mast removal and shipping preparation

[jpmccros]

Hey guy I'm in the process of purchasing a boat and shipping it from port st Lucie / Stuart Florida.

I received a quote from a company to remove and prep the mast on a 40 ft sloop. They said it would range from 1000-1500!

I find this very high!
Does this sound right? If not does anyone have any companies in the area that would do the same for less?

I'm going to remove the boom and halyards leading to the cockpit to save some time/money.

[neilpride]

Seems hig yes, is for shiping right? keep in mind, spreaders removal, crane fees, rigger fees, disconect rigging and loose stuff aka running rigging, electrical conections, and i guess the mast later is warpped in plastic for protection...If you want to get a idea here we charge 150 for the crane, unstep and step, riggers get 80 per hour, so i think is a 3 or 4 hours job ...depend of the stuff atached to the mast, example radar...

[jpmccros]

Well now I know. I guess I was only thinking of unstepping the mast.

[kentobin]

For a decked step mast it does seem a little high to just pull the mast. What exactly are you paying for? I trucked a 37 foot double ender with a 41 foot mast.

The boat yard fee for helping me and a friend unstep the mast, pull the boat, and put it on the bed of the truck was $475. This was in Sausalito, California only 5 months ago. Sausalito is not known for being cheap.

Sails and boom off yet? All wiring from the boat to the mast disconnected and pulled out of the cabin?

After the mast was down but before we pulled the boat I then had to remove all the standing rigging, spreaders, electrical wiring, etc. and attach for shipping myself. Mast was put on the truck in a special bracket that ran next to the hull. One friend, me, and two boat yard staff picked up the mast and put in bracket. It was not light.

This was around 5-7 hours of my labor and another 2 hours of a friends help.

This boat hadn't been out of the water in 28 years and all the hardware was pretty corroded so it wasn't fun or quick.

I also had to remove all the lifelines, stanchion posts, dodger, windvane, pulpit, and gallows per truck driver's request and that took a lot of time before I even got around to unstepping the mast.