How to Unstep Your Sailboat's Keel-Stepped Mast
12 May 2024 · 10 min · 2K views · Québec
What this video covers
On December 4th, Axel and Chloé unstep the keel-stepped mast of Vénus, a Baltic Yachts 51 built in 1980, at a boatyard in Rivière-aux-Renards, Quebec, in -10°C wind-chill conditions.0:40 The mast is a keel-stepped, deck-penetrating spar measuring 24 meters and weighing 700 kilograms.1:58 The procedure requires removing the boom, disconnecting electrical wiring routed through the mast, recording rig tuning measurements, and detaching all stays and shrouds before a crane lifts the spar free.1:41 A crane strap is positioned at the second spreader level.4:26 The first complication: all internal halyards had snapped the previous winter, leaving no way to send a new halyard aloft; a cherry-picker was brought in, but the mast was too tall for the yard's largest machine to reach the masthead.2:27 The second complication: a spartite seal at the deck collar — a dense plastic compound used to waterproof and lock the mast at deck level — refused to release under nearly one tonne of upward crane tension and had to be drilled out around its full perimeter.6:21 The operation took four hours, finishing after dark.8:10 The only significant breakage was the wind vane at the masthead.8:17 A cover was fitted over the mast partner for winter.8:57 Spartite deck seals on keel-stepped masts can resist crane extraction and may require drilling before the spar will lift free.
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