In a word.......No. The mast weighs about 600 pounds. It needs to be removed.

I've thought about this as well, because I've replaced the blocks and now need to slip a shim under the mast, to raise it about an inch.

You could do it, but it seems to dangerous to me thus far - just not worth the risk.

You would have to jack the mast up a few inches and then somehow support it in such a way that it is guaranteed not to fall. I haven't yet thought of how to achieve that guarantee.

One slip and you could lose your hands!

I would never have thought the mast was that heavy? It must be a really strong mast. I haven't heard of any catalina 36 being dismasted although I imagine it has happened. Is the mast overbuilt?

Why not just have a rigger or crane service at your local marina, get a bit on the rig with their crane or boom, slack your shrouds headstay and back stay, and lift it so you can get your shim in place.
The rig is already in place all your doing is lifting it straight up, placing your shim and putting it back down. Tune the rig and away you go

Money and time. The "local" marina is not so local. Otherwise, I agree with you.

[quote=mike37909;21058]I would never have thought the mast was that heavy? It must be a really strong mast. I haven't heard of any catalina 36 being dismasted although I imagine it has happened. Is the mast overbuilt?[/quote]

I would say it is right sized, since I have never heard of one breaking. I'm sure it could be done though.

Opposite that was our Catalina 28 tall rig, early models of which were famous for breaking their masts. Ours was hull #25 and one of the few early boats with the original mast still in place. They broke at the openings for the halyards, five feet or so above deck. A reinforcing plate kit was released for them, ours had it installed. Boats without the plate kit broke their masts sooner or later.

I much prefer the stout spar on the 36.

My mast was broken in two places at my dock by Hurricane Charley. The wind gust were up to 178 MPH causing the boat to heal over 90 degrees slamming the mast against the seawall twice. It broke first at the spreaders then on the second hit at the mainsail feeder.

The story of the damage and repairs is in a story in the May 2005 Mainsheet.

We had to replace our support block. We removed all the cabinetry because the boat had lost some shape as well (P.O. grounding). Check how many floors (ribs) you have athwartships. We had only [I]FOUR[/I] and two of these were cut short on one side. (see photo, floor by foot is shortened for some reason, block is rotten inside the fibreglass shell)

We had a new block made that was about a metre wide, shaped to fit the hull and glassed in to spread the load. We were going offshore though, so had to be sure it would perform!

I sincerely hope your problem is easier to fix!

In another similar thread, I recall Larry Brandt telling us that Catalina said that these ribs are non-structural. He explained why and it all made sense.

They were used at the factory just as a temporary framework for the keel installation.

You have to be kidding. The block of wood Catalina used looked like a cut off scrap 2x 4 pine or fir. The fix looks much more professional.

?? I agree. Catalina really messed us up with that wooden mast step - accident just waiting to happen.