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Winter mast take down

John Wressell

Member II
Curious how many of you pull your mast for winter storage? On our '83 E35, Mk III we always do. The thought being that leaving it up doesn't do the mast step any good as the boat is not free to move in the water and you you can inspect it for possible problems.

John Wressell
Stamford, CT
 

Chris A.

Member III
We do

We do out of necessity for transporting the boat to home. Most, but not all, of the local yards require it anyway, even if one is storing their boat at the yard. I have been told it is often required for insurance reasons.

I grew up with a series of family boats in the 70's and 80's. The rigs stayed up for the winter and were inspected periodically. Covers were cut with that in mind. We never had any problems with it. Always had to keep antifreeze in the bilge though to accomodate the water that would work its way down the mast.

The stepping and unstepping every year obviously does add some wear and tear to the rig depending on how careful your yard is with handling and storing the stick.

Cheers,
 

Emerald

Moderator
It's interesting how there seems to be regional trends on pulling spars. From what I see on the Chesapeake, pretty much everyone leaves the mast up. Unless you have a compelling reason to take it down or some requirement by the yard, I'd vote for leaving it up. Feel like it's less potential wear and tear on the rig as mentioned, especially if you have roller furling and want to keep your foils nice and straight - I've seen some torqued foils in this process where a yard helper wasn't on the same page as everyone else - :rolleyes: Given the loads under sail, I can't imagine there is any wind load on the mast to worry about sitting on the hard versus sitting in the water. Am I'm missing something in physics 101 here?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
The high wind threat

One caution about winter storms and furlers/foils. Here we routinely leave boats in the water year around; the edges of the Columbia River have frozen over inside the marinas only a couple of times in the last 30 years.
Wind is our greater thread to rigs, whether afloat or stored in the yard.
We usually remove headsails, lest a storm tear one to pieces. Lots of us take off mains and dodgers, too.

Those foil sections can really start to move around due to harmonic vibrations. Most of us run a line -- with a couple turns -- up part way and cleat it to the mast. This greatly reduces the free length of the forestay available to move/oscillate. The foreguy works well for this duty.

LB
 

jgarmin098

Member II
After pulling mine every year since I bought the boat (14 years ago), this will be the first year that I leave it in. Most owners leave them in in our area and the trend is for even more to do so since the cost to remove, store and step increased from $125 to $500 two years ago. My original reasoning was due to being a native of South Florida and fear of ice storm/wind damage. I've grown acustom to the winters... Additionally, my Fairclough winter cover had no provision for the mast. For a mear $750 I had the cover reworked and look forward to the 1 1/2 year payback. I also look forward to climbing into the boat more often this winter to keep the mast/shower sump and bilge ice/water free. Any excuse to get on a boat is a good excuse indeed.

'88 32-3
East Greenwich, RI
 

Glyn Judson

Moderator
Moderator
To pull or not to pull.

All, Here in SoCal there is no need to pull the mast for the winter which is great. For that matter, we don't store our boats on the hard either. But that's good and bad as regards the mast or specifically the mast foot. After having our boat for 11 years out here, I had the deck stepped mast pulled to rewire and repaint it. After fighting to get the mast off, the result was a mast base that had virtually turned to aluminum oxide and what wasn't white powder, came apart in chunks. So I guess I'd have to say that periodic pulling of the mast would be a good thing if not for the simple reason that the base should be inspected. It might interest anyone about to replace theirs to know that after getting a replacement base from Le Fiell, through the wisdom of my rigger, he immediately sent it out to be anodized. Prior to slipping the mast over it, he applied liberal amounts of Tef-Gel to all the faying surfaces, the benefit being that it now has a better chance of emerging intact the next time the mast is pulled. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
We pulled ours every fall - AND stored indoors. Cost a bit more, but I really liked not having to worry about the boat over the winter.
 

rwthomas1

Sustaining Partner
I don't know why anyone would pull the stick unless there is an problem. Some yards here "require" it but anyone local avoids those yards, they cater to the out-of-state boat owners......

Having had the mast and keel off my boat at the same time I can speak from experience that the hull "moves" or deforms by a LOT. IMHO, the hull is designed to have the rig load applied to it. The hull is also designed to be supported by water. I'm also a big proponent of in-water winter storage if you can. Can't see how the yearly cycle of hull flexing is good for it.

When the mast was out and the keel off for rebedding my E38 was supported by 20 poppets. When the boat was dropped back onto the keel, the forward and aft of the keel shoe touched the keel and the center had a ONE INCH gap. Yes tightening the keel bolts down drew the hull back down to the keel and all is well now but I cannot believe that this would have happened with the rig in place and properly tensioned.

RT
 

HughHarv

Hugh
Same here, noboby pulls their mast in the marinas I've been to around Chicago unless their planning to some work on it. The way I've seen some yard people handle and store masts, I'd be afraid to have them do it every year.
 

Rob Hessenius

Inactive Member
Same here, nobody drops their mast for winter here unless they are planning on working on the stick. I have never seen a boat blow over off its cradle or jackstands, except when a tornado blew thru the yard. Some cover their boats, but most just let their boats gets snowed in.
 

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Gary Peterson

Marine Guy
I always pull our mast in the fall. This way I can Magnaflux all of the swag fittings and turn buckles during the winter. It gives me piece of mind when Lake Erie kicks up 6 foot waves that are 50 feet apart. Alot of mast stress when one is riding a bucking bronco !!
 
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