Dropping the mast by hand

[CapnK]

Have any of you non-tabernacled A/C owners done this?

The yard where #370 is located is wanting $570 to load the boat onto a trailer - almost $400 of that is for the demasting alone. ($145 for a crane, $250 for a Licensed Rigger to stand by...)

I'm thinking to splash the boat, and with the help of a couple friends, drop the mast elsewhere, by hand. I sure hope that we can do that without a Licensed Rigger...

I've dropped my CP23 mast by myself, in the slip. It has a small tabernacle at the base of the mast, where I don't see that same thing on an Ariel, so one would have to worry about/deal with the mast base kicking out. Some line should take care of that, and with 3 of us there, I don't see any reason its not doable by hand.

Can anyone point me to a thread with a picture which shows how the mast base is set onto/connected to the step?

From what I've seen, it looks like the mast has a protuding lump on the base which fits into a notch shaped in the mase step. Is this right?

Thanks!