Removing the mast

[andymcp]

One of these things that I feel I should really know, but don't, so am here asking!

Despite faffing around with some of the bits of string and wire that hold it up, I've never actually had the mast taken off my boat before. It was on when we bought her, spent the first winter in the water so it stayed on, and time constraints meant the one time any major work was done to tune the rig I was away with work so missed out on learning.

I need to go and get the boat ready for lift out this weekend, and some obvious questions are:

Do I remove all the string completely? Or just secure the reef lines etc and leave them in place?

Obviously I'm assuming all the stays remain attached till the actual lift, but when I'm advised to have everything 'prepared' does that mean loosening stays, disconnecting electrics etc?

Are there any obvious gotchas to look out for? I'm assuming when it comes to the electrics I want to disconnect at the mast base and then somehow protect the exposed connections?

Or is it much easier than all that and I should just unplug and detach everything and catch it on the way down?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[fireball]

We remove the sails, boom, any external lines (for the stackpack) and then make off the rest. The wires are disconnected, ends wrapped in electrical tape and the whole lot taped to the base of the mast - as high up as possible. Basically you could pick the mast up and with the exception of the stays - nothing is loose...

We leave ALL the stays attached until the morning of the lift (what if it gets cancelled due to high winds like we did - twice!!).

In our experience - the Crane Driver & Mate come along, attach the supporting strop to the mast, then you can set about removing the stays - Backstay is normally first as the mast will (usually) stay up without it - then do the lowers & shrouds. Last to go is the forestay & foil ...

The stays are tied to the mast - then the foil carefully brought back as the mast is lifted and that too is tied to the mast....

Where it gets put is down to you and the yard - I was prepared to have the mast on deck and had prepared the supports - but they didn't want a 45'+ mast on a 36' boat!

If you get the chance I'd zip up the mast and remove the windex and anything delicate up there ... it can be a bit prone...

 

[andymcp]

Thanks fireball, we removed sails, lazyjacks, boom sail cover etc last year to can manage those without too much trepidation (writing down somewhere Very Safe where I put the fastening pins ). Not taken the boom off before, so that's another new one on me - will grab an unsuspecting relative to come along and assist on that one, and with sending me up the mast to take off the instruments.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[Spyro]

Thanks fireball, we removed sails, lazyjacks, boom sail cover etc last year to can manage those without too much trepidation (writing down somewhere Very Safe where I put the fastening pins ). Not taken the boom off before, so that's another new one on me - will grab an unsuspecting relative to come along and assist on that one, and with sending me up the mast to take off the instruments.

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy
Not sure why you should need to go up the mast if it's coming down, just wait until it's on the ground. Taking the boom off should be obvious enough once you get a look at it. As for the rigging I would remove any split pins and loosen the rigging screws until you can undo them by hand that will make it easy for removal on the day.

 

[Ludd]

Hi Andy
Not sure why you should need to go up the mast if it's coming down, just wait until it's on the ground. Taking the boom off should be obvious enough once you get a look at it. As for the rigging I would remove any split pins and loosen the rigging screws until you can undo them by hand that will make it easy for removal on the day.

Remember to mark positions of thread on bottle screws to facilitate re-tensioning---use insulating tape or similar--before slacking them off!

 

[Bosun Higgs]

I wouldnt go near the rigging screws in advance - leave that to the yard in case there is a problem. You dont want to blur responsibility.

Remove sails and disconnect all leccy connections - make sure you mark the latter so you know how to re-connect. Remove the boom and the spinny pole. Let them do the rest.

Usually sense to run mouse lines through the mast and take the halyards etc home to wash.

Have a couple of bits of old carpet handy to put between your mast and the arms of the storage rack.

When the mast is down, remove the windex. Invert the vhf aerial and tape to the mast. Tape up the bare ends of the cable. Tape up the deck glands to make watertight.

 

[awol]

If you are convinced that your rigging set up was perfect this year, measure and note the distance between the ends of the threads of the bottlescrews before loosening. Means you don't have to start the "bottle" on exactly the same point on the threads next year.

 

[andymcp]

Hi Andy
Not sure why you should need to go up the mast if it's coming down, just wait until it's on the ground.

I should really put down reasons for the things I type.....

We have had some odd readings on wind instruments this year. I was planning to try some adjustments before they come off to see if it's with the instruments or the connections. So I'm going to be up there before lift-out anyway, might as well remove them then, or are they generally not at risk of any damage?

