The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

The Dangers of Storing With The Mast Stepped

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We are in the process of readying Morgan’s Cloud for out-of-the-water winter storage, and tomorrow’s fun job is to go up the mast and strip all the fragile gear that could be damaged when we unstep said mast.

And then of course there is all the work involved in slacking off the rig and disconnecting all the wiring, etc., not to speak of the pain of breaking the tune we did just a few months ago. Then once the rig is out, the considerable work of readying it for storage will start.

Of course the really depressing thing in all of this is that we get to reverse the process in just five months. Well, if you can’t take a joke, I guess you shouldn’t live in Nova Scotia where winter is, shall we say, aggressive…and long too.

(The reasons we haven’t just got aboard and headed south are the subject for another post.)

It would be so very tempting to leave the mast in the boat. And more and more sailors seem to be doing that. But I think that’s a mistake.

Fall Risk

The first reason we don’t like storing mast-in is the obvious risk to the boat from falling over in a storm. Further, I think that this happens much more often than many sailboat owners realize. The combination of the huge leverage of a tall mast on a boat balancing on a deep keel is just inherently unstable. (I envy the owners of French lifting keel boats like Ovnis and Boréals who don’t have this worry.)

And there is another danger lurking that can, when in cahoots with the above, spell disaster: the freeze and thaw cycle that is so common in many maritime climates, which causes the ground to heave under the boat.

This danger is often under-appreciated, but if you don’t believe me, try this test. After about a month of hard winter weather, visit the yard where your beloved boat is stored and check compression on each jackstand. You will be amazed: some stands will be so tight that you won’t be able to budge the handles on them and others will be loose and show light between the pad and the boat, sometimes as much as half an inch.

Uneven jackstands are not great on any boat, but on a boat with the mast stepped they are an accident looking for a place.

Freeze Damage

And that pesky freeze thaw cycle that is heaving your jackstands also has other ways of breaking your boat if the mast is left in:

  • Water getting into the bilge down the mast, freezing and damaging the step and its supports.
  • Water pooling in the mast itself and then freezing causing huge pressures on the extrusion.
  • Water flowing into swages or mechanical compression fittings (staylocks) and then freezing and blowing the fitting apart, or at the very least weakening it.
  • It is much more difficult to properly cover a boat stored mast-in, so all the fittings on deck are at a higher risk for freeze damage.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Based on my some 20 years of storing in harsh winter climates (Maine and Nova Scotia), I really believe and strongly advise that it is safer and cheaper in the long run to store mast-out.

But

Fine, nice and simple. But like most everything in boat ownership and voyaging, the decision is sometimes in fact not that simple. We have stored Morgan’s Cloud mast-in twice in the years we have owned her. Once here in Nova Scotia and once in Portugal. In both cases the decision came down to simple risk analysis: those listed above weighed against the risks of unstepping in a yard without the experience or correct equipment to do the job safely.

In this case we have another rule: if we must store mast in, we always build a cradle, and do not rely on jackstands. 

Back in 2008 this rule saved our boat when the yard she was stored in was hit by a hurricane, even though we were not able to finish the cradle before the blow (aft supports not installed).

The buffeting of 20 hours of screaming winds shook out two of the many jackstands we insisted on and loosened all of them, but the makeshift cradle that Phyllis and I built in two feverish days of work held. Well worth the $700 this cradle cost us!

This rule is also confirmed by our friends at Billings Diesel & Marine in Stonington, Maine, who require that any owner who wishes to store mast-in pay to have the yard build a cradle under the boat to backup the jackstands. And Billings didn’t just make up this rule as a revenue source, it was the result of several boats blowing over in a single winter storm some years ago.

By the way, it never ceases to amaze me how few jackstands many boatyards will deem adequate if left to their own devices. I would say that over the years a good 80% of the times we have been hauled (mast-in or mast-out) we have had to ask for, and sometimes insist on, more jackstands than the yard wants to use.

