We have just purchased a 1979 25' Oday - first sailboat ever! - We have borrowed an adjustable bunk trailer outfitted for a Bayliner Bucaneer 25' to go pick up our Oday. Does anyone know if this trailer will be compatible with an Oday? Also, since we're driving 13 hours to bring this boat home the mast must come down. We're very new to sailboats and would appreciate any information on how to derig this boat. Lee
Putting down the mast?
- Thread starter Lee3567
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Dropping the mast
Lee: Lots of people will have lots of different "tricks" for lowering the mast and you will learn a lot of new ones when you have had your boat for a while, but the most straight forward answer is this. First, if the mast is up now, take a good long (like 10 minute) look at the mast in its current postion. Notice the "rake" of the mast, does it lean a little forward, a little aft? Feel the stays (cables that support the mast on the sides and the front and back) to see how tight they are. Get a good feeling for how it was rigged before you take her down. That will help you immensly as you learn to sail her to put her up in the same position that the previous owner had it in...you can tweak the rigging later but it is a good bet that if you can set it up the way it was when you start to sail, you will have one less "I wonder if I changed..." to think about. Ok now to take her down. 1. Clear your deck, get rid of loose lines or anything that you might trip over. 2. Loosen the back stay (the wire that runs from the stern of the boat to the top of the mast) with a wrench (not pliers). When you have enough slack in the stay, you can remove the circle pin that holds the stay to the deck. You can let the stay just hang down. 3. You should not need to loosen the side stays in order to lower the mast. unless they are extremely tight. 4. Down at the bottom of the mast where it sets on the deck is a stainless steel plate. That plate will have two pins through it. Just to be on the safe side, have someone put thier shoulder into the mast and push the mast backward as you remove the REAR pin from the plate. Hold that mast. DO NOT remove the forward pin as the mast is designed to use that pin as a pivot. With the REAR pin removed, you can slowly walk the mast down. The mast will come down and hang well over the front of the boat. Its okay, just let it set there a second. Slowly lower it down by walking it down with your hands...she can be heafty so you and your helper need to be ready to work. Good shoes and better communication...don't get tripped up with that mast over your head!! 5. When the mast is laying over the front railing but still attatched to the deck with that last pin, stop and gather up the stays, you don't want to coil or wrap them on anything, just make sure a stay did not drop down below the deck and snag a fender on the trailer or get wrapped around your UHF antenna. 6. To remove the final pin (the one the mast pivioted on) have your assistant press down on the base of the mast while you remove the pin. The mast will fall off the front of the boat if you do not counter balance it so pay attention (doesnt take much more than a few pounds, but you can't let go of it). It is not too heavy at this point, just awkward. 7. When you have removed the pin and the mast is free, hold the base of the mast and have your assistant go forward to the front of the mast. WATCH OUT THERE WILL BE STAYS AND LINES ALL OVER THE PLACE! 8. Walk the mast back a few feet at a time until the mast is laying on the front railing and spanning the deck all the way to the rear railing. 9. Prop the mast up in the middle somwhere so your mast won't flex too much...I use a 5 gallon bucket and a pillow to give it some support. 10. Secure the mast, stow the stays, and put the pins back in the right places so they will be there when you put her back up. 10. DONE!!! 11. Putting her back up is just the reverse. Just a few more thoughts since you have a 13 hour drive in front of you. It would be a good idea to take a few extra minutes and rig up a couple of boards across the railings where the mast will lay so that the mast is not scuffing up the chrome or worse, damaging the aluminum mast...my boat is so spoiled she has her own pillows to lay the mast on
I suggest tying everything down very well for the trip, lines and cable will rub some nasty scraches into your deck if they are flapping. I use bungy cords (elastic type, not rubber) and zip ties to secure everything. But with a long haul, you might want to get a roll of the plastic film (kind of like saran wrap) that they use to when they ship pallets...just the 2 inch wide stuff should work well, and run it down the mast to secure all the lines so they can't flap in the wind. If you don't plan to put her on the road much you can probably use the plastic to secure the boards to railing too if you then tape it down well. Also, if you have a windex (the little thing on the mast that points into the wind) either secure it so it can't move or take it off so it doesn't spin around on the road. Buy some good 2" or wider straps to hold the boat on the trailer. Home depot has some for 16 bucks and they are rated for 20,000 pounds. Good luck!!! Congratulations!!!! P.S. the guys on this site are AWESOME...they will be here to help all the time. Use them often for advice and you can't go wrong.
