need to drop the mast Its been up for years

[Ainsley]

Hi group, I have a young trailer sailor, but My friends have an investigator 563.
they called us to come and put there boat on its trailer and drop the mast so they can work on it.
Help! Investigator mast drop for dummies please
Thank you
Ainsley (who had to buy a young Because we couldn't find an investigator)

[Ozzie]

Ainsley, dropping the mast is easy , pair of parrot beak wire cutters .....no ...scratch that....seriously, providing all is well and nothing is seized or difficult to undo it should be easy to lower. Make sure there are at least two able bodied people on your first try , although three might be better

My suggestion:
1. If you have a clevis pin on your forestay (google it) make sure it can be easily removed, wd40. Same for the mast base pin. Close the sliding hatch you don't want open holes while your lambardering with a mast .
2. Have person put a little forward pressure on the mast to relieve forestay tension, you may need to release tension on the backstay.
3. Remove clevis pin or whatever method you have attaching the forestay.
4. Slowly lower the mast backwards with two people, ensuring you to not let it sway sideways.
5. As you get to the cabin roof step have one ( preferably stronger)person step down to seats while the other holds the mast steady .
6. Lower the mast to the dummy on the seat ...sorry lower person this person will be able to take the weight till the top person joins them .
7. Lower the mast gently to the taffrail , if you don't have a rear rail place a board across the side rails, you don't want the mast too low till you remove the the mast base pin.
8. Remove the mast base pin and then move the mast forward till its balanced on the boat.
9. Beers all round.

Most people have some form of mast crutch at the rear . This is handy for raising the mast as it gives you a head start weight wise and worth making one . Not all that necessary for lowering ?

[Ainsley]

Thank you so much,

Like you say, 3 people is a good idea.
Yes it is a simple hinge or clevis pin system and yes it is seized at the moment.
Will drag her up on the trailer later this week and get some friends to help with the de rigging job as it really needs a good service.

Many thanks,
Ainsley.

[Ozzie]

Good luck. If the rigging is old it's worth checking it over. Search this site for Ian's advice re crevice corrosion and chain plates. Any fraying in the ss wire is an indication that it is past its use buy date. DIY standing rigging is not hard.

I also remembered the other reason to close the sliding hatch. On my boat anyway the mast will rest on it first on the way down putting strain on the pin and the hatch. Found that by trial and error.

[Yara50]

See also viewtopic.php?f=4&t=98&hilit=mast+lowering

[Ozzie]

Just another old post re mast raising. This is an idea I got from the net and tried successfully . It uses a counterweight to reduce the actual mast weight so the chronologically challenged, like me, can lift . I add it for interest. It allows you to be holding the mast at all times to keep the mast steady from swaying.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=451&p=2220&hilit=co ... ight#p2220.

This method is actually well suited to lifting in calm water as well using two anchors as a counterweight, although I have not tried it yet.

If you google "sailing mast lifting" and then go to "images" (which allows a quick visual search) you get all sorts of interesting variations on the theme.Thats where I got the above. Also note my use of the foam fingers to keep the various rigging lines out of the way. I cannot recommend these enough no matter what mast raising method you use.

I wish I'd had a career in mechanical engineering rather that civil engineering, I would have designed a way for some of these half ton swing keels on boats like the Court 750 to be used to lift the mast automatically, now theres an idea to run with

[Steve]

Or just do it like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvZ2ci8ERwU