Sounds like good advice to me. If you do decide to change to LEDs, I would assure that the connections are good and clean and that when you are ready to put it all back together, the seals are water tight.

One thing to consider is whether just the bulbs can be changed to LED or whether you need to replace the entire fixture. When we bought our 1989 C36, our anchor light fixture was completely shot, so we fully replaced it. I have converted many other lights by just switching to an LED bulb.

I wold also look at your spreader boots and how they are holding up.

Obviously, the most important structural check would be the integrity of your shrouds and stays and chainplates.

All of this is certainly easier while the mast is down.

Good luck getting her ready!

If you have a TV in the boat and don't have a masthead antenna - now is the time to thread a coax cable down the aft conduit and mount an antenna at the top.
If you have a furling mast I'd seal the front and rear cavities of the mast section extrusion to stop water entry into the bilge as suggested to me by Charleston Spars.

I would suggest that if you change the lamps to LED - or even if you don't - that you get a small 12V battery (lawn mower battery(s), say) and apply power at the mast step wiring to validate that everything works before restepping the mast. An easy check now can save a lot of heartache later.

As Laura suggests, a complete rigging inspection is in order...looking for cracks in swages, etc.

As mentioned by Peter, installing any additional wiring would be appropriate now, even if you're only 'provisioning' for an eventual need. Radar wiring, wind computer wiring, AIS VHF antenna, TV wiring.

Take lots of photos and save for future reference.

I would also examine all of the existing wiring and replace it if it is at all questionable. Wire is cheap, and getting it passed through the mast should be a breeze while it is down.

Pete... How & where exactly did you seal the mast? Any pictures?

Clean and wax the mast and spreaders.

Check the spreader connections.

Replace the wiring if it is OEM lamp cord.

Replace the sheaves.

[QUOTE=LCBrandt;9899]I would suggest that if you change the lamps to LED - or even if you don't - that you get a small 12V battery (lawn mower battery(s), say) and apply power at the mast step wiring to validate that everything works before restepping the mast. An easy check now can save a lot of heartache later.[/QUOTE]

Great idea Larry, I'm filing that one away. My '91 mast has several areas of corrosion around fittings, so I'm looking at pulling the mast at some point and having it repainted along with installing radar and other things as needed. Testing everything before you install the mast is smart (and I can't guarantee I would have thought of it:o)

Mike

What a bunch of gret ideas huh Rob?? You didn't mention if you have in-mast furling or not. If you do, I would certainly grease the moving parts if it is like mine. Isn't this forum fabulous?

Glen...

Where/how do you grease the roller furling? I know they say to, but I haven't seen any fittings and I don't want to spray anything onto the bearings as that usually is the death of them in our environment.

Chuck
You asked for info on how to seal the furling mast.
I'll reply in a separate post so it can be found when folks are searching the database - also it may raise some comments on this annoying problem.