SlowSL wrote:
My old 16 had a gnarly soft spot just forward of the pylon. I wouldn't dare step on it, but a few times I was able to step over it, grab the bridle wires for support, and lower the sail (awkwardly). I purchased a slightly newer H16, I have no problems walking on the hulls, they are rock solid, don't give in the least bit, although it is frowned upon to walk on them. Perhaps you could get into the water to drop the sail so that you are not stressing the hulls? Or maybe you could float a little platform over and place on top of the hulls to distribute your weight across a larger area? I'd fix the soft spot if you can, it will only get worse. I didn't worry about mine and I had stressed the boat beyond belief for three good years before retiring the boat. It never fell apart, but others have not been as lucky. What about building a little platform over the rocks at the shore to pull the boat onto?
I tried today to do it from corner of tramp with mast turned and I could do it with me pulling on a rope in one hand sort of acting like the weight of a sail. So I might be able to get main sail down. Maybe I could do like a trapeze off the front tramp. bar to reach the bottom of jib to unhook it??
As for platform I have a dock ordered and am waiting for the pieces to come in. But even then it would very tricky to sail up to the dock. The wind in this cove sometimes rolls over the trees and will totally change direction I noticed this sailing out and coming back in I lost my hat when the sail switched sides bumping the rudder extension into my hat and it sank before I tuned around.