OK, I am getting ready to buy my first C30. A 1981 tall rig, bow sprit model. I will have to transport the boat which of course means the mast comes down. Any special tips on this procedure? I will of course have marina and crane help. One question I have is where the mast electrical wires are attached? Is this below deck somehwere? Thanks for any tips.... Paul
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H
Harvey
Harvey
It is usually located within the mast itself. If you pick the mast upa few inches you will see the connectors. If you have the marina take the mast down they will handle it. Good luck.
It is usually located within the mast itself. If you pick the mast upa few inches you will see the connectors. If you have the marina take the mast down they will handle it. Good luck.
G
Gary Jensen
I did my 380 last year
Last year I took my 380 apart in Daytona Beach Fl. and reassembled it in Alameda Ca..The electrical wires are conncted in the keel. You disconnect them there and have a crain lift your mast while you pull them up. Its not very difficult. It was my first time without any background and it went fine. Just loosen all your rigging and have your wires all undone ready to go when you call the crain in. The crain charges by the 1/2 hour (some by 15 minute increments)... then lay the mast on some saw horses and take the spreaders and shrouds off and your wind indicator, T.V. antenna etc...You can get bubble wrap from Home Depot and package everything, using duct tape. Remember to tape the duct tape to the bubble wrapp so as to not have to get the stickum off later. Secure everything in the boat REAL GOOD and drain all your water tanks. If you want more info email me SAIL1752@aol.com
Last year I took my 380 apart in Daytona Beach Fl. and reassembled it in Alameda Ca..The electrical wires are conncted in the keel. You disconnect them there and have a crain lift your mast while you pull them up. Its not very difficult. It was my first time without any background and it went fine. Just loosen all your rigging and have your wires all undone ready to go when you call the crain in. The crain charges by the 1/2 hour (some by 15 minute increments)... then lay the mast on some saw horses and take the spreaders and shrouds off and your wind indicator, T.V. antenna etc...You can get bubble wrap from Home Depot and package everything, using duct tape. Remember to tape the duct tape to the bubble wrapp so as to not have to get the stickum off later. Secure everything in the boat REAL GOOD and drain all your water tanks. If you want more info email me SAIL1752@aol.com
D
Dan
Unstepping mast
I have a 1981 Catalina 30, tall rig with bowsprit. As someone else said, loosen (but of course do not remove!) the shrouds ahead of time, so they are easier to remove once the crane has a hold of the mast, and to save crane time. The electrical wires are inside the mast. The wires exit the deck of the boat in the middle of the mast-step (my language for the base on which the mast sets). Have one or two short pieces of wood, 2 x 4 or larger ready. Have the crane very slowly lift the mast about 5 or 6 inches. Set a piece of wood between the mast and the mast-step or deck, so you have a margin of safety for your fingers should the mast slip on the crane. You will see the wires, and there is a pull-apart connection right at the base of the mast near the deck. There is enough extra wire to create some slack, so you can pull the wires toward you. Simply pull apart the connection and you're done. If someone wrapped tape around the connection to protect it further, you may have to unwrap the tape before pulling the connection apart. The mast is just slightly bottom heavy, when lifted by wrapping a line around the mast underneath its junction with the spreaders. This is good, because the mast will remain relatively vertical when lifted off the deck, and this makes the mast relatively easy to control. You should have two or three persons to control it. If you have a roller furling, one person needs to lift the roller cylinder and hold it up off the deck, since the foil is longer than the mast. Someone will have to hold the base of the mast to control the mast while the crane lowers it. That person will need to the base of the mast forward, while the crane moves aft, so as the mast drops it will remain above the deck. You'll end up with the base of the mast above the bow pulpit, and the top of the mast above the stern rail. I like to have about a dozen or more bungees about 12" long each. That's about the right length to wrap once around the mast, with enough tension to hold. I use these to secure the halyards and shroud to the mast. I like to have several zip lock bags pre-labeled, to keep the parts straight. I keep the pin attaching the roller furling to the bowsprit in one bag; the pins for the upper shrouds (2) in another; the pins for the lowers (4) in another; and the pin connecting the backstay to the linkage on the lower, or adjustable portion of it, in another. You may have other pins for a boom vang, not to mention the mainsheet attachment. This makes things easier when you step the mast again. I make a couple wooden stands to set on the cockpit seat (make that one just wide enough to fit on the permanent section between the hinged seat cover and the hinged aft lazerette cover, so you can continue to open both) and on the deck at the bow to hold the mast a few inches above the stern rail and bow pulpit, to keep the weight off of the rails. If you are transporting the boat mast (which I've done too), the trailer should have a separate set of brackets in which to set the mast, however. If you have a roller furling, turn the mast in the brackets so the foil sits on top of it and secure the foil to the mast throughout its length so the foil is supported by the mast itself. Be careful to keep the roller furling cylinder (I'm sure there's a better word for it) up high enough so it's weight doesn't cause it to droop and scrape the pavement. Finally, BE WARE if you have the original wooden spreaders (I don't know if 1983 models still had them) or if the spreader brackets have never been removed. My 1981 model had a tube inserted inside the mast to prevent the mast from compressing if the spreaders where tightened too much. There is a bolt (the biggest one) that goes through one spreader bracket, through the tube and exits through the spreader bracket on the other side, where a washer and locking nut are threaded onto the bolt. The tube was just bigger in diameter than the bolt. The tube was aluminum, the bolt was steel. Over the years, electrolysis occurred because of the two different metals being in contact with each other, and they welded together. If you leave the brackets attached to the mast and unbolt the spreaders from the brackets, you'll be o.k. If you store the boat outside with the mast down, wrap something around the base of the mast to cover it. Otherwise you'll have a bird nest in there when Spring comes, and that's messy! FYI, If you ever want to remove the brackets, to replace the wooden spreaders with aluminum ones, for example, and electrolysis has occurred, you may have to remove the nut and washer, grind or cut the head of the bolt off, grind the hole in the mast on the head of the bolt side wide enough to remove the pipe from the mast, cut anouther piece of pipe just a bit longer so it fits inside the mast on the side that you did not grind and fits flush with the mast on the side that you did grind, and use a new bolt to slap the brackets back on the mast. It sounds like more than you want to do to your mast, but if the bolt is as frozen as mine was, it's the only thing that will work. You could try heating the bolt and pounding it to see if it will break loose. When mine was removed, I saw it was so frozen that never had a chance of working. Also, if you pound the bolt too hard, you'll simply split the mast on either side of the hole on the opposite side, and then you've got a welding job on your hands as well!
