sailboat mast unstep

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• 9 Tips To Make Unstepping a Sailboat Mast Easier

Having suggested, in my usual oh so low key and gentle way , that it would be a good idea to unstep your mast when laying up your boat, I’m thinking that the very least I can do as a follow-up is share some of the things I have learned while unstepping a 75′ mast some 15 times over the last 23 years.

I’m going to start with tips to help you select a yard to unstep your mast and then move on to stuff that will make things run smoothly on the big day.

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Good points as usual and even more true on bigger masts where man handling is a poor choice. I unscrew the turnbuckles all the way and leave the barrels on the boat. Having only the threaded end of the stays and shrouds with the mast reduces weight and reduces stuff to bang around doing things it shouldn’t. It also leaves you no excuse not to clean the barrels of the turnbuckles which sometimes is tempting not to do.

That’s tip #10, thank you. We do the same thing so I should have thought about putting it in.

I disconnect the turnbuckles on their upper ends and leave them on the boat (to be cleaned and greased later). That way no part of the turnbuckle comes into contact with the sometimes soiled ground. To prevent the turnbuckles lying on deck, scratching and smearing it, i fix them to the lower lifeline with the pin. That way everything remains neat. And even less weight and bulk on the loose rig.

That’s a great idea too, thanks.

Turnbuckles , I usually put one or two drops of lube oil on the bolts at both ends of each turnbuckle, I find that makes them much easier to unscrew, just one or two turns with a wrench , and you can back them off the rest of the way with your fingers. That makes the lift out proceed more smoothly, less rushed and thus the whole mast take down less stressful. John- Lifting strap, how did you get that lifting strap rigged above the spreaders?Climb the mast? Or do you rig it with the halyards, you didn’t mention the lifting strap.

Good tip on the oil. We lightly lubricate our turnbuckle threads with Lubriplate A grease, works well and, as you say, once they are loosened off you can spin them by hand.

On the strap, one of the guys at the boat yard went up in a bosuns chair on a halyard to rig it.

Good tips. I think that one thing that your pictures show but you don’t mention is that you need to rig the mast correctly. Our owners manual actually has measurements for where to rig it for lifting but many don’t and owners need to know where the appropriate lift point is. Also, it is important that you are hooked into a loop that goes completely around the mast and is attached in some form to the mast butt by a line/strap to keep it in place. I have witnessed 2 masts where the crane was attached to the line running down to the butt which works fine when picking the mast up but slides when laying it down and results in the masthead crashing into the ground during a sudden shift. Finally, the wire angle is really important. The crane operator can’t fully see this so a spotter needs to stand in a place where they can (looking at 90 degrees to the operator). In general, the wire should be vertical and if it isn’t, you could well end up in a situation where the mast suddenly moves and damages something because of the horizontal component of the force.

All great tips, thank you. I particularly like your point about the importance of vertical lift. At this yard they were very careful to get that right, and, as you say, the crane operator would have a hard time doing that without a spotter.

question: does it ever end ? answer: nope

believe it or not there is no breeze tonight here in biras creek, n. gorda sound, and there was hardly any all day…have never experienced such calm conditions down here this time of the year when the christmas winds should already be building…actually had a reach the other day from vieques to st john with the 15 kt breeze out of the northwest believe it or not…i was thankful for the nice ride when it is usually slogging it out on the nose for this run…since then the breeze has steadily declined to the nothing it is tonight…haven’t seen one mosquito though so it could be worse…cheers

All excellent advice. Lifting heavy, awkward and fragile things is potentially dangerous. I get little shivers when I see lifting operations being conducted without basic safety gear like hardhats and high viz vests that are mandatory in industrial operations, around here at least.

If, as I have, you find yourself in charge of the lift either because it is a do-it-yourself boatyard crane or the crane operator that you have hired is inexperienced around boats, plan the whole operation in detail. Have a pre-lift conference to review every step; if the operator does not have a clear view of you standing on deck (quite probable) assign a spotter who will always stand in clear view of the operator to relay your signals; forbid anyone else from directing the operator; don’t rely on shouted instructions; work out and understand hand signals between you and your spotter and the spotter and crane operator for “up slow”, “stop” (hold), “down slow”, etc; post someone (not you) below deck with a hatch open so you can be in voice contact at all times; lift from above the balance point (seems obvious but I have seen masts slung below the lower spreaders with near disastrous consequences); transfer the vertical load from the sling to something strong near the base of the mast (I use the halyard winches); go slow and do not rely on brute force (your crew should not ever have to do any heavy lifting).

