Cost to Cut Mast for ICW

[MicHughV]

I've never known anyone to sail to...or from.... Johannesburg. That would be quite a feat, as J'burg is about 6,000' above sea level......I'm sure you meant Cape Town....

[RaymondR]

Johannesburg is actually designated as an inland port but you'd have to get the boat put on a train and ship it up there by rail to clear in.

[Snore]

@louielouie

I know you don't want to hear this but here it goes. Let's look at the full cost of this change.

Since the mast is 70', we will assume you cut 8 feet off to get to 62' (many ICW bridges are as low as 63').

Now determine the length of the boom. For the sake of simplicity we will assume the amount of the sail area lost is 8' X boom length. Next calculate the size of the factory built main in sqft, then calculate the SA/D for the vessel. This will give you a hint of how much power will be lost. My SWAG is that the sail area of the cut-down mail will be just a little more than a double-reefed factory main.

While you are pondering the reconfiguration, ask where you can place another 50 gallon fuel tank. The smaller main size and resulting loss in power will result in you running the engines more.

Finally, take a cat broker to lunch and ask what the market value of your modified vessel would be compared to the current market value.

I am confident the cost of reducing mast height is less than the loss of market value and the decrease in "fun value" because, unless winds are blowing 20kts, you know have to motor all the time.

Sorry for the thread drift.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I've never known anyone to sail to...or from.... Johannesburg. That would be quite a feat, as J'burg is about 6,000' above sea level......I'm sure you meant Cape Town....

He said it's a worldwide market...not me.

[RaymondR]

Rerig the mast base on a pedestal so you can hinge the mast back to go under the bridges is the sensible way to do it. You don't have to lay it down just angle it back to get clearance.

[Cavalier MK2]

Ketch?

[rtoner]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Maybe the OP needs a list of things you had to shorten the mast. Besides new sails, shortening the standing rigging and furler, moving the spreaders(?), electrical runs up the mast, what else did you need to do?

So what did that run you (ballpark)?

Dug up the receipt. This was for a 2014 Lagoon 400S2 and done May 2021.

Crane fees(boat was not hauled out) 1135
Prepping everything (they did all the work). 3200
Actually cutting was 220

Basically I pulled into a well, they prepped the boat, crane came and pulled mast off. They cut slightly higher than my spinnaker haul yard connects to mast. Stepped the mast and put all sails back on. So could have saved some $$ on labor.

Getting the main sail cut to become a “modified square top” was 800 excluding shipping. I had a traditional sail before.

So no other changes needed.

This was all done at ST. Augustine Marine Center. Very happy with it so far. Sails cut at North Sails by Fort Lauderdale. I have now have the option to go outside or inside if a large storm. Mainly sail now from Miami to Brunswick.

On this boat before the sail cut I had to run with the first reef in. Really no noticeable change in performance. But this is not a quick boat anyways.

Hope this helps.

[Bill O]

Wow, the total cost is lower than I expected.

[chris5977]

Wouldn’t it make more sense to buy a smaller boat? This is going to be very expensive and lower the resale value of the boat. The naval architects put a 70’ mast on the vessel for a reason and potential buyers will know that.

[Scrimshaw4]

You need to get the mast down to no more than max 63' air draft and 62' would be better. It is VERY rare that you actually get 65' clearance on a number of fixed ICW bridges particularly north of Florida. At 64' you're sure to be clipping the bridges with your masthead instruments. JMHO

[S/V Aphrodite]

It's been fun reading this thread .
Frankly the ICW is heavily traveled and really too narrow for sailing most of the time. 'Twere me, I'd just take the mast down. The ICW is much more suitable for power boats. The same is true of the Inside Passage, but at least there you don't have to worry about bridges.

[mcon12000]

So can I ask (going to anyway)

How many trips down the ICW have you made?

Reason I ask is most of not all the good stops are associated with a nice Inlet.

I don’t have your height problem my mast is 55’ and I don’t go inside. It’s simply not fun and definitely not what a sailboat is designed for. The wear and tear on the engine(s) alone is comparable to a year of cruising in a few weeks. Ten hours of minding the helm in a narrow ditch gets old fast even with the autopilot remote in my hand. Sitting in one location waiting for a window uses up no more time than taking off inside. My buddies can get four days ahead of me on the inside and I pass them on the outside on day 6 still on 3/4 of a tank of diesel.

I’m not saying you’re crazy it’s your boat but speaking as a sailer who has done the trip many times this melts my brain. I’d sell the boat unmodified and buy a trawler unless you’re completely sure this is the boat you’ll own for the next ten years. You’re going to turn it into one anyway since it’s going to perform like it’s fully reefed in light wind. When you go to sell the market will be inexperienced boaters and folks who want the price to restore it to factory spec deducted from the price. Which is something I would be more concerned about than the cost to modify it. Restoration will be considerably more expensive it’s essentially an entire new rig.

[John_Trusty]

I agree that motoring any distance on the ICW is a real pain. As the owner of an ICW-compliant 63 foot mast, however, the real benefit is not in doing long passages in the ditch, but selecting which anchorages, moorings, or docks I can go to once inside the inlet. As this similar thread comments on (https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ng-271480.html) some marinas or moorings just are not available to a mast over 64 foot, no matter how fast you got to some inlet. Come into Indian River Lagoon (Palm Beach) and you will stay there or go south through bascule bridges - no choice. One criteria for buying my boat was ICW compliance, and the cut-down mast is not uncommon a feature in Florida.

[mcon12000]

A lot of this is understandable however why is a marina the only choice? I anchor out 95% of the time. You could spend some of the money allotted for compliance on items that will make the boat livable away from shore power.

It’s just a thought and I’m not anti anyone doing whatever they want to with their boat. For myself marinas are only when absolutely necessary but to be clear I do not rough it at anchor. Hot water, Flatscreen, electric galley, refrigeration and starLink

[Happ]

Originally Posted by louielouie

Current mast height is 70' Catamaran. Appreciate insight if anyone's done it recently. Looking for ballpark on cost, not debate on sail performance etc., thank you.

Go to a yard that can do the work. Just Catamarans in Dania Beach can do it. There is a lot to do to make this happen. A yard can do that. As others have said you will need new standing rigging, retire electronics, new main or recut old, new Jib or recut, possibly recut boom so reefing points will be in the right place.

Not a simple job if done right.