water in my mast...

[Masallah 04]

I purchased my 35 MKII in November, shipped it to Oregon, and in a blinding rainstorm, stepped the mast.....this without acknowledging whether the mast to was capped or open. When it rains, I have a great deal of water coming into the cabin at the same location where my mast's electrical wires enter the cabin. My wires are fed through a hole in the mast base, therefore the water coming in must be from water entering the inside of the mast. Does anyone else have this problem? I haven't as yet, climbed my mast to determine whether it has a cap on it's top, but I don't believe it ever has, and the former owner never mentioned water seeping in from inside the mast. Any suggestions? I'm worried that constant exposure to water will deteriorate the mast base.
thanks
Alan

 

[Loren Beach]

If the mast is thru-stepped on the Mk 2, you will get rain water coming down the inside of the spar. We get this on our boat in winter. I sponge out the bilge once a week, sometimes getting a full quart or more when the weather has been really windy and rainy.
Note that cross winds in a storm will plaster one side of the spar with running water that will find its way inside at spreader roots and halyard entries and exits.
On the plus side, the water is fresh... very fresh...

Just keep the base plate clean when you re-step and check the drain slot at the mast base to be sure it stays open and no water accumulates inside the base.

There are structural pluses to a thru-stepped spar, and... some inconveniences.

Best,
Loren in rainy Portland, OR
Olson 34 #8

 

[Masallah 04]

water in the mast....

thanks Loren...
actually the MKII is deck stepped, but I think the issue is the same. When it's blowing horizontal rain, as it does sometimes on the Oregon coast eh....this is when water really comes in. I'd say about 1/2 gallon per week on really rainy weeks.
thanks again for your response
Alan
Masallah....

 

[Seth]

Water in rig

Loren rocks as usual, and let me add this point:

Next time you go up to the top of the rig, look at where the wires for the windex/masthead light/windinstruments enter the mast-there will be a hole(s). Hopefully you brought a tube of clear silicone up with you-use it to seal up any holes in the masthead, and any other unused holes.
This will reduce to some extent the amount of rainwater which enters, and then you can do as Loren suggests with the rest of it.

Fair winds,
Seth

 

[Loren Beach]

And now, with New Information....

Since your mast is deck stepped, my prior advice is worth only about a cent.
Problem is, when you have leakage around the plate on the cabin top (aka the mast step) you will have rot in the cabin top and the support post on the inside. If the floor timber is wet, it rots too. This needs fixin' !
:eek:
When the spar is down, pull the plate and re-seal it where the fasteners go through. And check the cabin top area under it for rot. You may have to do some epoxy repair work.
Then put the wiring inside some sort of a pipe "riser" several inches up inside the spar when stepped. The wiring needs to have enough slack inside to have a "drip loop".

Or, take the wiring that comes up through the plate and caulk the heck out of it so that water can never wick down those wires. Some boats bring the wires out of the spar about 8 inches above the base and thence down through a watertight fitting. There are several right answers -- some of which could even come from well-meaning strangers on the internet!


I had a deck-stepped spar on our prior boat and had to reseal the bolts in the plate once. Caught it in time and had no rot problems, however.

Best,

Loren in PDX
Olson 34 #8

ps: if you wander over to Portland this summer, let's go for a sail

 

[gareth harris]

If your mast is the same as mine (several manufacturers possible on the 35-2), water will always come down it from the sheaves when it rains, and it is designed to drain at the bottom. A couple of years ago I did what Loren recommends with the piece of PVC pipe through the deck for the wires, running above the drain point at the bottom of the mast, and it worked.

I would recommend you make this a high priority, as a lot of water comes down the mast - it so happens that I spent yesterday cutting up a previous botched repair to my deck for exactly that problem, and it will be a lot more work still to rebuild the step.

I will post pictures here once I get my computer back from repairs at Dell.

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[Masallah 04]

water in the mast...

all great advice.....Loren, I'll take you up on the offer to sail this spring / summer. I normally race on Fern Ridge Resevoir (I also own a merit 25), but this year, the Corps of Engineers is essentially closing the lake due to dam (damn) problems......There's a bunch of us thinking of mooring our boats in PDX.....I might give you a call sometime soon as to advice on good marinas. By the way, in spite of my leaking mast.....The Ericsons are terrific boats....very happy overall.

 

[gareth harris]

Alan - something I forgot to mention: there is a steel plate on top of the deck under the paint, so you will have to choose your cutting bits accordingly.
Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972