All great tips. I’m lucky in that I have always found a reasonably good yard when I needed to unstep and so have never had to take responsibility for directing the lift, but if I ever do I will re-read your comment with great attention!

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18th November 2021

Getting Ready to Take your Mast Down

Hi, I am Simon Jackson Berthing Master at Rhu Marina. Having had many years' experience preparing yachts to have their masts unstepped, I have put together a guide and hope you find it useful.

• The first thing to do is to remove all the sails and covers from your yacht then flake, fold or roll them ready for storage. When removing battens, mark them and tape them together. All shackles and strops should be detached from the sails and stowed with the rigging.
• This is an excellent time to put your sails into your local sailmaker and get them checked, serviced, and laundered or replaced.
• After removing the sails, it is time to remove the boom from the boat. You will need to take the kicking strap and mainsheet off and temporarily lash the boom, to stop it swinging. Remember to put a figure of 8 knot into the end of all your reef lines to avoid them accidentally pulling through the boom, and coil the tail ends at the gooseneck end of the boom. Once the boom is clear, lash it onto the stanchions to prevent it falling off or blocking the deck (like in the image below).
• All sheets should be coiled and labelled before stowage.

• Next you need to detach the halyards from the boat and have them tied up onto the mast. This will require moving the shackle end to the mast and attach it at the gooseneck. After removing the halyard tails from all deck fittings, coil the halyard tails and tie them off onto the mast.
• If you have any running backstays, checkstays, or other adjustable stays, now is the time to detach them from your boat and tie them off to the mast.
• Once all the halyards and adjustable stays are tidied to the mast, you need to detach all the electrical cables going into the mast. It is a good idea to label your cables and photograph any joins before disconnecting them.
• If you have a keel stepped mast, remove the lower jubilee clip around the gator and the deck collar, so it can just lift off when the mast is lifted.

• If you have a headsail furler, you should roll all of the furling line around the drum or take the line off and coil it up. When you are doing this, you might want to mark the tail where it exits the drum before rolling or coiling the line up, so you know how much line to have around the drum when you put the mast back up. If your drum does not have a rotation arrow, it is best to mark it on now. If you can dismantle the drum, as in the image, you can now start your winter inspections and contact your rigger if you have any concerns.

• Next it is time to remove tape and split pins from your rigging bottle screws. Do not slacken off the screws, just leave them free to be undone by the marina when the crane is attached. If you are going to be leaving the rig in this state for a while, you should straighten the split pins so they can just pull out when need be.  
• Finally, as well as preventing chafe, it is courteous to tie off the halyards to the shrouds with sail ties to stop them flapping in the wind and annoying your neighbours; your halyards can be quite noisy when battering against your mast in the wind! When the mast comes down, these sail ties can be used to lash all the loose rigging to the mast as it is hoisted. 

There you have it! A few tips and ideas that can be used if taking down your mast.

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• Sails, Rigging & Deck Gear

Un-Stepping the Mast for America’s Great Loop

The great loop adventure is open to sailboats but you need to plan for un-stepping and stepping your mast to clear bridges along the way. learn about the marinas and costs involved to get ready for this north american cruising trip..

As a family on a sailboat traveling on the Great Loop, our crew of four aboard Fika was a bit out of the ordinary. While not a common sight, many sailboats do take on the Great Loop adventure. The first question we’re asked when folks learn about our vessel is, “Don’t you have to take the mast down?”

America’s Great Loop is a waterway adventure that will lead you on a circumnavigation of the eastern portion of the United States. When the first “Looper,” Kenneth Ransom, and his crew of teens made the trip in a sailing yawl in 1898, he didn’t have a modern convenience that stood in his way: fixed-height bridges.

