Hello, We are trailing our M23 Dhana to the San Juan Islands next week. Larry was very kind to help us with planning and suggested sling launching the boat at Cap Sante Marina. We plan to follow his suggestion, but we have never stepped the mast on the water. The steps we take will be the same, but if any M23 owners have any suggestions or experiences, it would be helpful. It would be a shame to not take advantage of all the experience out there. At the very least, we plan to do as much as possible while the boat is on the trailer to avoid dropping stuff in the water.... Thank you, Gerry
Hi Gerry, You will LOVE the San Juans, have fun! I almost always step and unstep my mast in the water on my 23. The height from boat to ground is a lot farther than the water and the water seems a bit softer. Not sure what you think might go splash, but I've not had any issues. Also, I think youve got that custom raising gizmo that the owner before Bones made, which should make it even easier. I find a slip and make sure there is ample room to tie the sloop off at an angle so one person can be on the dock to steady the mast in the beginning, then move to the bow for further steadying. Hope that make sense. I'm sure others will have more detailed experiences and suggestions. It's second nature to me after 23 years of doing it! Best. Theo PS: Have fun with the Orcas! On Tue, Aug 8, 2023 at 10:27 PM Gerald Wyatt <wyattgs@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
We are trailing our M23 Dhana to the San Juan Islands next week. Larry was very kind to help us with planning and suggested sling launching the boat at Cap Sante Marina. We plan to follow his suggestion, but we have never stepped the mast on the water. The steps we take will be the same, but if any M23 owners have any suggestions or experiences, it would be helpful.
It would be a shame to not take advantage of all the experience out there.
At the very least, we plan to do as much as possible while the boat is on the trailer to avoid dropping stuff in the water....
Thank you,
Gerry
Wish we could be there with you! We've launched our M23 many times at Cap Sante to sail the San Juans. We found it a bit easier to raise the mast with the boat on the water. Like Theo said, ask the marina for an empty slip to raise the mast in before you go to the launch. They will point you to available dock space (usually something for a 50' boat). After tying up in the slip everything else was our normal procedure. It's nice to have a helper at the same level as the boat, working from the dock, and not have to deal with a ladder. Just make sure you have spares for any small bits you might lose overboard. We've never lost anything but witnessed a cell phone jump out of another sailor's shirt pocket when they went to the bow and bent down to do something there! Just exercise a little caution and planning with the thought that anything you drop overboard will be gone forever. You'll find it to be pretty easy but a long walk back to your vehicle if you need to take anything back or retrieve anything you didn't load before launching. Enjoy the islands! Mark Dvorscak M23#74 Faith On Tue, Aug 8, 2023, 19:27 Gerald Wyatt <wyattgs@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
We are trailing our M23 Dhana to the San Juan Islands next week. Larry was very kind to help us with planning and suggested sling launching the boat at Cap Sante Marina. We plan to follow his suggestion, but we have never stepped the mast on the water. The steps we take will be the same, but if any M23 owners have any suggestions or experiences, it would be helpful.
It would be a shame to not take advantage of all the experience out there.
At the very least, we plan to do as much as possible while the boat is on the trailer to avoid dropping stuff in the water....
Thank you,
Gerry
participants (3)
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Gerald Wyatt -
Mark Dvorscak -
Theo Petron