Mast Raising

[Dan Busche]

I just purchased a '93 H27. I will be picking the boat up in two weeks from 1000 miles away. How difficult is it to raise the mast? Do I need to rent a crane? I used to have a 240 and was able to lift the mast with the raising kit, but this 27 does not come with one. Could it be done with three people? On my 240, I just had to insert a bolt at the bottom of the mast and just tip it up. How does this one work. Any help would be appreciated.Thanks in advance,Dan

 

[Eric Jensen]

Been There

DanLast year, I bought a 26.5 which has the same rig as your 27( I have seen both boats ). There are several options. They all will involve fitting some type of hardware, since the mast on these boats was intended to be raised with a crane in a yard. I can recommend hardware to buy and fit. I can tell you how I did it. Renting the crane would be exspensive and one rental would pay for all the hardware. I will tell you the mast is large for a 27 ft boat and you need to be carefull. If you are interested in my advice please e-mail me at home and we can exchange phone numders as it would be difficult to provide this much info by e-mail. I am listed in the owners list for the 26.5.Eric

 

[Steve Dion]

How much will it cost you if you drop it....

and total it, smash another boat or worse yet, hurt someone?Are you going to but raising and lowering the mast on a regular basis?

 

[Dan Busche]

Crane me!

Thanks Eric and Steve for the info. I am only planning on raising the mast once I get to my local lake (Bear Lake, Utah) and then I will leave the mast up for a while. I will just pull the boat in the fall and leave it on the trailer in the lot with the mast up. I guess it is a big mast. And you are right, I don't want to hurt anyone or anything. I know that other boats rent a crane up at the lake also, maybe I can share the cost with them.Thanks,Dan

 

[Eric Jensen]

Your welcome

Dan You are welcome, and thank you for acknowleging my response, always nice to know someone actually read it. Also I have looked at the 27-2 quite a bit and like I said I have a 26.5 which is similar(same hull different deck and interior). I have done quite a lot of work to it and have more planned, so if you would be interested in any advice I can offer with maintenance please feel free to e-mail me(I don't always check the owner's web page regularly). One thought which I will leave you with. When I bought my boat, it had been out of the water for about a year. This was a good opprotunity to add a barrier coat to the bottom. I think it's a good idea to do that if you plan to keep the boat awhile. Good Luck and enjoy the boat it's a good one!Eric