Two areas along the Great Loop are restricted by your vessel’s air draft: New York along the Erie Canal (a modern marvel in its early days that allowed for more accessible settlements in the Midwest) and just south of Chicago in the Illinois River.

As you approach the Erie Canal, three routes have varying height restrictions. A 21-ft. air draft lets you take the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. A 17-ft. clearance enables you to take the “triangle loop” into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Ontario. A 15-ft. height gives you the option of the entire Erie Canal to Lake Erie. No matter the route, the mast must come down when traveling by sailboat.

As our family sailed and motored up the Hudson River in early July 2023, we aimed for Hop O’Nose Marina in the Great Northern Catskills. The marina wasn’t a polished resort; it had a few amenities, but its primary feature was the marina crew’s skill. However, the old rusty crane for our mast lowering raised our eyebrows slightly.

“This crane was used in the original construction of the Erie Canal!” we were told. Did they mean all the way back in the early 1800s? From the looks of the crane, this fact was very plausible.

The marina crew was skilled in the task; it was evident that this was a common stop for sailboats coming from and going to the canal for mast raising and lowering. We planned to travel with our mast on our deck for this stretch of the Loop. The Hop O’Nose team quickly constructed mast supports for us from 2×4’s and provided us with straps to secure the mast. One support was near our bow, the other in our cockpit directly in front of the helm. The process of demasting, the cradle supplies, and the labor to help build the cradle and set the mast in place brought us to about $800.

The primary negatives of carrying our mast on deck were that our visibility was more limited, our deck and cockpit were crowded, and we lost some maneuverability for managing our lines while locking through the canal. We were also top-heavy in a way that the boat wasn’t intended for, making it precarious if we were waked hard by faster vessels. Additionally, we were now a longer vessel for any dockage that might be charged by the foot (our mast length exceeded our hull length).

Despite these inconveniences, we enjoyed transiting the Erie Canal with no significant issues. We opted to travel the entire length of the Erie Canal, as it served not only an interesting history curriculum as we learned about its origin and impact in the many canal-side towns we visited, but the western half of the canal, often missed by many Loopers, was peaceful and beautiful. Our lowest fixed bridge to pass under was 15-ft. 6-in. shortly after Oneida Lake, but we easily cleared it with our mastless air draft of 13-ft.

After cruising the canal for 19 days, we reached its terminus in Tonawanda, NY, just north of Buffalo, where we’d enter Lake Erie. We found our way to Wardell Boat Yard, where we refueled and had their assistance raising the mast for about $600.

After we looked like a sailboat again, we wanted to ensure our rigging was in good shape, as we planned to sail quite a bit in the Great Lakes. We replaced our outhaul and tuned the rig for about $1,000 at RCR Yachts Buffalo Marina.

After sailing across Lake Erie, up Lake Huron, under the Mackinac Bridge, and into our home cruising grounds in Lake Michigan, we approached Chicago to continue our journey south through the river system. Just south of Chicago is a fixed bridge, and all vessels must pass under it to access the lower rivers; there is no other way. This bridge has a clearance of 19-ft. 6-in. along the Illinois River.

In mid-October, we took Fika to Crowley’s Yacht Yard Lakeside on the Calumet River to take down our mast. The crew’s cost to safely remove and pack our mast for shipment to Mobile, AL, was about $1,225. The river system would take us longer to transit than the Erie Canal, so we opted to have our deck clear for this portion of the route rather than working around our massive mast on the deck.

From there, Crowley’s helped us work with Cross Country Boat Transport to ship our mast to Turner Marine in Mobile, AL. The cost of transport was about $1,400. Our vessel’s equipment would be loaded onto a truck bed with other masts, shipped to Mobile, and await our arrival there.

The lack of mast weight onboard changed our vessel’s dynamics (our boat weighed less and sat higher in the water) as we traveled as a funny-looking motorboat along the rivers. Still, the freedom on our decks and unobstructed visibility were worth it. Not only could we see directly in front of us without cradles in the way, but we also had an open deck without any rigging, making it more straightforward to tend our lines in the massive locks along the river.

