Quote:
Originally Posted by Kanani
My first boat (1983) was a Columbia 36 and I lowered the mast myself with my wife as a helper, 3-days after I bought it. It really isn't a big deal. I won't go into all of the details but I lowered mine with a turning block to a jib winch attached to the backstay. I tied a line to the lower end of the backstay and loosened my rear shrouds. As the mast leaned forward, I put a couple of 12' long 2x4s (like an "X" at the top) to support the mast. As it got lower I had a tall stand that I built for the mast to pivot on. The mast was light enough for me to lift by myself and move the lower end aft.
I later did the same thing on my 45' Passport ketch. That had wooden masts and I was afraid of the weight but that was easier than my Columbia 36. (which incidentally I sailed each of those boats around the world).
I also bought a hydraulic swage and built my own rigging. On my Passport, I designed and built my own chainplates in New Zealand.
It's all a matter of not knowing what you can't do.......
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Sure, I don't doubt all that. People do "interesting" things every day.
However, among the consequences of doing that improperly are: dropping the mast on your boat, a neighbour's boat or on a person.
You probably won't ask me how I know...so, I'll just say that someone of my acquaintance did this on his 33 foot home built Farrier tri, producing an uncontrolled
dismasting that could have killed me (I was stupid enough to be in his
cockpit at the time).
Luckily the bungee cords(!) that he had used to retain the rig gave up their lives for me and the mast fell over the side of the boat, not on my
head. If we had been in a marina slip, the next boat would have been struck.
Additionally, the length of a mast is often much longer than the boat's
LOA, so pivoting the end of that at the mast step forward is not trivial. You'd usually be better off extending the forestay and dropping the mast to the stern. Anyway a lot of people cannot
lift the butt end of a large mast in such a situation.
In short, I really recommend using a crane and perhaps a professional to mast/demast your boat unless you really understand what you are doing.