Our 'air draft' (mast height) was 22' 9" but I wanted to get us under 21' in case we get to travel through the Erie Canal next year. As you can see from the picture below, taking down the mast would have made driving from the fly bridge a challenge.
To get the mast down, we had to take down ALL the canvas/bimini and fold up the metal structure that supports it.
The first thing I did was remove the 'Brill-O pad' lightning rod, anchor light and block at the top.
Since the bimini was down, we took it to the laundromat for a cleaning and then applied a fresh treatment of Star Brite Waterproofing. We use a garden pump sprayer to thoroughly wet the bimini. This stuff is bullet proof!
I used my trusty Fein multi-tool to carefully cut two feet off the mast just above the collar for the halyards. I had to be very careful NOT to cut the wires for the anchor light. I was originally going to fiberglass and reattach the block on top but saved another inch and a half by just tapering the top of the mast and painting it with Interlux Brightside -- a one-part application polyurethane topside finish. The anchor light was screwed to the top of the mast on top of a generous portion of caulk to help keep water out of the conduit. I did not reinstall the lightning rod. The 00 cable is still there and protrudes a little above the mast and below the light. Hopefully lightning will hit it and travel to ground.
The finished product! We are now just under 20 feet and can clear almost every drawbridge on the ICW. There is no better feeling than passing sailboats waiting for an opening and just cruising right on by with a friendly wave.
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