different than on my Hobie16 or any of the 18 foot cats on the beach, maybe just a little longer. Certainly you can do it yourself, but I would want a helper ther the first couple times you do it, if for nothing else than to run around and release things you forgot about. Many suggest loosening the shrouds, but I didn't find it necessary. I attached a line to the jib halyard, then through a snap shackle at the bow I use for the jib, then back to the winch. Release the forestay. The mast should still be able to stand by itself. It isn't that heavy. I wouldn't leave it like this if your boat is in the water or ther is a lot of wind, without someone holding it. Anyway from here I just loosed the line around the winch. I only used one wrap around the winch. Have your helper pull the front pin in the mast plate. The mast will hinge back on the rear pin. As you let out the line the mast will come down. Having a helper steady the mast is good here, after a couple times you will be able to do both steady and lower. I made a mast crutch from a 6 ft piece of wood, placed close to the companionway. Once the mast is lowered to that point, you should be able to handle moving the crutch further aft, thus lowering the mast further. Once to thus point, you can pull the other pin and any other connection, and slide the mast more forward, or work on it there. Sorry I didn't take a video of it. I thought of doing it after it was down. And again after it was back up. My boat is in the water year round, so it is not something I do a lot of, maybe one of the members who trailer theirs can share more tips. I know the thought of handling such an unwieldily thing is scary, but it really isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Benny17441]

Don't know which is better between a gin pole or an A frame as I have never used either. As far as the height of the mast crutch I would make it just as high as the support to be used at the bow of the boat so that it will seat even in a horizontal position. In all instance it must clear the cabin top. Have never had a mast sag out of shape from being suspended just by the ends on a trailer. For long term storage you may want to add some support at the cabin top. We trailer a 22' Starwind and manually raise and lower the mast with just two people. For lowering, this is our routine. We remove all the sails and the boom. Take off the rudder and install the mast crutch. We make sure we have overhead clearance and at least 20 ft of free space behind the boat. We lightly loosen the shrouds and headstay until the mast can be rattled. Next, we attach a block to the bow fixture where the headstay is attached to and run the headsail halyard through it and back to the cabin. The bitter end of the halyard is securely tied to a cleat at the mast while the end running through the block is tied to a cleat at the cabin top. At this point the headstay can be released as the halyard is holding the mast up. We bring the headstay back to the mast and tie it off with a bungy. At this point the mast is ready to come down. I will stand behind the mast and the second person will stand on the cockpit seats at the back stradling the center sole. The second person would have released the halyard from the cabin top cleat and would be holding it in hand ready to start releasing line as instructed . The mast is not that heavy, ours comes in at approximately 60 lbs so while it is resting at the mast step I can hold it in position and guide it. At my word I will start walking the mast back while the second person starts paying out line and holding weight. My main function at this point is to prevent the mast from moving to the sides as once the mast starts going down the latteral support of the shrouds is partially lost. The mast weight is being divided pretty evenly between me and the second person holding the line. I can only walk the mast to the end of the cabin top so at this point I will handle it to the second person who will have his arms streched up to receive it. At this point because of the angle the second person will be able to reach the mast and hold it until I come down from the cabin top to assist in lowering it to the mast crutch. This is all can be done in a slow manner but it is best to maintain a fluid motion, start walking the mast back, hand it over to the second person and guide it down into the mast crutch. To provide you some perspective I have been able to lower the mast by myself by walking it back to the cabin top and guiding it to the mast crutch. the first few steps the mast is easy to guide but as you reach a 15 degree angle the weight starts to increase rapidly until you set it down. I would probably not be able to hold it but I can slow its downward movement to set it pretty gently on the crutch. But in order to avoid the strain we use the halyard and block. The last step is to release the now front of the mast from the mast step and slide it forward. To bring it up is pretty much the reverse operation. The mast will be slid back and attached to the mast step, the second person will picke it up and raise it above his head and start walking forward on the cockpi seats. The mast will handled to me which will continue walking it forward until is standing straight up. The second person would have picked up the halyard and secure it to a cabin top cleat. Maintaining momemtum while walking the mast up takes all the strain out of the mast weight. It is important that before attempting to step the mast that all the shrouds be organized and free of any kinks as if you start getting the mast up and it won't go all the way because a shrould hung up then you are now in mast lowering mode again. It is actually pretty simple and I have outlined the steps I follow but rather than a series of steps is just one fluid motion guiding the mast down or pushing it up. The weight of the mast can be easily handled by two persons so there should not be any doubts or anxiety regarding it. I bet you and your sailing buddy can lower that mast while your wife gets some rfreshments. Now I have done it both in the water and on the trailer and much rather prefer doing it on the trailer. Always remember, verify there are no overhead obstructions like tree branches or electric cables.

 

[isaksp00]

I have an H23, and lowered the mast recently. I think it may be somewhat taller and heavier than the 22, but we ended up snapping the bottom plate off the mast extrusion because the helpers were not steadying it side-to-side properly - it swayed quite a bit at about 45 degrees.

The prev owner had rigged a gin pole, bolted to an aluminum bracket he made that straddles the mast base. I'd go with an A-frame, I think - the pole offers no help in lateral movement / support, where I think a good A-frame maybe would help. I may convert mine. I use a 4 to 1 block (probably like the video above), and it is very effective in controlling the up/down movement - it was the swaying that clobbered me.

I intend to fashion something that can support eyes at the same height as the mast base, right at the gunwales, and use those to fix baby stays that I'll lift using a short chain around the mast (like a ring), lifted to the spreaders with the main halyard. I was lucky - only the rivets broke, so putting the bottom plate back won't be a big deal; however, I don't want worse luck in future to damage the plate or the deck fitting.

 

[DJN51]

Maybe you can rig something like my hunter 23.5. It has two 5 ft stays on each side of mast hooked to stantions.Keeps msat from swaying,along with gin pole raise ,lower mast solo with ease.

 

[isaksp00]

I can't use the stanchions, as the attach point of the stanchion base is below the level of the mast base (side decks lower than cabin top). If the stays were tight at mast vertical, they would get tighter as the mast pivots down (holding it from lowering, or else requiring me to keep adjusting them). I have to rig a platform on each side so the attach point is at the same level as the pivot of the mast.

Some people have rigged chains forming a triangle, and then attaching stays to the apex of the triange on each side. I don't have convenient attach points for the ends of those chains.
Peter