I just purchaced a 1985 catalina 30 tall rig. The problem is that both the jib halyard and mainsail halyards are missing. I have climbed the mast and dropped a string with a nail into it and tried to get it with a magnet, but my attempts have failed. I think the nail might be getting stuck somewhere in the mast. Does anyone know what the nail could be getting stuck on inside the mast? Any ideas on a better way to run halyards when there are no existing ones?
no halyards making it hard to sail
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There are a lot of things in your mast. First I am assuming you have no lines going in the bottom of the mast and you are trying to drop a line to pull some through. There are bolts in the mast to hold the spreaders on, then there is a 1" PVC pipe through which your lighting wires should be run. It keeps the halyards from rubbing the wiring. You can see where the PVC is as it is riveted to the inside of the mast. Try using a tear drop fishing weight to make it down the mast. When you do get a line run make sure it is on the proper pulleys and is not rubbing on anything. You will have to take the screws off the pulley brackets at the bottom of the mast to find the weight when it gets there. Beware all that "dirt" at the bottom of your mast is years of bird droppings. I took my mast off for the first time in 26 years. It had over 3" of the stuff. Good luck, hope you have at leas t two of you to do this. You will also need at least three halyards set up and they don't take the same path through the mast, drop three different lines down. It may almost be easier to pull the mast for the job.
Having had the same problem I too was very puzzled by not being able to get any line through. With the mast on stands the first 3 feet of bird nest was removed from the base. When I could not pull or push what was guessed to be a static line through I made a ramrod from sections of plastic conduit. Some strong pushing from the masthead (which is removed) did the trick of clearing the blockage. That solved the problem, there was another foot plus of bird nest built in the the spreader bolts. Once that was out it was easy to run new halyards and rewire.
Oh Great, I'm going to run two new ones as I currently have only a main and a roller furling. Now I know there's years of bird guana and misc. droop in there. Another exciting weekend hanging from the tower is shaping up.
When our mast was down, I fabbed an aluminum plate to cover over the masthead opening. It was really easy to drill and tap some machine screws into the aluminum. Use lanolin (Lanicote) on the screw threads. I used silicone to create a gasket on the underside. The new flat surface in that location made it handy to mount a new wind sensor and an aft-facing extention to mount the windex.
Rob
Rob
RB & APPROVED,
RB, I did the same cover plate install my last haulout. Great minds think alike.
APPROVED, I also had the same problems trying to fish a line inside the mast.
My 1980 C30 did not have a wiring tube for the wires to run in. That was changed during my last haulout.
If not having the tube, I have had luck trying a lead weight and dropping that. Less likely to snag on something. Then bend the end of a hanger and snag it. Better to have someone below with flashlight to visually see the weight. Have em yell stop & see if the can snag it. This may work for your situation pal.
CR
RB, I did the same cover plate install my last haulout. Great minds think alike.
APPROVED, I also had the same problems trying to fish a line inside the mast.
My 1980 C30 did not have a wiring tube for the wires to run in. That was changed during my last haulout.
If not having the tube, I have had luck trying a lead weight and dropping that. Less likely to snag on something. Then bend the end of a hanger and snag it. Better to have someone below with flashlight to visually see the weight. Have em yell stop & see if the can snag it. This may work for your situation pal.
CR
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