1994 Seaward 23 - Take down mast

[Sailing345]

Good Day,

I recently purchased a 1994 Seaward 23.

I am not sure how to take down the mast. Is there a manual or guide that someone could share? If not, any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to respond and for sharing.

[davil]

https://www.google.com/search?q=self...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Spot]

Hello and welcome to CF!
Is your boat the stayed version (cables running to bow, stern, and gunnels) or the unstayed catboat? Just parroting back what it says on sailboatdata.com...
A couple pictures would help, especially at the base of the mast. The hardware there should give some clues as to how it steps and unsteps.

[Sailing345]

Hi thanks for your response. It is the stayed type. I will take some photos and post.

[Don C L]

Where are you? At many harbors there is a hoist for small boats that is a small crane on a pier. If you have something like that near you, another option is to pull the boat up to the pier, tie a loop of rope around the mast that can slide up to the spreaders. Attach the hook on the crane to the loop and raise it up to the spreaders. Then loosen the turnbuckles and pull out the pins that hold the turnbuckles to the metal fittings on the boat called chainplates. With the crane you can gently hoist the mast and if you have any wires in the mast hopefully you can disconnect them and then lift the mast up. Then by hand you can lift one end of the mast up and begin to lower the mast down onto the deck of the boat (or somewhere else.) As you probably have seen in the videos suggested before, you can use a-frames and other techniques to do it on the boat itself. The dinghy crane way usually has less chance for calamity or drama.