Lee: Lots of people will have lots of different "tricks" for lowering the mast and you will learn a lot of new ones when you have had your boat for a while, but the most straight forward answer is this. First, if the mast is up now, take a good long (like 10 minute) look at the mast in its current postion. Notice the "rake" of the mast, does it lean a little forward, a little aft? Feel the stays (cables that support the mast on the sides and the front and back) to see how tight they are. Get a good feeling for how it was rigged before you take her down. That will help you immensly as you learn to sail her to put her up in the same position that the previous owner had it in...you can tweak the rigging later but it is a good bet that if you can set it up the way it was when you start to sail, you will have one less "I wonder if I changed..." to think about. Ok now to take her down. 1. Clear your deck, get rid of loose lines or anything that you might trip over. 2. Loosen the back stay (the wire that runs from the stern of the boat to the top of the mast) with a wrench (not pliers). When you have enough slack in the stay, you can remove the circle pin that holds the stay to the deck. You can let the stay just hang down. 3. You should not need to loosen the side stays in order to lower the mast. unless they are extremely tight. 4. Down at the bottom of the mast where it sets on the deck is a stainless steel plate. That plate will have two pins through it. Just to be on the safe side, have someone put thier shoulder into the mast and push the mast backward as you remove the REAR pin from the plate. Hold that mast. DO NOT remove the forward pin as the mast is designed to use that pin as a pivot. With the REAR pin removed, you can slowly walk the mast down. The mast will come down and hang well over the front of the boat. Its okay, just let it set there a second. Slowly lower it down by walking it down with your hands...she can be heafty so you and your helper need to be ready to work. Good shoes and better communication...don't get tripped up with that mast over your head!! 5. When the mast is laying over the front railing but still attatched to the deck with that last pin, stop and gather up the stays, you don't want to coil or wrap them on anything, just make sure a stay did not drop down below the deck and snag a fender on the trailer or get wrapped around your UHF antenna. 6. To remove the final pin (the one the mast pivioted on) have your assistant press down on the base of the mast while you remove the pin. The mast will fall off the front of the boat if you do not counter balance it so pay attention (doesnt take much more than a few pounds, but you can't let go of it). It is not too heavy at this point, just awkward. 7. When you have removed the pin and the mast is free, hold the base of the mast and have your assistant go forward to the front of the mast. WATCH OUT THERE WILL BE STAYS AND LINES ALL OVER THE PLACE! 8. Walk the mast back a few feet at a time until the mast is laying on the front railing and spanning the deck all the way to the rear railing. 9. Prop the mast up in the middle somwhere so your mast won't flex too much...I use a 5 gallon bucket and a pillow to give it some support. 10. Secure the mast, stow the stays, and put the pins back in the right places so they will be there when you put her back up. 10. DONE!!! 11. Putting her back up is just the reverse. Just a few more thoughts since you have a 13 hour drive in front of you. It would be a good idea to take a few extra minutes and rig up a couple of boards across the railings where the mast will lay so that the mast is not scuffing up the chrome or worse, damaging the aluminum mast...my boat is so spoiled she has her own pillows to lay the mast on
I suggest tying everything down very well for the trip, lines and cable will rub some nasty scraches into your deck if they are flapping. I use bungy cords (elastic type, not rubber) and zip ties to secure everything. But with a long haul, you might want to get a roll of the plastic film (kind of like saran wrap) that they use to when they ship pallets...just the 2 inch wide stuff should work well, and run it down the mast to secure all the lines so they can't flap in the wind. If you don't plan to put her on the road much you can probably use the plastic to secure the boards to railing too if you then tape it down well. Also, if you have a windex (the little thing on the mast that points into the wind) either secure it so it can't move or take it off so it doesn't spin around on the road. Buy some good 2" or wider straps to hold the boat on the trailer. Home depot has some for 16 bucks and they are rated for 20,000 pounds. Good luck!!! Congratulations!!!! P.S. the guys on this site are AWESOME...they will be here to help all the time. Use them often for advice and you can't go wrong.- Status