First time un-stepping mast of my Ericson 26-2 ; What to expect.

[acubria]

I have never unstepped a sail boat before but some experienced friends are helping . We are using the clubs hoist to unstep the mast.

A few questions for 26-2 owners who have done this before:

1. Am I right to assume that the stainless steel plate at the foot of the mast will remain attached to the deck when lifting the mast?
2. Once the shrouds and stays are disconnected, will the mask come off the boat just by lifting it ? There are no pins securing the mast to the boat?
3. How/when to disconnect electric wires? Are the connections at the foot of the mast (will see connections once the mast lifts a few inches) or inside the cabin somewhere behind the ceiling liner. I don't see access to wires anywhere.
4. In the close up image, I see a crack on a metal collar. Do I need to worry about this ? Any experience fixing it?

Any extra tips are welcome. I am watching some YouTube videos to prepare myself for this. My friends have unstepped many boats, but never an Ericson, so I am trying to gather tips to make the maneuver as smooth as possible.
thank you in advance
A

 

[bigd14]

Hi, I have a 30+ of the same year but I believe it would be similar to your boat. The stainless plate and the mast step (the gray cracked item in your last photo) are screwed onto the deck with bolts that screw into an aluminum plate embedded in the core. These could also be large wood screws (like on my old E27) screwed into plywood. The mast will lift off of the step once the stays are disconnected, there are no fasteners. That is unless the mast and the step are corroded together, which was the case on my boat. So strong was the bond that the entire boat began lifting out of the water when the crane started pulling the mast up. It took me 30 minutes of gentle tapping and prying with various implements to free the bond. So take a hammer and block of wood and a couple of small prybars with you. Below is a photo of what you will probably find (maybe not the standpipe).

The wires may be connected under the headliner or inside the mast. I think it preferable to cut the wires inside the boat, that way you don't have to make the connections in haste when the mast is re-stepped. The wiring hole through the deck is usually pretty small and won't fit connectors. I ran small messenger lines before stepping the mast so I could tie them to the wires and pull them down inside the boat as the mast was being lowered into place.

The crack in the mast step bears further examination upon removal to see how extensive it is.

Some more information about this area on my boat, which may or may not be applicable.
https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/30-mast-compression-post-bulkhead-repair-ideas.20677/

Good luck with it.

Oh and I painted the mast step with aluminum primer before reinstalling to help prevent future corrosion.

 

[Alan Gomes]

Hi, I have a 30+ of the same year but I believe it would be similar to your boat. The stainless plate and the mast step (the gray cracked item in your last photo) are screwed onto the deck with bolts that screw into an aluminum plate embedded in the core. These could also be large wood screws (like on my old E27) screwed into plywood. The mast will lift off of the step once the stays are disconnected, there are no fasteners. That is unless the mast and the step are corroded together, which was the case on my boat. So strong was the bond that the entire boat began lifting out of the water when the crane started pulling the mast up. It took me 30 minutes of gentle tapping and prying with various implements to free the bond. So take a hammer and block of wood and a couple of small prybars with you. Below is a photo of what you will probably find (maybe not the standpipe).

The wires may be connected under the headliner or inside the mast. I think it preferable to cut the wires inside the boat, that way you don't have to make the connections in haste when the mast is re-stepped. The wiring hole through the deck is usually pretty small and won't fit connectors. I ran small messenger lines before stepping the mast so I could tie them to the wires and pull them down inside the boat as the mast was being lowered into place.

The crack in the mast step bears further examination upon removal to see how extensive it is.

Some more information about this area on my boat, which may or may not be applicable.
https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/30-mast-compression-post-bulkhead-repair-ideas.20677/

Good luck with it.

Oh and I painted the mast step with aluminum primer before reinstalling to help prevent future corrosion.

View attachment 48393

Yes, this all matches up with what I encountered when I had the mast on my 26-2 pulled for painting. It will just lift off of the mast step. We cut the wires above deck and then re-spliced them when we put the mast back on, though I agree that it would be better to do it inside the cabin, i.e., where the wires penetrate inside the head. I did not do that because it would have meant removing the headliner and at that time I didn't want to do that. But before I pull the mast in the future, I think I'll remove that headliner, wire it up with a terminal strip inside the head, and replace the headliner with a removable panel.

That crack in the mast step looks ugly and is worth looking at.

 

[KS Dave]

Arturo, I asked some of these questions in this thread earlier; @Brad Johnson posted his actual procedure there (you probably remember, but posting the link for posterity). His mast is a little different, but should be another good reference point. I wasn't able to pull at my last haulout, so this is still an "unexplored" area for me.

We cut the wires above deck and then re-spliced them when we put the mast back on,

Oh! I thought that by default, there was a "trailer connector" in there versus having to cut the wires. Interesting.

though I agree that it would be better to do it inside the cabin, i.e., where the wires penetrate inside the head. I did not do that because it would have meant removing the headliner and at that time I didn't want to do that. But before I pull the mast in the future, I think I'll remove that headliner, wire it up with a terminal strip inside the head, and replace the headliner with a removable panel.

I think is is a good idea, but would you have to break the seal from the outside every time you unstep? Or would adding a waterproof quick disconnect of some sort in the base of the mast also make this more ideal?

Given the location of this hole, and the propensity for leaking, I'm actually thinking about bypassing this hole altogether (sealing it closed) and running it out through the bottom of the mast and into the cabin either through a deck gland or a even better, a stainless gooseneck standpipe. Then, to un-step you would just unhook the wires from the terminal block and pull them up and through before you start the process. I would also want an access plate at the base of the mast so I could re-do all the mast wiring without having to unstep the mast (which is a BIG undertaking here).

 

[acubria]

Very helpful everyone !! I just saw Vesuvius post regarding his de-masting and it turned my stomach a bit....
I need to think about the wires and where to cut them. This is not a very clever design. A trailer connector would be much easier. Leaning towards cutting them above deck to avoid messing with the heads liner, but we will see. If Alan thinks that bellow deck is better, I am sure there is a reason for that.
Thanks again !

 

[KS Dave]

Leaning towards cutting them above deck to avoid messing with the heads liner, but we will see.

Well, if you cut them above the deck, you could always add your own connector. It just depends on how much cable slack they left up in the mast. One of my alternative ideas was/is using a connector like this inside the base of the mast (they make different pin counts).

 

[bigd14]

Given the location of this hole, and the propensity for leaking, I'm actually thinking about bypassing this hole altogether (sealing it closed) and running it out through the bottom of the mast and into the cabin either through a deck gland or a even better, a stainless gooseneck standpipe

Yep that’s what I ended up doing.


Post in thread 'Water in the boat rant'
https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/water-in-the-boat-rant.20422/post-165604

 

[acubria]

The unstepping and haul out went really smooth. Ended up using a big crane to help with the mast. It popped up really easily and luckily a previous owner had installed connectors for all electric. see picture. Thanks all for the advice .

 

[bigd14]

Glad it went well! How does the crack in the step look now that the mast is off?

It’s a good time to remove the step and mast plate and clean everything up and reseal the wire runs and bolts/screws holding the step to the deck to prevent water entry. I would also clean and grease the connectors to maintain good electrical connections into the future. I ended up painting my step with aluminum primer to prevent corrosion as well.

 

[Loren Beach]

When we had the spar out, in 2021, our step was in pretty good condition with the original black anodizing. If it had not been so good, I would have cleaned it up and had it re-anodized. If our model of boat had a deck-stepped spar we would have definitely removed it and done any needed re-coring at that time.