Conference unifix::sailing

Welcome to our sport! What a fitting way to begin!

If there isn't a good place at the mast top to mount the light, attach an
L bracket to the side of the mast, and put the light on the top of the L
bracket. The same will work for the VHF antenna.

The wiring should go down the inside of the mast. (You can leave the first few
inches outside the mast if it makes the installation easier. The hole can be on
the side of the mast. Fill the hole with some silicone caulk such as Boatlife,
to keep rain water from getting into the mast.) You can probably fish the wire
using another stiffer wire (e.g. solid #12 or #14 house wire) as a messenger.
Sight down the inside of the mast with a flashlight to make sure you understand
where any obstructions are located. You need to make holes in the mast step for
the cables. Install a suitable connector at the mast step for each cable. These
connectors will be stuffed inside the mast when the mast is stepped.
Leave a few extra inches of cable length inside the mast. This will be useful
in the future, when the connectors need replacing.

When the mast is stepped, tape the connectors to reduce the likelihood of
them vibrating apart.

If your halyards run inside the mast, you may need to worry about interference
between the halyards and the cables. 

By the way, a really useful thingy for your mast-top is a Windex apparent
wind indicator. They cost about $40, but they're worth it.

When you attach stuff to the mast, use only stainless or aluminum hardware.
When you put stainless screws into the mast, it's a good idea to use some
NeverSeize (sp?) in case you need to unscrew the fastener at some point in
the future. (Dissimilar metals tend to corrode at their interfaces in a
salt environment.)

For additional ideas on how to do this stuff, look at existing masts. There are
probably several masts from other boats stored (horizontally, that is) at your
boatyard.

--RS

P.S. I have a light that I need to install on my own mast. Help me pray for some
warm weekends!

P.P.S. If you haven't discovered Boat U.S. yet, you might want to go there and
look around (and maybe join for $12.50). They're in Waltham. They have lots
of stuff at good prices. They give out a fat catalog, which is handy to have
when you're trying to figure out what parts you'll need.

    Since your boat is in a boatyard, the easiest thing to do may be to
    look at someone else's masthead light and VHF antenna and mimic what
    they have done.
    
    Most things intended to go on the masthead usually require removal of
    the masthead, drilling an appropriately sized hole, and either tapping
    threads in the hole or fastening the object in question with nuts and
    washers.  
    
    Space on the top of the masthead can often be in short supply.  Then it
    is necessary to mount objects on an accessory bracket.  This is often
    fabricated on an ad-hoc basis depending on the configuration of the
    mast and what needs to be mounted.  One learns to hoard scrap aluminum
    and stainless in anticipation of such contigencies.
    
    Wiring for both the light and antenna should go inside the mast.  They
    may also want to go inside a dedicated channel within the mast if the
    mast is so designed.  The intent of such a wiring channel is to keep
    halyards from abrading the wires.  With the use of an electrician's
    fish tape, it is very easy to pass wires through a mast.  These are
    available at hardware and home improvement stores for under $20.  It'll
    pay for itself the first time a halyard or electrical wire breaks in
    your mast.
    
    The circular object with a screw sounds like the mount for a Windex. 
    The shaft of the windex goes into the hole and the screw is tightened
    to hold it in place.
    
    - gene

Some more comments: 

I hope you are installing a masthead tricolor light. A tricolor light is 
much more visible at night than the usual deck lights. The Aqua Signal 
Series 40 tricolor/anchor light is very good. And a tricolor light 
illuminates a Windex just fine.

Do not scrimp on the wire size for the light. Use tinned #14 wire if 
possible (not inexpensive -- try Jamestown Distributors in Rhode Island) 
to minimize voltage drop and maximize brightness.

Use a rugged, low windage VHF antenna. The stainless steel whip Metz is 
excellent and comes with a L bracket for mounting. The usual thin 
coaxial cable is both less expensive and higher loss than RG8/U coax. If 
the total length of cable from the VHF radio to antenna is around 50' or
more, consider using RG8/U. 

I wouldn't bother with silicone sealant where the wires exit the mast at 
the masthead. Rain water will get in around the halyard sheaves anyway.

Assuming your mast doesn't have a wiring conduit and does have internal 
halyards, you can get the wires to the masthead easily with a piece of
stout string. Firmly tape the wires and string to the halyard tail and 
pull everything to the masthead. Untape the wires and pull the halyard 
tail back down with the string. This will take some fiddling, of course.

Assuming your mast doesn't have a wiring conduit, consider getting 
enough spiral wire wrap (it looks kinda like a telephone handset cord 
and comes in various diameters) to cover all the wire inside the mast. 
This will protect the wire from chafe. Oh, yes, consider running a 1/8" 
nylon rope up the mast with the wiring (don't bundle with the wire 
wrap). Then should you ever need to run another wire or halyard life is 
much easier. If your mast is large enough, consider taping foam pipe 
insulation around the wiring. Banging wires inside a mast are not at all 
conducive to restful sleep. 

