Mainship 34 mast removal

[Bmallett]

Can anyone tell me how to remove the mast on my 1978 Mainship 34? Can it be done without removing the headliner? Mine doesn’t have any exposed fasteners.

 

[Jeff F]

Mine sat on a male base that was bolted through the deck. The headliner can be dropped to get at the nuts. Just carefully remove the trim pieces holding the panel in and wiggle things out enough to get access.

You can probably lift the mast off the base and leave the base in place as an alternative. There may be screws securing it. Don't think mine did, it just sat on the base.

 

[Baloo]

I removed mine, the mast just lifts off, there are wires to the nav light to deal with. The base has two Philips head screws they have nuts on the backside under the headliner. I didn’t want to take the headliner down either, so I drilled the heads off the screws and sealed the holes after using a trim saw to remove the wooden block under the base. It looks so much better with out it there.

 

[boomerang]

We had to remove the wooden screw plugs hiding the screws in the teak trim in the galley, remove the trim piece then remove the screws holding the ceiling to access the 2 nuts holding the mast step. The easiest thing would be to drill out the step screws, knock the bolts down (yes they'll be there not captive but I cant see where they would hurt anything...they'll most likely roll to a low spot where they'll remain), tape the anchor & steaming light wires and plug the holes.
You will need to think about where you'll mount and pulling wires to your now-removed running lights!