In Part I we had the mast pulled out of the top of the boat by a giant crane! (Apparently I wasn’t helping, just taking pictures)  Of course it was *super* windy this morning, so once the mast was free it started to spin and move around more than I would really like.  Also I’ve realized I’m nervous around cranes after having safety stuff drilled into my head at work for so many years. (probably one of the reasons I was at the other end of the boat taking pictures instead of around where the crane was…) Either way, the mast wasn’t super heavy, so with the help of a guide rope and the many years of experience of the crew, they got it lowered to the ground safely!

Dangling not so precariously
One end is down!
Almost there!
The guys stabilizing this end while the crane lowers the top

DONE!
It’s much longer when it’s sitting on the ground behind 4 boats…

Since the mast is completely in the way blocking a lot of the road and access to other people’s boats they moved it out to one of the long empty piers with a few other masts that suffered the same fate.

Notice the rough water!
This is a LONG pier!

 

Final resting place!

Holland Marine is going to measure and get us new rigging (the stainless cables that hold the mast in place), so we don’t really have much more to do on the mast.  Some masts are painted and usually require touch ups, but ours is bare and actually looks to be in pretty good shape! I did inspect it for damage as best I could and I don’t think we should have any surprises with it!

There are two parts: one for the sail stuff and one for the cables.
Instrumentation removed from the very top
This rubber boot was obviously leaking
There’s a hole in the boat!
These thingies roll the sails up!
Cables and turnbuckles etc
The boat looks naked without her mast and rigging
There’s something missing inside as well!

We’ve noticed that every time it rains, there are drops of water running down the mast.  I get the impression that it’s been this way for a very long time.  There’s some mold and water stains on the wood surrounding the mast and now that we can get a better look at the structure that the mast sits on, it’s absolutely disgusting.

yes, that’s a can of roach killer…

Overall the entire process from start to finish took less than 2 hours.  It took longer to tie up the lines and move the mast from behind the boat to the pier than it did to actually pull it out of the boat! Now that it’s out, I need to clean the area that it sits in inside the boat. (because… EW!) I’m sure more projects will soon appear!