I’m interested in a little feedback from other owners about how common it is to remove the mast every year. I don’t believe the previous owner removed the mast in the 14 years that he owned the boat and after inspecting it before shipment I couldn’t detect anything defective and after a summer of lots of use and a recent trip up the mast my inspection showed me nothing to be concerned about. If not removed, does anyone put any guy lines to limit movement from the wind?
Hi Todd;
I have left the stick up for the last 3 years with no problems.
I do, however, tighten the topping lift by attaching it to the rail at the stern. Hopefully the tension prevents much of the potential whipping about.
The wishboom is lowered to sawhorses above the deck and forms part of the cover framework. A good shrink wrapper can work around it.
The mast in my 30 has been removed every year before winter storage. I do it myself using the crane at our yacht club. It’s really quite a simple process once you do it a few times. My mast is stored in a shed for the winter. It’s a great opportunity to check for backed out screws, loose bolts and all that sort of thing. More importantly it takes the strain off the hull when it’s sitting in a cradle. The forces caused by the wind buffeting the mast while the boat is in the water are absorbed when the boat moves in the water. In a cradle the boat cannot move and much more strain is placed on the hull of the boat. I would recommend pulling the mast for storage.
Jamie Morrison
Dexterity II
30U 225
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Where i keep my boat you must remove the mast and it is stored on racks that are built on the club fence line.
Obviously gives you a chance to inspect the mast close up. I am guessing if the boat in in the water in a temperate climate an inspection at some frequency is in order. Mike Quill could give you some idea on the frequency issue.
Taking is down is easy. And stepping it is the reverse but is a more fussy job as you lower it into place. I do it with 4 people. One cranking the winch, one on deck guiding the mast the third keeping the boat positioned and myself below. More help is not better.
If the boat is out of the water I would be more concerned with the boat now being “fixed” and the mast and boom moving about as it does in windy conditions and now not dampened by the boat being in water so to speak. Seems the whole thing would be more rigid and that is not necessarily a good thing. I think I would be inclined to take the boom down to the deck if the mast is left up.
Shortly after purchasing our 36 I called Mark Ellis with a series of questions including leaving the mast up for winter storage and installing a bow thruster. He discouraged both.
Wow! I’m amazed at what it costs other owners have to pay for haulout and storage. Mine is considerably less in MN. No one takes their mast down around here unless the boat gets shipped out. Our marina has no facilities for mast storage. That said, I’ve decided that since I took the mast down and inspected it 5 mo. ago and did an inspection twice in the last mo. with the mast up I’m going to leave it up this year. The boat sits on a trailer, so I ran the topping lift and an extension line to the trailer tongue and two lines from the top of the mast to the back corner castings with a little bit of tension on each. This triangulation should limit the movement considerably. Thanks to all who have responded to my inquiry and to others who may yet.
Best regards to all,
I am certain that you have done EVERYTHING the best way to limit mast movement and your mast sounds like the MOST inspected Nonsuch mast in the world.
But, like you, I am flabbergasted/amazed/appalled at these unspeakable charges to pull a mast. Thousands of dollars … can you imagine this !!!
Un-friggin’-believable…
My mast goes in or comes out in 10 minutes with the help of a gang of members at my club (EYC) in Toronto. It is then stored, outside, on a rack, through the winter. It takes 3 minutes for 3 guys to carry it to the rack. It takes me 1 hour to wrap/tie-up/do whatever to it. OK - it is a mast on Nonsuch 22, not a 36 , but, what the hell …
I am going to quit my job, move to Florida, buy a dilapidated marina and go into business demasting sailboats and storing their masts. I’ll make millons !!!
You should not be surprised. Piracy never died. Some of them just ended up running boatyards. I just heard of a boatyard wanting to charge $2500 to prep a 33 for trucking. As far as I can figure really just means dropping the mast and putting it and the boat on a trailer.
For those that haven’t seen it here’s a link to my installing a Nonsuch mast video. I strapped a GoPro to my mast before I started the install. Just play the video in reverse to see how to remove a Nonsuch mast. I’m pulling mine tomorrow as the weather is going to go down hill quickly next week. No fun in the cold.
Ernie,
If I am the most inspected it’s only because I had to change that light bulb on the mast. Once to take it out and once to put the new one in.
That sounds like a great career shift for you. Let me know when I need to show up for work.
Jamie,
Thanks for the video. I noticed that your mast, like mine, requires a rotation in order to get it through the deck casting. Is this by design? (Mark Ellis are you listening)? I only rotated mine one flat and yours was a 90 deg. rotation. Had I known this when I started it would have saved me a bit of screwing around last May.
My mast doesn’t really require a rotation to get through the deck fitting. It’s just the way the crane was attached to the mast with a sling. It rotated when it was picked up and had to be rotated back. I’m a bit more careful with the sling position now.
Jamie Morrison
Dexterity II
30U 225
Halifax, Nova Scotia
I just heard of a boatyard wanting to charge $2500 to prep a 33 for trucking. As far as I can figure really just means dropping the mast and putting it and the boat on a trailer.