In mid-December, 56 days after removing our mast, we could put it back up at Turner Marine, located at the mouth of Dog River and Mobile Bay. One drawback of shipping the stick is that you can no longer control or protect the mast while it travels south without you. We found minor damage on our mast once we raised it. However, it’s not worth pointing fingers, as it could have happened during any stage, from removing the mast, shipping, and putting it back up. For $638, Turner Marine accepted our mast from the shipping company, held it for us, and stepped it back onto Fika once we arrived.

To ensure our safety and efficiency, we had Stanley’s Services Sailboat Rigging Specialists come out while we were at Turner Marine. These folks are professional, thoughtful, and wonderful to work with, and their prices were very reasonable. The rig inspection, rig tuning, and rigger aloft cost us $350. They also performed additional services, replacements, and fixes. At the same time, they worked with us based on their recommendations and our needs, taking time to confirm we understood their notes and guidance for future maintenance.

As a sailboat, we are often given a hard time (usually in jest) for the added cost of removing and shipping the mast multiple times during our Great Loop journey. The prices I outlined above add up to just over $6,000. However, compared to fuel costs of reasonably fuel-efficient and cost-conscious trawlers of about $10,000 on fuel alone (though more often they are spending $20,000 or more), our own low fuel consumption and given our love of sailing whenever we can (even in the Intracoastal Waterway!), we wouldn’t hesitate to encourage sailors to take on America’s Great Loop in their sailboat if that’s the way they love to cruise.

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For the benefit of those who would like to save a few dollars on mast stepping/lowering, the Castleton Boat Club on the Hudson River at Castleton on Hudson, about 16 miles south of Waterford, is much less expensive. Current rates for the do it yourself service using the mast crane are $100 for the first mast and $50 for a second. There is dockage available as well as moorings. The usual routine here is that you assist the guy in front of you, and the guy behind you helps you – then everyone retires to the clubhouse for an inexpensive beer. The last time I went through, the club commodore assisted me in stepping my mast – and bought me a beer when we were done. On the other end, I would strongly recommend RCR over Wardells for your mast, or if you’re continuing on into Ontario, use Sugarloaf Marina in Port Colborne at a cost of $6.40 (Canadian) per mast foot. Just be sure to pick a calm day for the crossing as you don’t want your mast to topple over into the drink.

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Traversing the Great Loop, a system of waterways that encompasses the eastern portion of the United States and part of Canada, is a bucket list item for many boat owners. The trip demands navigating dozens of locks and passing under scores of bridges. Most, but not all, “Loopers” make the passage aboard powerboats, thereby avoiding the height challenges faced by vessels with masts. But Chesapeake catamaran sailor Jim Donnelly and his family circumnavigated the “The Loop” on their catamaran .

In 2016, tired of our stressful jobs and long hours, my wife Jan and I quit our jobs, sold our house, pulled our son AJ out of seventh grade, and moved aboard our PDQ36 sailing catamaran Serenity, with Sid, our ancient cat, and Lucky the dog. In May of 2017, we pushed off our dock at Herrington Harbour North in Deale, MD, for a 13-month, 6500-plus mile journey. We decided to use our sailboat because it provided us plenty of living space, had a shallow draft, and, best of all, would allow us to sail in the Bahamas during the winter.

At two places (the Erie Canal/Canadian waterways and Chicago), we had to unstep the mast and transport it, turning our sailboat into an underpowered trawler until the mast was re-stepped. In the Catskills, NY, and Chicago, unstepping was done quickly and professionally. We removed our sails, marked the locations of our turnbuckles on the shrouds, disconnected electronics, and made a temporary (and shorter) mast for our anchor light and VHF antenna.

Transport was done differently at each place. In New York, we had the mast placed in cradles on our deck. You can bring one, or have the marina pull some from their yard (for a nominal fee). Through the liberal use of ratchet straps, our mast was secured to the boat, where it rode in the cradles for a month, as we went through the Erie Canal and the Trent-Severn Waterway.

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Saturday, April 17, 2010

• UnStepping the Mast

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Cost to unstep/step a keel-stepped mast?

