'clanging' from interior mast antenna wire

[steven]

i live in a waterfront condo (my first mistake) and am renting a slip from a neighbor...he called last night to say that our neighbors are complaining about the 'clanging' from the boat...i know it's the antenna cable that has been run inside the mast..short of removing the mast and stuffing foam rubber in there, does anyone have any other suggestions? i've pulled it a little tighter, but i'm afraid that if i pull too tight, i'll pull the wire right off the antenna..i have only a few weeks to resolve this or the boat has to be removed!!!!

 

[Harry Asbury]

Some suggestions

On my 27 I have a pvc tube that is riveted to the inside of the mast. All wires, steaming, anchor light and antenna are run through this tube. This keeps the wires and halyards seperate from each other and prevents fouling the lines. You should drop the mast and if you have such a tube run the antenna and any loose wire through it. Now for the present fix, you can climb the mast and about every third of the way drill a small hole,1/4" in size and making up a hook from stainless steel wire capture the loose antenna wire and secure it. I've done this on another boat and it takes some time and patience but it can be done. Another suggestion, but I don't know how you would do it with the mask up, is pushing in more antenna cable so the cable is forced against the sides of the mast and can't move. This is usally done when the halyards run outside of the mast as on my 30' wood sloop. Putting foam inside the mast is not a good idea if you also have moving lines inside as the movement will cut up the foam and make a mess and may jamb sheaves and cause wear on the lines.

 

[Dave Condon]

Drop the mast

You would be allot safer to drop the mast and inspect whether or not there is a tube inside the mast to run the antenna wire through. If not, put one in but unless you know what you are doing, I would let a sailboat rigger do this as one mistake could cost you a new mast

 

[Doug B.]

Maybe a cheaper idea

I read in Sail magazine's "things that work" section, the below:One guy used large sized nylon ties, must have drilled a couple holes to do it, and tightened them around the cable. He left the long tail on the tie to act as a buffer so the cable was not as free to move around inside the mast. He said it worked great. The other option is to buy your neighbors some earplugs....as tolerance is not for sale.happy sailing.

 

[TOM M.]

UNCLANG THE MAST

Remove the antenna lead, get about three dozen plastic electrical ties about 5 to 6" long position the ties every foot, and start at 12:00 o'clock position the next at 12:15, then 12:30 etc, when completed, snake the antenna lead back into the mast, the plastic wire ties, will act as fingers and centralize the lead, and will not interfere with internal halyards, DO NOT USE FOAM it will mess you up in the future if you have to add anything else to the inside of the mast.