unstepping mast on my Oday 23 pop top

[volsailor23]

Have a 1972 O'day 23 pop top that I need to move. My mast is stepped in the hull and I was wondering if there was an easy way to remove it without a crane? Also I'm looking to rent or purchase a trailer but I need to know what size/specs I need? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Matt R.

 

[Joe11688]

Where is this boat located? Is on a property? Is it in the water? Is there a large tree close by or a tall pole? If it's in the water, is there a bridge near by? If the answer to these questions is no, maybe you can slap together a make shift A frame on the boat that could lift the mast out. You'd need a block and tackle, and some ropes. The Mainsheet block and tackle, or a boom vange can work for heavy lifting.
Finally, you may be able to get a few strong people to help you raise the mast out by hand. The mast on this boat isn't really heavy. It's just cumbersome. If you have a mast head light, Davis Windex, or a radio antenna at the top of the mast, you wouldn't want to break them. There's a lot of variables here Matt and I don't know what to tell you.

The balance point of your mast is somewhere near the spreaders. If you were to take for instance a 3/8" line and put a bowline in it, around your mast, the bowline would slide up to the spreaders. Now, all you need is a sky hook. Only kidding!
But if you had something tall close by, you could actually use the rope to help get the mast clear of the hole going through the cabin. The mast at this point may be a little top heavy but not too top heavy that you couldn't counter act it from where you're holding it. If worse comes to worse, you'll need to pay the $75 or $100 it costs to have it lifted. Otherwise, just use your imagination and come up with a plan. Hopefully the ideas that I just presented will enable you to think of a good solution.
Let me know how you make out.
Joe

 

[volsailor23]

Joe,
Thanks for the advice. I will definitely give them a try. My boats at a small dock and I think if I can't lift it out with few people helping then I'll probably have to pay to have it lifted. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

Fair Winds,
Matt

 

[Joe11688]

Matt,
The only problem that you can run up against is the boat rocking while the guys are trying to lift the mast out through the hole in the top of the cabin. It's tough enough trying to man-handle a 27' mast and control it when the boat is on the hard. Doing it on the water makes the job all the more tough.
If you can't devise a better controlled way of lifting the mast mast out, you may need to consider the items on the mast that can get broken if something goes wrong, like the windex if there is one, mast light, or the spreaders. It's your call.
Good luck!
Joe

 

[Tom J]

I had a 1971 23' pop top. The first time I installed the mast, there was a tall tree nearby, and with the help of family members, we were able to get the mast vertical and into the boat. Not easy, though. After that, I always hired a crane, twice a season. Much quicker and easier. The leverage needed to get a keel stepped mast vertical and then dropped vertically through the cabin top is just too much to manage without a very tall lifting device. Weight is not the issue.

 

[Joe11688]

I had a 1971 23' pop top. The first time I installed the mast, there was a tall tree nearby, and with the help of family members, we were able to get the mast vertical and into the boat. Not easy, though. After that, I always hired a crane, twice a season. Much quicker and easier. The leverage needed to get a keel stepped mast vertical and then dropped vertically through the cabin top is just too much to manage without a very tall lifting device. Weight is not the issue.

Years ago I was able to use our YC mooring/pipe setting raft that we call the "Tiki" to set a keel stepped mast in a Bristol 22. The Tiki has a large A frame type Derick that really didn't have the adequate height I needed to get the bottom of the mast over the top of the cabin. I had to move the Tiki forward a little in order to get the bottom of the mast into the hole of the cabin roof enough to get it started. Then we were able to get the mast the rest of the way by sliding the Tiki back into position. We still needed people to guide the mast. Later on, I added a long metal extension to the A frame on the Tiki and I think that it's long enough to set most masts at the club.