Pulling cable for wind transducer on C320

jssailem · Wednesday at 10:53 AM

Are you replacing the transducer or installing a new one?
Replacement allows you to use the existing wires. Installing means a new wire. You may be able to pull a new wire. It will just not be bound to the other cables.

Don S/V ILLusion · Wednesday at 11:07 AM

Marniko said:
Will I have to lower the mast?

Stepping the mast, particularly on a “new to you” boat is a wise investment. That is the best way to identify rigging issues. Aside from that, I’m not sure about Catalina but most boat electronics and wiring is done at commission by the yard delivering the boat so how the wiring is fixed in the mast isn’t always consistent.

Having said that, internal wiring is always secured to keep from banging and/or abrasion which is why simply pulling a wire is impracticable.

Whether or not there is space for more wires is obviously a function of what already exists, e.g., multiple coax runs for antennas, radar cable, powered FM antenna, lights, etc… a highly specific boat question no one other than you can find out.

Choosing wireless instruments simply to avoid running cables isn’t a good reason. I have some wireless instruments for a very different reason, that being to avoid more weight aloft because we have a carbon mast. In general use, they cost more, are less reliable, subject to interference, voltage drop sensitive, etc… so I’d say not the best choice absent any other reasons.

Calif. Ted · Wednesday at 12:37 PM

I unstepped my mast for new standing rigging October of '23 at the DP shipyard using my own rigger and it was about $7000 in total. We replaced the cable and masthead fitting for the wind transducer and it was in a conduit un the mast I think. Afraid I didn't much pay attention just used the old to pull a new one thru. If you are the new owner of "Lady Diane" I noticed that boat has the original closed turnbuckles which usually indicates the rigging has not been changed.

jssailem · Wednesday at 12:38 PM

Welcome to the SBO Forum.
Happy New Year.
It is best to have some help with this task.

If this is a first-time project, a rigger with experience managing the mast removal and subsequent reinstallation would be worth the cost. There are tricks that help to make this a safe and quick project. A first-timer can easily create problems that will take more time, effort, and cost to resolve than the cost of a good rigger.

dlochner · Wednesday at 7:14 PM

Marniko said:
New to sailing and bought first boat..
Has anyone had luck pulling cable in mast for transducer while the mast is up? I’ve heard rumors that on the Catalina 320 that all the wires are tied together, making it almost or impossible to pull any cables down the mast. Would rather have transducer hardwired as opposed to wireless, any thoughts on this subject?

This is a question where the answer is: It really depends...

Is the mast deck stepped or keel stepped? It will be harder with a deck stepped mast.

Is there a conduit for the wires and is there room?

Did the last person who ran a wire up the mast leave a mousing line?

How will the cable exit the mast to connect with the sensor?

What is the masthead made of? How difficult will it be to install the sensor mount?

How do you like spending hours sitting in an uncomfortable bosun's chair or in a climbing harness 40+ft above the water?

How important are the wind instruments?

Periodically unstepping the mast is a good idea. The rigging can be more easily inspected and replaced when the mast is horizontal sitting on sawhorses 3 feet above the ground than when it is vertical. In your case, giving the expense of taking the mast down, replacing all the mast wiring and standing rigging would make sense, especially if everything is 10 or more years old.

dlochner · Wednesday at 7:40 PM

Marniko said:
Thanks for all the help! I’m not the new owner of “Lady Diane”.. I will definitely have somebody experienced do the work. At this point I wouldn’t even consider otherwise. So until I Till I feel a little bit more comfortable with things, I guess I’ll just deal with telltales for a minute, then do it probably in the spring. Again thanks so much for your responses! i’m so glad I found this forum..

Sailors have sailed for thousands of years without all the electronic gizmos we now feel necessary. Spend time on the water learning to read the wind and its shifts without a digital display in front of you, it will make you a better sailor. Look up the Beaufort Scale, it is remarkably accurate at specifying windspeed. If you must know the wind speed, buy a hand held anemometer and use it. Over time you will learn to read the wind based on the sea state and how the boat is sailing. Electronics fail, I once lost my wind instruments early in a 5,000 mile cruise. Fortunately I had spent 30 years sailing where the wind instrument was a windex and the wind blowing across my face. We did fine.

Straycat22296 · Wednesday at 9:46 PM

What brand of wind instrument do you have and how old is it?

You may find that you can just replace the transducer unit into the mount at the top of the mast. You will need to do some homework to find out if this will work or if you will need to replace the mount also.

Unfortunately, when I had to replace my old (1999) Raymarine unit the masthead mount was not able to accommodate the new (2004) transducer, so the mount and cable had to be replaced.

When I started to look into the replacement I was told by a couple of local riggers that they used the old cable to pull the new cable through from the top of the mast, They stated that they had done this on several boats before. They made it sound like it was easy to do. You could save $$$ now but as advised elsewhere it is not a bad idea to pull the mast if other work or inspections are needed.

As far as I know, Catalina installs a conduit all or most models inside the mast for wire (electric, radio and instrument) wire to pass through. This was so on both my Cat 30 and Cat 36.

Fortunately or Unfortunately for me when I replaced the wind instrument and all wiring on my Cat 36, I had the mast down to replace the standing rigging. Replacement was very easy at that point. I did not find that the wires were taped together inside the conduit (not on my Cat 30 either).

Good luck with your project.

sailme88 · Thursday at 3:09 AM

Deck or keel stepped?
The wireless Bluetooth transducers are limited by height differences and interference caused by dodger and Bimini framework.

Tally Ho · Thursday at 4:50 AM

My boat came with a Tack Tick wireless wind instrament. Now owned by Raymarine. And Garmin sells their GWind system. If I was adding wind instrument to a coastal day sailer, this is what I would use.

Greg

Tally Ho · Thursday at 1:08 PM

Marniko said:
Has the RayMarine worked out well.

If you are asking me, yes. I don’t know how old my set is (I have owned Tally Ho for 7 years now I guess. I haven’t done anything to it except pull the transducer from the mast in the winter and stick it back up there in the spring.

Greg

LakeOntario270 · Thursday at 1:26 PM

Taking a mast down is no big deal. The 320 is a deck step mast. You most likely have the Raymarine ST60 gauge. Purchase a new mast head unit. It will come with plenty of cable.

With the mast laying on top of some saw horses measure the amount of cable needed. I used my old cable to pull the new one in. If you don't have a pull cable you will need a electrical snake. Two people are needed to pull the cable, one to feed one to pull. Not a hard job.

danstanford · 2025-01-03T02:28:42-0800

Marniko said:
Has the RayMarine worked out well.

I had the wireless on my last boat and it was operationally flawless from the connection standpoint.

Pulling cable for wind transducer on C320

.

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

.

.

.

.

.

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.