 

[Twister_Ken]

What everyone says, plus remove anything expensive or breakable at the masthead, once it's down - like tricolour, Sea-Me. Do you have radar - might be sensible to remove or protect that somehow if you do.

 

[fireball]

or are they generally not at risk of any damage?

We had to replace the direction part of the wind instrument after launch this year ... yard suggested a bird had landed on it .... !!

If it's easy enough to get up to remove it then IMHO it is well worth the effort. I didn't on haul out this year because it was too windy and by the time we came to lift out I'd removed and tidied up all the halyards - but removed them on mast down. Hadn't thought about taping against the mast for the antenna - will do that next time!!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Other things to do with the mast down: repaint the black band, anti-chafe the spreader ends, clean and polish it, lube all blocks, sheaves, etc, put a dob of silicon on any pins, bolt heads, screws, etc that might catch a sail.

 

[andymcp]

Thanks everyone for lots of useful advice. Saves plenty of head-scratching and mistakes that could, I'm sure, prove quite costly.

 

[snooks]

I found carrier bags were very handy.

Pull the ropes through the deck fittings, coil them up and stick them in different carrier bags...pass a sail tie through the handles and tie them together, then wrap the sail tie (or gaffer tape) around the top of the bags to stop them filling with water. Then if the ropes drag on the ground they won't get full of grit.

Any cables that are removed, tape them together and stick a bag over the wires and gaffer tape over the holes in the deck.

If your mast is keel stepped, leave a bucket of the boat yard peeps to cover the hole left by the mast if you're not going to be around at the time.

Don't forget to remove your head sail and sheets and head sail reefing line as well, it's easily forgotten

 

[lw395]

Rig Tension

As well as marking bottlescrews to get back to the same setting, it can help to make some sort of tension measurement, even if only crude. For instance how far can you deflect each shroud at shoulder height?

It helps to know this when re-assembling, just in case the mast does not immediately settle onto the step exactly as it came off.

Also take notes and photo's of everything, it's common to see people puzzling over the spaghetti at the foot of the mast at easter time.

 

[Spyro]

I wouldnt go near the rigging screws in advance - leave that to the yard in case there is a problem. You dont want to blur responsibility.

.

Better not get on the boat either in case you fall in

 

[fireball]

I wouldn't touch the rigging screws either - not until the yard crane is there and they're ready to start removing your mast - but not because of responsibility - but if they are not able to take your mast down for whatever reason (wind/equipment/staff) then the mast is still secured as was and you're safe to move the boat if nescersary.

 

[Resolution]

two more suggestions:
1. Take photos before dismantling any parts, it helps to remind you where they go back next year!
2. For split pins etc we use a number of small tupperware-type plastic boxes and write a description on the lids with magic marker - eg gooseneck parts, or batten cars etc.

 

[roger]

Rope wrapping

I've found out the hard way that masts and booms are very easy to damage when not inplace on the boat. I'm talking about cosmetic damage to the anodizing. I wrap the furling lines spirally along the boom and add an extra warp or two to try and protect the boom - which lies on the deck all winter. I also wrap halliards and warps spirally along the mast to protect it. With a bit of luck a warp wil be what touches the mast support.
I also tend to remove anything that would be easily removed by the light fingered.

 

[snooks]

I wrap the furling lines spirally along the boom and add an extra warp or two to try and protect the boom - which lies on the deck all winter.

I lashed my boom onto the deck with fenders for support...Seemed to keep it where it should be while the mast was down

 

[lw395]

I wouldn't touch the rigging screws either - not until the yard crane is there and they're ready to start removing your mast - but not because of responsibility - but if they are not able to take your mast down for whatever reason (wind/equipment/staff) then the mast is still secured as was and you're safe to move the boat if nescersary.

I would suggest releasing all the rig tension carefully and ensuring the bottlescrews are moving freely in advance.
That way the semi-skilled boatyard staff won't wind up your rigging wires as they undo the bottlescrews.
Doing it yourself you can take the time to do it progressively rather than dumping the tension in one wire while the others are all tight.
In fact it's best imho to knock off some of the shroud tension during the last sail of the season, the leeward shrouds can be eased a turn or two while the load is off. Much easier on the tools!
Don't overdo it, the mast should not flop about!