Mast leak, mastboot and material under

[dxulander]

Been noticing a lot of water trickling down the mast inside the galley. Figured the current mastboot bonding tape is probably EOL (end of life).

Beforehand:


Took off the wrap and sure enough, under-side the bonding tape was wet. But underneath the wrap, between the mast and mast plate, is some rubbery material (red lines). Pretty sure it's lost all water protection properties (if it was even meant for that).


Does anyone know what this material is, and intended purpose? Should I scoop it all up and re-fill it before applying the new mastboot bonding tape?

 

[peaman]

I would replace what you removed with something like THIS mast boot tape, and then consider a canvas mast boot to protect the tape from sunlight. I would not much disturb the stuff in your second image.

 

[Loren Beach]

This may be helpful.

O34 - Mast Wedges & Gaiter, (Kenyon spar, O-34)

Back a couple decades ago, I replaced the factory hardwood wedges. They had put in four, with longer ones on each side. There were "corner" areas with no wedging/support, and it seemed like there should be more continuous support all the way...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[bgary]

Been noticing a lot of water trickling down the mast inside the galley. Figured the current mastboot bonding tape is probably EOL (end of life).

Does anyone know what this material is, and intended purpose? Should I scoop it all up and re-fill it before applying the new mastboot bonding tape?

The material could be "spar-tite" - a poured in semi-flexible replacement for mast-wedges

Spartite Mast Seal Kit | Fisheries Supply

Fisheries Supply carries a wide variety of marine products and brands, including Spartite mast seal kit. Browse our selection today!

www.fisheriessupply.com

As far as the leaking, I've had good success with a belt-and-suspenders approach: I used a "universal" mast boot kit (kind of a pain to glue the edges together for installing on an in-place mast, but worth the effort), with hose-clamps top and bottom

https://defender.com/en_us/ssi-universal-mast-boot

...then tightly wrapped with stretchy self-amalgamating tape (*), and covered with a protective UV cover. Haven't had a drip in years...

(*) pro-tip: wrap from the bottom to the top, so the layers of tape overlap like shingles with no exposed upper-edges...

B

 

[southofvictor]

Here are some reference pics of our pulled mast showing our spartite fitting and rubber boot which we then cover with a canvas boot. The spartite is a component of your rig tune so don‘t mess with that unless you’re going to de-tune and retune the rig before and after. I’d do some gasket work per the comments above and see how it works.

One note, we had a pretty wicked leak from rain running down the electrical cable and into the cabin because the yard didn’t put in a good drip loop. One of only a few gripes I’ve had with the work they did. I fixed it by pumping clear silicone around the cable and forming enough of a dam to keep it running down the inside of mast.

 

[dxulander]

Thanks everyone.

Mastboot self bonding tape is what I bought to replace the old "tape". Noted on the pro-tip to go bottom to top, that's how I would've applied it as well.

2 things I learned:
1. Install a canvas over the tape for UV protection.
2. The material-in-question is called a "mast wedge".

 

[dxulander]

In case anyone's interested in the "finished" product. Job is done when I've procured a canvas cover to shield from UV.

 

[peaman]

That looks great. Now, over the next couple weeks or so, keep an eye on the very end of the boot tape, close to the bottom, as it may shrink back over that time. I know this because it happened to me and opened a pretty big leak to the interior. And the tape had been installed by my (very capable) rigger!