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One more tidbit; when they painted the bottom, they also painted my depth transducer. As a result, it was inoperative. After launch, I scrubbed off 1 coat of blue bottom paint (no red) with a bronze brush, and voilla! it worked - for that day. (Now you understand my suspicion about the number of coats.) Since that 1 day, it has been completely inoperative. I have tried sanding with 400 grit several times, and still no joy. The sounder is a circa 1987 Signet Marine unit - worth about $20...  

Crane up, wiring disconnect, furler, rigging x 2. Not enough info, how much total?  

I had one yard charge 800 to unstep and step a mast on a 28 footer and another 10 miles away charge 1/2 that to do a mast on a 35 footer - 50 ffet of mast. They charge what they can get away with.  

I just recently paid $600....that included hauling the boat, mast out and back in, being n the yard for 12 days and put back in the water (plus labor for rigger to help replace standing rigging).  

OK; $325 to unstep, and now $325 to step.  

That's a little steeper than what we pay around here but pretty much in the range. For a 55' spar I am at about $175.00 down, $250.00 up and $110.00 for indoor heated storage where I can work on it in the winter if I need to.. I think $325.00 is certainly in the range. I am always there when our spar is stepped. Two guys + me and about four+ total hours of work not including bending on the sails just stepping, tuning pinning, rigging.. Just retrieving the mast from the rack, untying all the rigging, installing the spreaders, VHF, windex, wind transducer, spreader boots and testing all the wiring before stepping was a solid two hours of prep. A spreader bolt galled, as happens from time to time, so that added about 20-30 minutes but this type of stuff happens. We then have the Spartite, mast boot, mast drain, mast wiring in the boat and all the other rigging like the lazy jacks & furler to rig. As for your bottom paint I regularly get our CS-36T done with one gallon or Pettit Ultima SR... The MOST IMPORTANT step is to make sure the yard hot coated the first layer of bottom paint to the last layer of barrier coat. Many yards royally "F" this up and totally miss this critically important window.. When I paid to have our boat done I put it in writing that it would be hot coated per manufacturers instructions and made it a point to be there when they did it. My yard was honest and missed the window and owned up to it. It cost me another gallon of barrier but was totally worth it to have it properly applied.  

Cost for the mast in and out doesn't sound out of line. Doesn't sound like they put on the three coats of bottom paint you asked for however.  

Yard here charges a set fee to unstep/step mast $60 if boat is out of the water (more if boat is in the water and/or if you have to make a special appt). Max price $90+$50 for dock, that boom truck can drive on,use.  

eherlihy:897888 said: OK; $325 to unstep, and now $325 to step. Click to expand...

I'd say it was unreasonable..  

Mine was $130 to unstep and $260 to step in Alameda, Ca. I did most of the work but I don't own a crane so I had to pay the $130.00 per man hour for the crane and two guys. I still feel a little bit ripped off but not like I need Preperation H to fix it.  

Thanks all! I had initially wanted this thread to be a little vague, as I believe that the yard owner is a good guy, and I believe that he may come across this thread. However, I have since decided that he should know, that I know that his price is OK. Also, I will discuss the bottom paint issue with him. (BTW - he charged $75/hr for this service.) As I keep telling myself, if you want a job done right, take your time and do it yourself ! However, because I landed a job last year, I am now chronologically challenged (time is scarce).  

Down here i pay something close to 900 round trip with outdoor rack storage so i do not have to keep the mast on the cabin top To be honest they do a good job and don't dammage anything as to store 4 or 5 hundred masts they have to remove and replace the spreaders, wind stuff ect I know people who have done a spread sheet on every marina in the area and the total costs are all very close as waterfront is big bucks on LI compared to some other places  

Wow! Remind me not to move to the east coast. $45 down,$45 up and $50 outdoor winter storage off the boat. Keel stepped with mast length of 45 feet.  

Gotta agree that isn't an outrageous price for (un)stepping a mast. Mine takes an hour with the crane and another hour to get everything right. That's 3 people for an hour and 2 for another 90 minuets. Standard labor rate where I do it is $45 an hour, I'm sure the crane operator is more. So 225 + the crane charges ~100. total 325.  

