The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sail, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation light, look-out position, signal yard, control position, radio aerial or signal lamp.
I've got an 18' 1961 Mercury by Numes (#419) wood with fiberglass hull. Very tall (26') aluminum mast and with a fixed keel, the boat sits high on the trailer. Mast needs to slip down through the shaft and into the base. Tried to do this today with a friend and we simply couldn't get the...
I had the yard pull my mast last season. The charge was $6.50/foot to "Step/Unstep Mast." Storage was extra. My thought was that it was $6.50 for BOTH stepping and unstepping. Today I received another bill for $6.50/foot for "Step/Unstep Mast" presumably for the cost when she was...
Hi! Looking for advice on removing and stepping a mast for a 1984 Hunter 27. Does anyone have experience doing this without a crane? Thanks for your time!
The mast will come down on that, resting at a point that is behind the center of gravity. On my mast support I put a rubber roller, like those used on boat trailers, on the frame at the point where the mast would come down on it. Once the mast was on it, I would disconnect the hinge at the base of the mast and walk it forward.
Mast sections as cantilevers and deck partners are not strong enough to resist the high bending loads anf thrust from a large mast pushing forward as it is being lowered. Eliminating the portion of the mast cantilevered above the deck keeps the mast base and king post largely in shear and axial loading, and reduces the thrust resisted by the deck.