Stepping the mast on O'Day 26

[zephros]

What is the best way for stepping and unstepping the mast on the O'Day 26? I damaged the main halyard and have never had the mast down.

[joeybkcmo]

Just went through this a couple of weeks ago, is your boat in the water or on a trailer, do you have access to a "mast hoist" at your marina?
Mine was on the trailer, had access to a hoist, loosened the stays, pulled the front pin on the mast step, un-hooked the front stay, and very slowly dropped the mast back. One word of caution, when laying your mast back, towards the bottom of mine there is a ring/hook, if you lower to far with the back pin in, it will put a lot of pressure on your cabin top. So if you are going to lay the mast all the way down, bring it down as far as you can, without the ring hitting the cabin top, and then pull the back pin, and allow the mast to swing froward while supported by the hoist.

[TomandKarens34]

I have an O'Day 25. Close enough. This is the suckiest job to do on this boat. I have a ladder and use two guys to guide the mast onto the ladder. One to hold the ladder at the stern, one to guide the mast. Then when its supported by the ladder, move the mast base forward as in the other post. I attach the forestay to a dock line which is hooked to my truck to lower the mast. After it has gone through the 45" point it can move quickly, so make sure your helpers are ready to move also. I do this on the trailer.