Just got a quote here in CT for this coming winter season - $7/foot to unstep and store, and $5/foot to step. Seems about in the ballpark for CT, as frustrating as that is!  

Hey, What does unstep / step include? Did they remove the sails and disconnect the electronics when they unstepped the mast? When the mast was stepped did they tune it and pin the rigging? Did they put the sails back on, etc? The yard that I use is low cost, but I have to do everything - remove the sails, take the boom off, disconnect the electronics, etc. In the spring they install the mast and get the rig 'close' but I need to put the sails on, connect the electronics, tune the rig, etc. So, your price may be good or it may be high depending on what the yard did. Barry  

No Mainsail the guys in the family run yard where I store my boat are good ole' boy Americans. No habla Espanol. They speak a very colloquial American dialect. I must prep the boat the boat prior to unstepping. Boom and sails must be off. All halyards coiled etc. There are 2 yard guys and the crane operator. Total time about 1/2 hour. These guys are good and efficient. Mast off and on saw horses. Spreaders and masthead windex, antenna, and wind instrument off. Stretch wrap part of the mast to secure halyards and shrouds. Tractor uses sling to pick up mast and transport 200 yards to mast racks. Wham, bam, thank you ma'm. I know these guys are a dying breed. They only store boats on cradles with the mast down so they end up stepping and unstepping the masts of all the boats in their yard. Hopefully they will be around for awhile before some developer scoops up their property. I have been with them for the last 15 years.  

No other electronics on the mast or stays (radar/wind indicators/etc) on my mast.  

I live on the west coast and having a mast pulled is cheap enough ($120 total for out/in) to include it as part of the regular haul out.It gives you a chance to inspect, replace and/or repair your rigging, halyards fittings,wiring, etc as well as add new stuff (in my case also sand, varnish and paint). A lot of important stuff up the mast gets over looked...this is a very important part of boat maintenance, and you can be a lot more thorough on the ground.  

• Crane Charge: $150
• Unstep Mast: $425
• Store Mast: $141
• Remove and Store Roller Furler: $210
• Environmental Surcharge: $14

eherlihy said: I just stumbled on my old thread (I am the OP). My boat is still in Narragansett Bay. In the 7 years since the OP I have moved my boat about 8 miles from where I had the mast steped and unsteped for $325 each way. THIS year it has cost me $940: Crane Charge: $150 Unstep Mast: $425 Store Mast: $141 Remove and Store Roller Furler: $210 Environmental Surcharge: $14 I removed the boom and the sails, AND helped the guys with the crane. In the spring ithey'll charge me an additional $575 for the crane and re-step. I am sharing this information so that others will know what they can expect. Not all pirates wear eye patches. irateraft: Click to expand...

...because they can  

I just hauled and blocked my boat for 24 hr for some quick maintenance. Could not stay in the slings. $1,000. Robbery. Yes, because they can.  

I've mostly done it a DIY yards, so the cost has been minimal. Your cost does sound exorbitant to me, but like others say, I suspect it's just capitalism operating as it is designed.  

Interesting question. I think they charge for un-stepping.... and then again to re-step. Yards will publish a price list for typical projects like bottom paining / LOA F or waxing / LOA F or stepping / lin ft of mast. Whatever it is.... it's too much!  

Our marina has quoted pricing for boats within size ranges, for things like waxing. Once you get over a specific LOA, which I think it around 45 ft, you pay time and materials. I’ve never understood the variable pricing by the foot for the travel lift. Exact same time and equipment for every haul. At least for those that fit in the same lift.  

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Unstepping mast in Chicago?

• Thread starter xavpil
• Start date Jul 27, 2023
• Forums for All Owners
• Ask All Sailors

Planning taking a 42' Jeanneau down to Mobile, AL and looking for a place to unstep the mast in Chicago. Recommendations? Thx!  

either skyway yacht works, or crowleys, they are a couple blocks apart, last chance before bridges. mike  

Skyway Yacht Works, Making Pleasure Boating Easy!

Crowley's Yacht Yacht Yard Lakeside

duality said: either skyway yacht works, or crowleys, they are a couple blocks apart, last chance before bridges. mike Click to expand

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