How to lower the mast on a Hunter 23

Lowering the mast on a Hunter 23 is not hard if you have two pieces of conduit 7 1/2 feet long with holes in the ends for the bolts. Forrest attaches the lower ends to the stanchions with a rubber lined hose clamp and bolts, and the upper ends are fastened together with another bolt which also goes through the middle of a short piece of chain. The jib halyard is attached to the top end of this chain, and the main sheet (we called it the boom vang in the video) is attached between the lower end of the chain and the chainplate in the anchor locker. The mast crutch is raised so the mast will not hit the top of the cabin. By tightening the main sheet and pulling the mast forward the forestay can be unpinned. On the Hunter 23, the shrouds do not need to be loosened or unattached. With someone guiding the mast into the crutch, the main sheet is eased to lower the mast. You need the Flash plugin to see the first video, click the play button (maybe twice) to start the video. This video was taken with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2. A $200 camera designed mainly for still photography, it will take a 30 minute 30 frames/second video with sound if you have the 1 Gig memory card. Sailing Video Index

Low speed for dial up, but file is still very large, 18 MB Click the play arrow (maybe twice), to see the video. High speed broadband version for Windows Media Player, 52 MB. Do not use Real Player or you will have to download complete file before it will play.