Here is a curiosity question. We have a morgan with a 62' stick. I am about to replace my wind instruments and wireing. We have in mast halyards and weve never pulled the stick. My question is: Is there a seperate pocket for wires vs hallayrd built into the mast?? some type of extrusion? to keep them seperated???or do they all hang together inside one large oval extrusion. Just curious about typical mast construction. Thanks Rob
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Wires
I think it would be quite obvious if the wires were just hanging in the mast; you would never get any sleep. Even with the smallest movement they would slap the mast. Pulling the stick is really the only way to find out for sure though. I think most masts do not have a seperate channel for wiring but usually do have tracks to add conduit. Tim R.
I think it would be quite obvious if the wires were just hanging in the mast; you would never get any sleep. Even with the smallest movement they would slap the mast. Pulling the stick is really the only way to find out for sure though. I think most masts do not have a seperate channel for wiring but usually do have tracks to add conduit. Tim R.
on the hunter
... we have a Kenyon mast which has a channel just behind the main sail track. Other masts have a pipe run inside the mast while other have nothing at all. Common practice is to use foam insulation for hot water pipes and a bunch of tie wraps to cover the wires to avoid banging. You'll know when you remove the mast for sure. When rewired, ensure the wires do not hang from their connections, make a harness of some sort and tie this to a fixed point inside. Keep things away from the halyards.
... we have a Kenyon mast which has a channel just behind the main sail track. Other masts have a pipe run inside the mast while other have nothing at all. Common practice is to use foam insulation for hot water pipes and a bunch of tie wraps to cover the wires to avoid banging. You'll know when you remove the mast for sure. When rewired, ensure the wires do not hang from their connections, make a harness of some sort and tie this to a fixed point inside. Keep things away from the halyards.
Mast Wires
I have just rewired the mast on my new (old) boat and I can tell you what I found. All the wires were run in PVC pipe conduit attached to the inside of the mast. To replace a wire I tied a nylon string to the bottom end of the wire (after removing any connector) and pulled the wire up to the top of the mast or to the spreaders in the case of the spreader lights and to the masthead (steaming) light partway up the mast. I then used the string to pull the new wires back down the mast. Make sure that the new wires are plenty long enough by laying them out along the mast before you try to pull them. To tie on to the wires tie a clove hitch around the wire then start adding half hitches around the wire until you have five or six. Then tape everything (I used blue masking tape) so that there is a taper from the wire to the string and pull the wire back down the mast. It is probably best to attach the wire at the top first so that you don't pull the upper end into the mast and lose it. If you do, pull the wire all the way through then use another wire and pull a doubled string so you have one for the new wire and one for the old one. Do the same thing if you are adding a wire. I have pulled coax as well by this method although it really needs two people, one to pull and one to feed the stiff coax into the mast. Don't forget to leave a drip loop in wires that are not sealed with silicone. Otherwise water will run down the wire and into the mast then out the bottom where you don't want it. Wires that run into a hole in the mast (or spreaders) deserve a grommet in the hole or a piece of plastic tubing slipped over the section that passes through the hole and taped in place to protect against chafe. I always leave long tails on the wires so I have lots of room for mistakes in terminating them.
I have just rewired the mast on my new (old) boat and I can tell you what I found. All the wires were run in PVC pipe conduit attached to the inside of the mast. To replace a wire I tied a nylon string to the bottom end of the wire (after removing any connector) and pulled the wire up to the top of the mast or to the spreaders in the case of the spreader lights and to the masthead (steaming) light partway up the mast. I then used the string to pull the new wires back down the mast. Make sure that the new wires are plenty long enough by laying them out along the mast before you try to pull them. To tie on to the wires tie a clove hitch around the wire then start adding half hitches around the wire until you have five or six. Then tape everything (I used blue masking tape) so that there is a taper from the wire to the string and pull the wire back down the mast. It is probably best to attach the wire at the top first so that you don't pull the upper end into the mast and lose it. If you do, pull the wire all the way through then use another wire and pull a doubled string so you have one for the new wire and one for the old one. Do the same thing if you are adding a wire. I have pulled coax as well by this method although it really needs two people, one to pull and one to feed the stiff coax into the mast. Don't forget to leave a drip loop in wires that are not sealed with silicone. Otherwise water will run down the wire and into the mast then out the bottom where you don't want it. Wires that run into a hole in the mast (or spreaders) deserve a grommet in the hole or a piece of plastic tubing slipped over the section that passes through the hole and taped in place to protect against chafe. I always leave long tails on the wires so I have lots of room for mistakes in terminating them.
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