Yes there are internal halyards.
What concerns me is how the mast is held on the "Step????" besides the shrouds and stays. I'm not sure if that is the correct term. There are four short #14 X 1" brass screws ( one at each corner) of the mast plate????. Forgive my terminology if it's incorrect. Dont know all the labels yet.
The two forward ones are out and that is a worry. I tried to reseat them and they didn't grab. Seems to be that the holes are stripped out. Is that all that stabilizes the mast. I know the shrouds hold the mast down and also the stays but to me the screws seem very insignificant.
As to the innards of the mast is there a conduit??? I'm guessing from your answer there isn't. I dont seem to have any mast slap as it is configured now so I will look when it comes off. Really just have to run one additional wire for a steaming/deck combo light. Hoping I can get to mid mast without too much difficulty.
Things are never as easy as they seem and projects always take triple the estimated time to complete.
It's going to be a long fun interesting winter.
John
Yes there are internal halyards.
I kind of figured that John, but I wasn't sure.
What concerns me is how the mast is held on the "Step????" besides the shrouds and stays. I'm not sure if that is the correct term.
Yes. that's what they call it, the mast step. There are four short #14 X 1" brass screws ( one at each corner) of the mast plate????. Forgive my terminology if it's incorrect. Dont know all the labels yet.
You're doing OK John. I'm not what you would call an expert on sailboat maintenance. I learned the same way that you're learning now, like on the job training, the public library, and the books I've read as well as knowledgeable friends.
The two forward ones are out and that is a worry. I tried to reseat them and they didn't grab. Seems to be that the holes are stripped out. Is that all that stabilizes the mast. I know the shrouds hold the mast down and also the stays but to me the screws seem very insignificant.
From what I have been told, the mast steps on some of these boats are made to rip off the cabin top in the event that a stay should let go and the mast goes over the side. If your mast step was bolted through the cabin, your mast would bend in half like mine did out around Newport RI back in the 1990s.
My friend Del in our club owns a Hunter 27 and his mast step is set up the same way that yours is. Last year his turnbuckle let go during a storm while the boat was sitting at the mooring in back of the club, and the mast was in the water. He later took the mast and boat down to the boatyard and they repaired the stay along with the area under the step and set his mast. He was back in business in no time at all.
As to the innards of the mast is there a conduit??? I'm guessing from your answer there isn't.
I really don't know John. I never really knew how my wiring was set up until I went down to talk to the rigger at Rig-Rite to go over some changes and modifications that I wanted him to do on my new Z-Spar mast. He had it all apart that day and there was no conduit in my mast. The wires were all zip tied in a bundle about every 12" I don't seem to have any mast slap as it is configured now so I will look when it comes off.
Actually, I've never had any mast slap from wire inside either. Really just have to run one additional wire for a steaming/deck combo light. Hoping I can get to mid mast without too much difficulty.
I had the rigger install a steaming light on my mast when it was being worked on. Years later, one of the wires to the steaming light broke inside the mast at the light. I don't know if one of the halyards rubbed up against it and cause this. So when I was working on my mast about a year this past spring, I pulled my wiring out of my mast and removed the steaming light and the feed wire. My boat never really came new with a steaming light to begin with and I never used it more than a few times when I had it. You can get away without a steaming light on a small boat like mine, but I really believe that the larger boats like yours should have them though.
The only way to find out what you have is to remove the wiring. If it has conduit,-- great! If not, then it would be wise to install one just for these two lights.
When I worked on my mast I took all the stays off it including my spreaders because I do that anyway in the fall. I use my mast as a ridge pole for my 18'X30' polytarp cover. My mast is only 27' long and it's easier to handle and flip up or down on my portable work bench in my back yard with all that garbage off it. I had on end of the mast laying on the grand kids play house, and the other end was in a notched board in the vice of my portable work bench. I removed my mast step and I also removed my mast head. I tied tag lines of strong twine to the ends of my wires so that when I pulled my wires out through the top of my mast I could pull them back in the same way. You want to make sure that your wires don't get dipped or crossed with any of your halyards. I was able to fix my anchor light that hadn't worked in about four years and remove my steaming light and feed wire. A Dremel Tool comes in handy for cleaning electric contacts in lights as well as the metal on the bulbs. Also, for testing the lights, you can use a small 12v battery charger to test your lights and make sure that they're working before putting it all back together.
I had brought my mast to a marine welder to have the area near the hinged tabernacle plate welded and filled. When the rigger replaced my old cast Aluminum mast hinge with a new stainless steel hinged plate, he never insulated the stainless steel from the Aluminum. This caused a chemical reaction that was corroding my mast. This this was one of the other jobs that I had to do while the mast was apart. Some guys use plastic from the milk jugs and place it in between the two metals. I coated the inside area of the mast with epoxy and let it dry out before putting the hinge back on.
Things are never as easy as they seem and projects always take triple the estimated time to complete.
You're right about that one John. Been there, done that.
It's going to be a long fun interesting winter.
Just take your time and think it through. Some food for thought would be; how many wires will I need? Will I need a ground for each light? Will I need separate switches? Will I need a conduit or can I get by without it? I really don't know how you could anchor a conduit inside the mast anyway. Don Casey has a method but I'm not keen on using it. Check out his web site or his books for that. Good luck with that John. I hope that I was able to be of some help to you here.
Joe
John[/
