Mast Shoe Leak

[757guy]

Good day. We've been getting some water drips on the table, apparently making its way from the deckstepped mast of our P-28-2. When we pulled the mast for winter storage, I saw that the shoe has an open center, with no apparent drain/weep hole to the deck area. Any rain that makes it past the sheaves has nowhere to go, though some that runs down the inside of the mast would ooze out around the lip. Coupla questions: Can I cut a slit or drill a small hole at the base of the shoe to allow drainage or am I better off filling the center with some sort of plastic so water has to flow to the gap between mast and shoe? We are on the hard until May, so I have lotsa time to chew on this.

 

[Ken Cross]

A picture might help, but not having seen it, I'd be leaning toward a drain hole.
Ken

 

[Gunni]

File a shallow "vee" on the base of the mast extrusion- both sides, that will allow water to weep out. You want that water to get out.

 

[757guy]

Ken--that's fair enough. Maybe this crude drawing will help. Picture a small box with no bottom, having tabs for securing bolts at the fore and aft ends. Not shown is a vertical hole for various wires to pass thru, which I don't believe is involved with the dripping. For now I can't tell whether/not there is a hole or groove on the underside (deck side) for drainage. The boat is some distance away and I'll explore that next trip

 

[Jacktar]

There is probably a groove or slot for drainage filled with guck (technical term for stuff that accumulates on a boat from the environment). Or a previous owner caulking or painting around the base plugging up the groove.

 

[capta]

I would guess the hole is for wiring. There should be a stand tube from the hole going up above the shoe walls so any water drains out before getting in the tube that leads the wires through the deck. The wires go down below the stand tube top then back up and in so water doesn't run down the wires into the stand tube.
And yes there should be drain holes in the shoe, especially if you don't have the stand tube. Of course, without the stand tube, any waves running across the mast step will go in the holes for letting water out.

 

[757guy]

Yeah, as mentioned, I didn't show the wiring tube tho it's there. Straining my artistic abilities as it is. There was a fair amount of crud (local word for 'guck' or 'gunk'), some of which got removed. I will scrape and vacuum next time, looking for a covered groove. If there isn't one, maybe the answer is to take the shoe off and make same with a file or hacksaw. A suggestion above to file a 'v' or two at the mast base seems reasonable. Thanks, folks.