Take The Mast Down Yourself
Congratulations on your "new" boat! You're gonna love it!! If your mast has to come down, which it very well may not just for the replacement of halyards (see previous post), this is something you can do yourself, with the help of one or two other people. That is, assuming your halyard lines are not ready to break at the slightest bit of tension. I used to lower my own mast on a 25 footer. At any rate, here are the steps as I recall them for a boat whose mast is stepped onto the cabin top, not through the cabin top and into the cabin as some O'Day's are. I see on the board here that your mast is stepped only to the cabin top, so this process should work for you: -First off, do this on a day with not too much wind... -Pull boat into a dock area with a dock at your bow equipped with cleat that is as much as possible in a straight line with your bow...or, line up the boat so a cleat on the dock is reasonably in line with your bow. -Loosen your shrouds, forestay and backstay (cables from mast to each side of your boat and to the bow and stern of your boat)...just so that you're comfortable you can pivot the mast toward the stern and the bottom of the mast will clear the cabin top. -Disconnect the forestay and secure a line...maybe your anchor line...to it. -Run the other end of this line from your forestay to a cleat on the dock which you will be using sort of like a pulley to more slowly lower the mast. One or two wraps around the cleat such that the line to the forestay can slip along with some control should do the trick. -With someone controlling that line, and with the help of another person, CAREFULLY tip the mast toward the stern of the boat. One person should be prepared to walk back to the stern of the boat holding on to the mast as its lowered, while the other person helps to ease the mast downward at the area around its base... -There will be a point along the way here, where the mast is going to try to start moving (too) quickly on you, so be prepared for that. This is best controlled by your helper at the cleat on the dock. This was a little hairy on a 25 footer when we used to do it, but we never had a mishap. Anything above a 26 foot boat I think would be out of the question without a crane or some other such device. But, on a 23 footer, this shouldn't be too tough. While you have the mast off, consider installing a masthead (anchor) light, a VHF radio antenna and maybe a wind vane, if you don't already have these up there. Also, its a good time to inspect everything for corrosion and replace whatever needs replacing...shrouds, forestay or backstay...etc. Good Luck, Jim
