I recently moved my Hunter 33 about 400 miles on the ICW (mm315 to Rappahannock River). Because the rigging needed to be replaced, I had the mast pulled and laid it on deck for the trip.

This photo shows the mast being pulled. The spreaders are a good balancing point and made moving it around a breeze. It took about 1 1/2 hours to complete the job.

Pulling the Mast

This picture looks back from the bow and shows the forward saw horse and, on the cabin roof, a support stand. I used saw horse brackets and cut the 2x4s to the height I needed them.

I added a cross beam to each end of the horses making it look like an A. I did this to keep the legs from splaying from pressure created by the tie downs pulling on the mast. Everything is held together with 4 deck screws.

Saw horses and support stands

This picture shows another support stand. I made two of them. Both are on the cabin roof. Each stand consists of a large 3/4 plywood base with 2x4s stacked to the right height. The 2x4s are screwed into each other and the base, all the way up. (The same is true for the 2x4s on the saw horses.) Side pieces extend from the base up past the 2x4s to hold the mast in place. The sides are screwed into the 2x4s ends and create a U shaped cradle for the mast.

Another support stand

There are two saw horses, one on the bow and one on the stern. There are two support stands, both on the cabin top. This photo shows the rear horse. We wanted to use the Bimini so we threaded the mast through the opening. This worked out great because day one was 40 degrees in driving rain on the Cape Fear River. Thats another story.

Rear saw horse

This is the boat at a distance. The setup worked very well. We weathered 2-3 seas and lots of wind with no trouble. The only time the mast moved an inch was when we took a 4 wake directly abeam. The mast is tied to the side rails in four places. I wrapped two turns around the mast in a clove hitch and tied it tightly to each side. All stands and horses sit on carpet pieces. The rope was Nylon 3 strand, 1/2 inch.

The whole picture