I have a 1981 Catalina 30, tall rig with bowsprit. As someone else said, loosen (but of course do not remove!) the shrouds ahead of time, so they are easier to remove once the crane has a hold of the mast, and to save crane time. The electrical wires are inside the mast. The wires exit the deck of the boat in the middle of the mast-step (my language for the base on which the mast sets). Have one or two short pieces of wood, 2 x 4 or larger ready. Have the crane very slowly lift the mast about 5 or 6 inches. Set a piece of wood between the mast and the mast-step or deck, so you have a margin of safety for your fingers should the mast slip on the crane. You will see the wires, and there is a pull-apart connection right at the base of the mast near the deck. There is enough extra wire to create some slack, so you can pull the wires toward you. Simply pull apart the connection and you're done. If someone wrapped tape around the connection to protect it further, you may have to unwrap the tape before pulling the connection apart. The mast is just slightly bottom heavy, when lifted by wrapping a line around the mast underneath its junction with the spreaders. This is good, because the mast will remain relatively vertical when lifted off the deck, and this makes the mast relatively easy to control. You should have two or three persons to control it. If you have a roller furling, one person needs to lift the roller cylinder and hold it up off the deck, since the foil is longer than the mast. Someone will have to hold the base of the mast to control the mast while the crane lowers it. That person will need to the base of the mast forward, while the crane moves aft, so as the mast drops it will remain above the deck. You'll end up with the base of the mast above the bow pulpit, and the top of the mast above the stern rail. I like to have about a dozen or more bungees about 12" long each. That's about the right length to wrap once around the mast, with enough tension to hold. I use these to secure the halyards and shroud to the mast. I like to have several zip lock bags pre-labeled, to keep the parts straight. I keep the pin attaching the roller furling to the bowsprit in one bag; the pins for the upper shrouds (2) in another; the pins for the lowers (4) in another; and the pin connecting the backstay to the linkage on the lower, or adjustable portion of it, in another. You may have other pins for a boom vang, not to mention the mainsheet attachment. This makes things easier when you step the mast again. I make a couple wooden stands to set on the cockpit seat (make that one just wide enough to fit on the permanent section between the hinged seat cover and the hinged aft lazerette cover, so you can continue to open both) and on the deck at the bow to hold the mast a few inches above the stern rail and bow pulpit, to keep the weight off of the rails. If you are transporting the boat mast (which I've done too), the trailer should have a separate set of brackets in which to set the mast, however. If you have a roller furling, turn the mast in the brackets so the foil sits on top of it and secure the foil to the mast throughout its length so the foil is supported by the mast itself. Be careful to keep the roller furling cylinder (I'm sure there's a better word for it) up high enough so it's weight doesn't cause it to droop and scrape the pavement. Finally, BE WARE if you have the original wooden spreaders (I don't know if 1983 models still had them) or if the spreader brackets have never been removed. My 1981 model had a tube inserted inside the mast to prevent the mast from compressing if the spreaders where tightened too much. There is a bolt (the biggest one) that goes through one spreader bracket, through the tube and exits through the spreader bracket on the other side, where a washer and locking nut are threaded onto the bolt. The tube was just bigger in diameter than the bolt. The tube was aluminum, the bolt was steel. Over the years, electrolysis occurred because of the two different metals being in contact with each other, and they welded together. If you leave the brackets attached to the mast and unbolt the spreaders from the brackets, you'll be o.k. If you store the boat outside with the mast down, wrap something around the base of the mast to cover it. Otherwise you'll have a bird nest in there when Spring comes, and that's messy! FYI, If you ever want to remove the brackets, to replace the wooden spreaders with aluminum ones, for example, and electrolysis has occurred, you may have to remove the nut and washer, grind or cut the head of the bolt off, grind the hole in the mast on the head of the bolt side wide enough to remove the pipe from the mast, cut anouther piece of pipe just a bit longer so it fits inside the mast on the side that you did not grind and fits flush with the mast on the side that you did grind, and use a new bolt to slap the brackets back on the mast. It sounds like more than you want to do to your mast, but if the bolt is as frozen as mine was, it's the only thing that will work. You could try heating the bolt and pounding it to see if it will break loose. When mine was removed, I saw it was so frozen that never had a chance of working. Also, if you pound the bolt too hard, you'll simply split the mast on either side of the hole on the opposite side, and then you've got a welding job on your hands as well!
P
Paul
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