Removing the boom (H31)

[Richard Deep]

Last week I asked about pulling the mast, and got a lot of good advice. In preparing to do it, I'll need to remove the boom.I'll admit, it's not obvious to me how to do that! Anybody have any suggestions about how to get the boom off the mast? How does that gooseneck come apart? And, I'll just bet there are lots of little pieces that have a strong attraction to water!Any suggestions would be appreciated...-RichardS/V DiscoverySan Francisco

 

[Michael O]

It's easy!

Boom removal on my '31 is simple. Take off the shackle at the top of the pin. Pull the pin off. (Don't drop the washer)The boom is now free at the gooseneck.Release your toppping lift (slowly) and lazy jacks if you have them. Take off the block attached to the traveller. The boom is ready to move! It's nice to have an extra person to hold the boom while your doing this, but I've done it alone many times.

 

[Jon]

odd gooseneck

I just replaced my standing rigging a few months ago. It took me a while to figure out how to get the boom off also. You have to lift the boom up at an angle almost as far as it will go, then you can pull out of the gooseneck. I did it by myself, it would be much easier with two people. There are two curved prongs on the boom which fit into two (top and bottom) plastic discs which ride in the circular gooseneck attatched to the mast. My plastic disks were a little worn, so I ordered replacements from Hunter.