mast weep holes

[Sway]

I own an Ericson 30-1 built in '69. the other day a guy rowed up to the boat and told me I need a weep hole at the base of the mast or it would fill with water and rust off. So what do you all think?

 

[toddster]

Such is conventional wisdom. Mine had no weep hole, and it was bone dry when we took it down. However, it had only one tiny cable opening and the old cable was jammed tight. YMMV.

 

[PDX]

Assuming your mast is the same as mine (1968 Ericson 30) your mast already has weep holes. They are quite small and also quite possibly clogged with dirt. Mine were, as we found out when the mast was removed. The clogged holes created a water reservoir, about a foot, inside the base of the mast. There was a slight bit of corrosion (mainly the mast trying to fuse itself to the aluminum mast plate) but worse was hydrostatic pressure from the reservoir forcing its way into the balsa sandwich in the cabintop, rotting it.

 

[Emerald]

I own an Ericson 30-1 built in '69. the other day a guy rowed up to the boat and told me I need a weep hole at the base of the mast or it would fill with water and rust off. So what do you all think?

just to be a pain in the stern, your aluminum mast might oxidize (catastrophically), but it doesn't "rust". That said, the weep hole advice is spot on.