Unstepping for Champlain Canal - Input/Experience Graciously Appreciated

[Jeremiah Goyette]

First, thank you all for maintaining such a valuable repository of information! 

We are completing the last leg of our return to Lake Champlain with our new-us J/44, having made NYC's East River and the Hudson to Catskill we are running out of bridges that we fit under ;) And are building stands tomorrow to un-step and transport through the locks. The specific areas that are foggy for us: 

1) Any best practices on stand construction / placement for this purpose

2) Rod rigging, its our first go at taking it down, how have folks handled the rod rigging once down? 

Our journey thus far has been wonderful, but stressful, with many lessons learned on the fly. Any input on the unstepping and transport for this size and configuration is tremendously appreciated! 

-Jeremiah, Kate and Eleanor Goyette

J/44 - Lightwave

[Mark Wensell]

Hello Jeremiah,

We just completed that journey in the other direction on our J-46 and you are in good hands with the crew at Hop-o-nose!    I left my set of stands with them as well (maybe they are still there).     When they take it down, the only thing I would recommend is putting a couple of layers blue tape on the front of the mast where their boom crane may touch - if your mast is painted it may prevent a scratch and worth a trip up the mast.

I've attached two photos below on our layout, but I would definitely recommend three beefy stands and setting it up so that the boom is slung under the mast from the front two stands.   This keeps the boom off the side decks, which need to be clear to negotiate the locks easily.   I used endless loop ratchet straps in multiple pairs to secure the stands and mast to the rails and that worked very well.     

That said, when the lake was choppy at the beginning of the trip, the mast still wanted to move about and flex the stands, so we found it was best to wait until the waves laid down.   In the canals and river sections, this was never an issue.

We kept all the rod on the mast and in-place as we were going to step the mast asap.   We just tied the ends up under the mast butt using lashing cam buckle straps, keeping the rod lower ends to no more than a gentle curve.    The ends can also go into a sturdy bag hung under the mast - we tried that but our bag did not hold up.

On Lake Champlain I would recommend having the great team at Safe Harbor Willsboro Bay put the mast back up, as they have a big enough rig to do that.   There is another marina just north of Whitehall that might be able do it, but its a big mast.

I agree it is a very memorable trip but it definitely took my full attention!    I'd be glad to chat over the phone if I can answer any questions on the canal, etc too.

Regards,

Mark Wensell

Shadow, J-46 46034

[John Burnett]

Hi Jeremiah,

We used and recommend Hop-a-Nose.  They gave us free rein of the wood shop.

I built 2 X cross supports (one on the foredeck and one in the cockpit) as the main support. And 3 vertical H supports (bow, midships and swim step) .  All supports had various padding (carpet, shower liner, etc) where they rested against the mast and plywood pads where they rested on the deck.

The boom was on the port deck which was the wrong side going west on the Erie canal.  I seem to recall mostly port side tie ups.  

Rubber gloves were helpful in the Erie canals locks.   The walls were cover with critters.

Save a couple 2x4's to fend off dock walls.

have fun,

John

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[Bernie Coyne]

Just curious what the draft is on your J/44....will that work in the canals?

 

Bernie Coyne

Email: bernie...@outlook.com

Cell/text: 781-789-0762

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[Jeremiah Goyette]

That’s a fantastic question. we are a shoal draft keel 6’ and carefully getting through, currently stuck at fort edward new york just outside of lock 6 with a barge stuck aground ahead of us in the channel. Generally not an enjoyable experience and eager to be complete, until some dredging work is completed, my opinion is it is not as advertised and unsafe even at our draft. That said, the boat has performed well, attached are some mast un stepping images for anyone that it may help in the future. and walkways happy to answer any questions if there are specifics

Jeremiah

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 10, 2025, at 11:30 AM, Bernie Coyne <bernie...@outlook.com> wrote:



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