The problem seems to be that many yard workers do not understand that boats fall over most often when they pivot on the keel and therefore it is vital to place stands well out toward the ends of the boat to counteract this tendency.

It Ain’t Easy

No question, unstepping and then restepping the mast is a lot of work. But then as Phyllis and I always say to each other when faced with a task that we know is the right thing to do, but is also a lot of work and aggravation: “If it was easy, everybody would be doing it”. No truer words have ever been spoken about storing mast-out.

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Matt

There’s one boat around here whose cradle is marked “BLUNT END / POINTY END”, which we always find somewhat amusing. It’s a sturdy welded-steel thing that folds up (after removing a bunch of pins) for summer. Probably two-thirds of the yachts around here have a similar cradle – if you’re hauling out in the same place year after year, a good hefty steel cradle custom-fitted to your boat is a very worthwhile investment.

If you do rely on jackstands, please don’t forget the network of chains and loadbinders that have to criss-cross between them. I’ve seen those forgotten far too often and it rarely ends well.

Eric Klem

Hi Matt,

Cradles can be good but there are unfortunately many examples of the cradle going over with the boat. The way cradles are set up usually, they have a much narrower base than jackstands do. A cradle like the one in the image from John above has the major advantage of being as wide as the jackstands. It would not be difficult to make legs that could extend out from the cradle once in place and this would greatly increase the security.

Also, as you point out, the chains are really important on jackstands. These need to start very tight and really should be chain or something else with no stretch. As the ground freezes in the fall, I check the jackstands a lot and get several turns on each. One nice thing about having a heavily laid up hull is that I don’t worry about oil canning from an overly tightened jackstand.

The advice on pulling the mast is good. When thinking about tipping over, covers are very important as well. The combination of the mast and cover can really get the boat vibrating which loosens everything up a lot. Probably the best defense in everything is finding a yard that has good policies and checks stands regularly including in the middle of storms as other boat owners can often not be counted on unfortunately.

Eric

Marc Dacey

It’s not a Nonsuch 30, is it? I saw the words “POINTY END” on a customized-looking cradle today at my own haulout, and I had a bit of laugh…but couldn’t remember where I’d heard it before!

Daria Blackwell

John, I don’t see any straps tying ‘Morgan’s Cloud’ down to the ground in the photo you have of hurricane prep. Are they just not visible in the photo? Insurance carriers now recommend that as does BoatUS. http://www.boatus.com/hurricanes/strap.asp

dave

I am not a fan of storing with the mast up, but not for tipping over reasons. It’s the freeze/thaw thing, but I still do it because of the work to take down and put up. As far as tipping over? My cat has a 20′ beam.

Patrick

Fascinating blog. Learned something very vital. Although, don’t anticipate traveling to Novia Scotia or Maine, will probably travel much in Patagonia.
Thanks,
Patrick

David Nutt

A number of years ago I bought a 42 steel IOR sloop after she fell over in her cradle when stored with the mast up. Her damage was exacerbated by the fact that she was 100% in the air prior to hitting the ground due to the strength and configuration of the steel cradle. Her keel was bent 6 inches to port, her hull was dented and her mast was in 3 pieces. I am not saying she would have been better off if she had been stored on jackstands. Her chances of going over would have been minimal with the mast out. (She restored beautifully and we had many great years on her – gotta love steel.)

I store 10 21′ Boothbay Harbor One Designs here in Maine. I have to check and adjust the jackstands multiple times during the winter and I find, as was pointed out in the article that sometimes the stands are forcing their way up into the classic wooden hull and other times there is a 1/2 inch of air showing if I am a day or two late in making my rounds. The constant vigilance can not end when you walk away from your boat in the fall.

I do believe the greatest potential for mast in storage in our wonderful winter climate is from the freeze/thaw cycles of the water in all the little places we never think about until they explode at some inopportune moment after the summer finally returns.