Unstepping mast whilst ashore

[MoodySabre]

I booked my haul out yesterday whilst at the marina. For the first time there was a notice attached to the work order form advising that masts should (not must) be unstepped to prevent problems in high winds.

I have an ali mast and don't propose to do so. Is this a real issue or do they want more work (a bit cynical as I don't think they are that devious or clever)? I know there are odd incidents but they only happen elsewhere /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Boat is a fin keel but in a proper cradle.

 

[tillergirl]

There was debate on one of these forums not long ago about this. I'm a mast down person myself - and I don't even come ashore. My Reasons: saves wear and tear, permits cleaning and proper preparation in the spring, enables a check of everything up top and permits an all over cover to be in place over the winter.

 

[rob2]

Our club yard requires any boat with mast standing to add legs and bow prop in addition to the cradle or props. The year Sevenoaks converted to Oneoak, a number of boats went down like dominos and we don't want to repeat the experience.

I'm about to experiment with using shearlegs to lower the mast, then I can fit the all over cover that was with the boat when I bought it in West Mersea (!). With the winds they get there, they're likely to know what's best practice.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
Is this a real issue or do they want more work

[/ QUOTE ] The yard where I am based take them down as a matter of course for boats which are to be lifted by crane and from others if the owners request it. Large boats and all those to be craned are done with a waterside derrick while stll a float, smaller ones are done with a mobile derrick once ashore,
Being quite small I usually do mine myself but I have never been charged any extra when I have had it done for me. AFAIK nobody is charged so I dont see that wanting more work comes into it. Really the opposite is the case but the masts are dealt with on days when the tides are not high enough for hauling out.

If it is taken down windage cannot cause any problems but you do have to make provision to store it safely on board or risk the communal racks.

 

[moondancer]

It's possible that you might not be covered for damage if the boat did blow over. If yours went over and damaged another boat then you might be liable having ignored the advice of the yard.

 

[Evadne]

Similarly, I always drop the mast and store it on deck, having made up a couple of wooden supports at vast expense from B&Q untreated softwood 3 years ago, still going strong. Well over £5 for the whole structure.

I don't have foresail furling, and give the fragile nature of such gear I can see this as the make or break point:

If you can trust your yard to drop and raise the mast without damaging it then dropping the mast is the thing to do. In my experience good boatyards are full of enthusiastic, intelligent operatives who are willing to learn from their mistakes. The rest are not. So if your lot are both good and experienced then have no fear and ifyou're happy for them to use your boat as a learning from experience process, paid for by insurance if necessary then equally, go ahead.

If you live in area prone to winter gales (e.g. the U.K.) and can thus justify the possible cost of damage done to your mast to your insurers, vs. the likely damage that might be done to a boat with her mast up (Google Queen Anne Battery winter 2006/7) then have the mast dropped.

Personally, I would always have the mast dropped, but then I view foresail furling as a passing fad, or the work of the devil, that will never catch on.

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
but then I view foresail furling as a passing fad, or the work of the devil, that will never catch on

[/ QUOTE ] Do they still make that gear? I havent seen one since

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The last time I was at the boatyard /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[Poignard]

The yard where I lay up requires masts to be unstepped. They are normally laid on the pushpit and pulpit but many owners support them on wooden crutches which gives more headroom and takes the weight off. I like to have the mast down and the rigging stored at home because it saves several months vibration and consequent wear and tear on the rigging and the Rotostay. It is also a good chance to inspect everything and to overhaul the lights etc.

Also, next Spring I need to do some work on the wooden coachroof so I can stretch an awning over the mast and have a shelter to work under.

 

[Evadne]

[ QUOTE ]
Do they still make that gear?

[/ QUOTE ]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Nope, it's twin forestays and hanked on sails for me. I don't see the reason to change. Far more bombproof and idiot-proof. The latter being a big bonus on my boat. I once helped a friend sail his boat to Newhaven: The first time he tried it, in a F6-7, shorthanded, he found the reefing line had been rove on the wrong way. The only way then, is downwind.

It's a bit like driving a manual gearchange car, using a mobile phone for telephone calls, buying records (well, CDs) from a shop, walking to the pub, growing your own fruit and veg., making things that you can't buy anymore (like proper tomato chutney and meat pies) ..... I never claimed to be normal, only right. When I want to reef a foresail, I let go the halliard and it usually comes down. I don't have to reach too far to touch wood either. I don't have troubles with jammed reefing lines, hidden corrosion on the forestay, disintegrating swivels and other nasties. There are far too many things to go wrong on a boat without introducing unnecessary extras. Now if only I could work out a way back to the berth without the Yanmar ......

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[reginaldon]

but then I view foresail furling as a passing fad, or the work of the devil, that will never catch on

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I consider myself too old in the tooth for the foredeck jitterbug, so this is the alternative.

 

[PeterGibbs]

Thers is no rule on this matter, and it is not conditional on the insurance policy in force in the yard.

Worthy colleagues have written here about the advantges in taking down the mast - I see none, so am in a yard where masts stay up. And this is the case in most of the sailing world. But those who anthropomorphise with their boats....

Where masts come down, shroud ends are dragged along the ground etc, take on sand, and the boat is subject to de-rigging then re-rigging stress. What a pallaver.

You have a good cradle - built for the job - and you can add a couple of props to keep her steady should it blow. Stick to your guns!


PWG

 

[CPD]

Roger, I would check with your insurance and let their answer be the determining factor in what to do. Pdream is out now with mast down for work, otherwise would have left it up.

 

[FullCircle]

It works out an extra 150 quid at Rice & Coles to pull it down and put it up.
Thats why
a) I take it down every 3rd season
b) I am not going to Rice & Coles the year it does need doing.

 

[MoodySabre]

Thank you PWG, CPD and FC - feeling better about it already /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[simonfraser]

or you could replace a bit of the standing rigging every year, instead of spending the money on taking the mast down causing wear and tear and possible scrapes.

 

[Heckler]

Come to Pwllheli vyv, they charge to unstep and step plus the lift plus the storage plus the hire of the cradle, mine stays in the water now!!
Stu

 

[damo]

Why do you sound surprised? Why shouldn't a commercial operation charge for its services?

 

[Heckler]

the question should be why do they charge so much?, commercial operations in france charge a fraction of what we are charged, interesting as well that in pwlheli there are 3 operators of travel hoists, one being the council, they all charge much the same, bit of a coincidence?
stu