mast base sagging on nauticat33

[paulnorkett]

Main mast support on Nauticat33 (1968) is sagging. The main mast is positioned about 10cm fwd of the bulkhead and the wooden cabin roof is rotted. The wood around the mast has sagged about 2cm. I cannot afford a proper job to have the mast removed and the cabin roof rebuilt. Any practical suggestions for a cheaper repair. I am thinking of an acrow to raise the mast support plate 2cm then fitting a solid mast support timber under the mast down to the bilge. I mainly use the boat for single handed coastal sailing in the Med, Boat details on my blog OAPSailor.

[tkeithlu]

"the wooden cabin roof is rotted"

You need a structural repair, and without delay. The trick would be, I think, repairing the cabin roof in the process without removing the rig.

I could see this:

loosen the standing rigging.
insert a wooden crossing plate under the mast step and jack it up with two jacks.
replace the post under the mast.

Then comes the tricky part. How do you properly repair the rotted roof? You have the plate to use as a base for it, but removing the rotted part from under the mast step?

[paulnorkett]

Many thanks for the useful advice

[belizesailor]

Unstepping a mast does not have to be expensive, but it is best to enlist some experienced help so no one gets hurt.

A mast is not relatively heavy, so you dont need a big crane if it can get in close to boat. A small crane on a truck will do...like the class of crane sign companies use.

Ive even seen masts unstepped by rafting other sailboats on each side and using their rigs as cranes.

However, dont try to unstep without exeprienced help...a suddenly swinging mast can seriously injure or kill.

[ArmyDaveNY]

Here are two methods of stepping a mast. Many of the comments are worth reading too. Good luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpFh...index=188&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNwi...ELXw&index=188

[Dougtiff]

Because the mast is deck stepped [cabin top],you could change it to a TABERNACLE, i just did this project for a customer, there is lot's of info on the net, this would allow you to do the repair's to the cabin top, then install the mast, you could do this without a crane expense.