I thought this might be helpful for anyone who has to pass under bridges.
Procedure:
Slacken the backstay
Slacken (remember how many turns- look at mast bend) and remove the Inner forestay.
Prepare the Pulley (use a bowline to secure)
Tape the uprights to the inner side stays
Run the line back through jib car pulley to winch and load the winch (two turns).
Prepare boom by lowering onto lifelines and slacken the lazy jack lines.
Pull furling line through to bow. Loosen all lines to base of mast.
Set up two equal length spinnaker poles. One end connected to swivel rings on deck, the other connected to the rings under the furler assembly. These will create a cantilever to steady the mast and take some of the strain.
Loosen the forestay pin by tensioning the pulley slightly to enable pin removal.
Take care not to lose the pin.
No adjustment of the tensioners should be necessary.
Setup a 7m (bridge clearance) indicator and pull to top of mast.
Lower away. (Pull down on backstay while paying out line to get the mast moving).
Visually check no trapped lines, tapes securing side stays.no twisting.
When down to less than 7m proceed with caution.
Trailing lines, wash, current.

Dam those Freo bridges,,, My mast lowering set up is basically identical to yours, probably one of the most efficient and safest methods I would think. My only concern sometimes is the amount of load on the wobble stoppers that go to the chainplate extenders.

Is your boat an S&S 30?

I have a similar set up, but I use an A-frame made from square section steel. It was a temporary solution I came up with because I didn't have two spinnaker poles. The tip of the A clamps on to the forestay. It's in to its fourth year now.

I also do away with the pulley system and the hassle of a line running back to the cockpit. Instead I have a 4wd winch mounted in the cabin on the back of the anchor well and pass the winch line out through the well to a turning block on the stem head fitting. The winch has a wireless remote, so I can stand on the cabin top and man handle the mast a bit.

I drop my mast all the way down to a crutch mounted on the pushpit and throw a retaining line around it. It gives me a bit more confidence that the mast won't go over the side when I'm putting under the bridges with Captain Cook steaming up my ass.

Always preferred the 'mast skate setup the S97's use due to supporting the mast all the way down .
We used to be able to have 3 guys jump onboard at EFYC , and motor to FSC at max speed, having the mast down and back up in that time including boom off and on

Select to expand quote

Microbe said..

I also do away with the pulley system and the hassle of a line running back to the cockpit. Instead I have a 4wd winch mounted in the cabin on the back of the anchor well and pass the winch line out through the well to a turning block on the stem head fitting. The winch has a wireless remote, so I can stand on the cabin top and man handle the mast a bit.

I drop my mast all the way down to a crutch mounted on the pushpit and throw a retaining line around it. It gives me a bit more confidence that the mast won't go over the side when I'm putting under the bridges with Captain Cook steaming up my ass.

Yeah, I drop the mast down onto crutch which is held in place with 4 tie down straps, I work the block & tackle at the bow off the anchor winch,, that way I haven't got myself underneath the mast in the cockpit, with my head down grinding a winch.