wintering on hard , mast up or down

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cloud7

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When wintering on hard , would value the forum cross section opinions on mast left up or unstepped.
thks
 
My mast comes down every winter.

I can remove the halyards and wash them.

I remove the Windex and stow it away safely, (also the tricolour light)

I can inspect all the bits that would otherwise be out of sight. VHF aerial, halyard sheaves, lights, standing rigging etc

the mast is used as the "ridge pole" for a cover to protect the boat from the winter weather.

In the case of a propped up fin keeler removing the mast reduces the windage that might cause the props to slip
 
sometimes, sometimes, a mast left standing can oscillate, and if you have props and chocks, the vibration can cause them to become displaced.

If you have a cradle, this is not an issue.

Dropping the mast does allow, as VicS suggests, a chance to check it over, protect the electrics, reduce wear and tear on the windex or anemometer, forces you to check the rigging screws, blah, blah. A major risk reduction IMHO.
 
All the above are good reasons to take the mast down. You don't say what type of boat - on a smallish cruiser it may be possible to DIY by getting four or more friends to manhandle it. I have been lucky so far to have a contact with a Hiab lorry who calls in on his way home from work and steps or unsteps the mast. Not only that, but he does a good job of tidying it up and even steps it straight with sufficient tension on the rigging to hold until launching! It helps if you can mark the turnbuckles to indicate roughly were they should be when set up.

Alkthough it is less of an issue in a cradle, many don't have a restraint for the keel, so the boat can squirm around under high winds. I have seen my boat lift off the pads in a severe squall, luckily falling straight back down, but it made me think - and add keel restraints. our club rules even require us to use additional props when in a cradle. One way to improve stability is to take a ratchet strap from each toerail down to the cradle base, stopping the boat from leaning.

Rob.
 
Unless there's a very good reason to take it down don't. If you are changing the standing rigging ( and that can be done with it up anyway ) or replacing bits aloft then by all means take it down but I think you'll find that leaving it up is the way everyone but a few eccentrics do it!
 
Well, it seems I'm an eccentric then! If the boat is going to spend the whole winter ashore, then the mast comes down. What most people who say leave the mast up dont realise is what their boat ashore goes through in a gale, the owner sat at home with the boat 100's of miles away its out of sight out of mind! I live close enough, and visit the marina often enough to know that in gale or near gale conditions, a boat left with its mast up, and often sails, spray hood et al still on, will be vibrating and literally shaking as the wind levers against the mast.

You only have to see the way a boat heels on her mooring in strong winds to imagine where all that energy is going when the boat is in a cradle.
 
I just leave my boat in the water all year round - it's probably much less subject to stress floating happily in the marina. And it's much cheaper than lifting out, craning the mast, etc..
 
3 yards next to each other in Greece. Probably around 1500 boats. Perhaps 5 masts down, the rest is a veritable aluminium forest. Frequent winter storms and high winds. Year in year out. Even in earthquake country. Entire charter fleets ( Ok perhaps a poor example :) ) ashore with the rig up.

I agree with sails and any other canvas work taken off. Leaving that on is just plain laziness! A fitted boat cover is a damn good idea.
 
pvb said:
I just leave my boat in the water all year round - it's probably much less subject to stress floating happily in the marina. And it's much cheaper than lifting out, craning the mast, etc..
Click to expand...

Agree with that. When I do lift out once every two or three years I leave mast up as boat is a fairly solid twin keel job which stands there as solid as a church.
 
After 20+ years working in yards throughout the Med each winter
I have yet to see a yacht fall over due to weather or earthquakes.
I was once on a 100' ketch in a 65 knot gale that gusted over 100
and it was a bit wobbly and noisy but all survived.
I guess if you have a small yacht and/or a deck stepped mast
then dismasting is a viable option but for most, unless you are
working on the mast, the sensible option is to leave it up.
Cheers,
Chris
 
What about on a wooden boat? We have heard all kinds of reasons why the mast should come down each season and I can't work out if these are just old wives tales! Stuff about too much strain on the keel and compression of the wood etc, all sounds a bit suspect. I had the boat out and the mast off in the first season because I put it in a shed to work on it but in the second season I left it at a marina in the water. (28 foot wooden honeybee btw). If I owned a plastic boat I would definately leave it in as it is a pain in the bum to remove.
 
Well I'm a varnisher so you can guess my response.
Wooden masts need varnishing and it's a pain to
do it from the bosun's chair so pull them out and do it.
Maybe every other winter, all depends how perfectionist you are.
BTW I would coat them with clear epoxy primer followed by PU varnish.
I knew someone would find the exception to my previous post.
Cheers,
Chris
 
Approx 10 years ago I was working in a business unit associated to a Hamble yard where boats were over-wintered with the mast up. Came in one Monday morning after a weekend gale to find several large boats with masts at a sub 45 degree angle to the ground. They had gone down like dominos....
 
Down on the hard over winter, unless you are in a very well sheltered yard. I keep mine in the water over winter, only lifting for work and anti fouling.
 
Keep it down

In Scotland, most yards insist on dropping the masts. Mine told me it was because the insurance companies insist on it - and having seen some of the gust scoming through the yard, I'm not suprised!
 
Two yards near me in Chichester Harbour. One insists than masts come down (at the appropriate charge); the other always by default leaves them up.

Personally I stay afloat on a mooring and my mast has only ever been down twice in 26years: once to go through the French canals, and once to renew the rigging.

Vic
 
We winter in a yard in Scotland, and most masts stay up. However the yard is very sheltered. Area was excavated as a gravel quarry, so is 15 to 20 feet lower than surrounding land, and also has whippy birch trees giving even more shelter. Yard boss (sensibly) insists on cradles. Yards close by, without such shelter insist that masts come down.

I now have steps on mast, so inspection etc is easy. Halliards are replaced by mouse lines for the winter. It saves all the hastle, expense, possible loss and damage of mast handling by crane.
 
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