Try to avoid drilling any more holes in your mast and use existing 
screws if you can. For example, our two masthead antennas are mounted on 
brackets I made that are attached by the mounting bolts for the 
spinnaker halyard block bails. The same screws are used to mount both 
the windspeed transducer and the tricolor light. 

Boatyards disclaim any resposibility for damage to masthead gear during
stepping and unstepping the mast. Damage is quite likely, especially if
your mast is heavy enough that a crane is used to step/unstep it.
Windexes, tricolor lights, windspeed transducers, etc, are expensive, so
I always install/remove these after/before the mast is stepped/unstepped. 
Climbing a mast is fun, sort of. The view is usually nice and it is fun
to watch seagulls flying below you. 

And, of course, doing all of this will take at least twice as long 
as you expect and three times longer than you have time for 
(optimistically, and I know from too much experience). 

Enjoy!

Alan

    Just one piece of advice to add. When you run the wires into the
    masthead, don't run them straight down and in. Leave a little room for a
    Drip Loop. That is, run the wire down below the entry hole and then back
    up and into the hole. That way the amount of rain getting into the mast
    is minimized as it collects at the end of the drip loop and falls off.
    I also would add some silicone sealer where the wires enter the mast.
    If nothing else it will eliminate chafe. The VHF antenna usually comes
    with a mounting bracket that attaches to the side of the mast. Drill
    and tap for the screws. The advice on the wires clanging inside the
    mast is something you should take notice of. Nothing can be more
    irritating than either Halyards or internal wires clanging inside the
    mast at night. To help eliminate this, stuff wads of Foam rubber (make
    it closed Cell foam) up inside the mast at several intervals using a long 
    piece of wood. That will secure any internal wires tightly against the
    insides of the mast.                 
    Happy sailing.
    and elimnate clanging.  

> And, of course, doing all of this will take at least twice as long 
> as you expect and three times longer than you have time for 
> (optimistically, and I know from too much experience). 

    And that's when you *really* know what you are doing.
    
    I just had to fix two *minor* glitches that showed up on the recent
    survey of my boat. Buyer said "fix them and it's a done deal".
    
    1. No dip in the voltmeter when the 110V hot water breaker turned on.
       Surveyor suspects burned out heater element. After two hours of
       contorted efforts to remove, clean, and replace what turned out
       to be a perfectly good element, (accompanied by the usual dropping
       of assorted screws and bolts into impossible spots in the bilge) I
       find that it was the overload relay on the thermostat that was
       tripped. Since the boat has never been on shore power before, this
       could have been this way for the last 5 years. Total time this job
       *should* have taken: 3-5 minutes.
    
    
    2. Datamarine Link 5100 remote in cockpit inoperative. Since this has
       never given me a problem, and was working just a few weeks earlier,
       I suspect corroded bnc connector. Clean contacts at wheel end; nothing.
       Clean contacts at main unit; nothing. Suspect bad connector. Cut off,
       check continuity; nothing. Do same for other end; still nothing, and now 
       I'm wondering how a perfectly good coaxial cable went bad when the
       boat hasn't moved an inch in the last couple of months. Make visual
       check of whole cable but can't see problem.
    
       I won't bore you with all of the details but after almost 9 hours of
       work to completely remove and replace a 20' coaxial cable, complete
       with all new cable ties for the wiring harness, I discover a
       previously unknown terminal strip on the underside of the cockpit sole.
       Totally impossible to detect visually. Found by hand only when the last
       foot of cable won't come loose when both ends appear free. Problem:
       the ground had broken free of a crimped terminal. I *could* have
       fixed this in approximately 15 minutes.
    
    My hands and wrists look like they've been in a paper shredder. I've
    inhaled more fiberglass dust than I care to think about. That all the work
    was done at night, in sub-freezing weather made it all the more
    enjoyable. 
    
    What was that quote again about messin' about in boats?
    
    John
    

    For those who didn't understand my comment about messing about in
    boats, here is, courtesy of Bill French, the exact quote:
    

    Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing -
    half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

    "The Wind in the Willows" 
    Kenneth Grahame
    
    

    While you are pulling the radio/lights wires to the mast top, add
    a spare set for wind instruments.    Nice to have in place if you
    decide to add AWI/Wind speed later.
    
    

    OK so here's my latest problem ....
    
    I had intended to run my VHF Antenna inside my mast, trather than up
    the backstay as was done before.  WHile I was at it I figured that I
    would take the opportunity to replace the wiring inside the mast as it
    was old and I am replacing lights etc.
    
    At the top of the mast I had a 2 conductor cable and a piece of single
    wire coming out from the top.  My plan was to attach the 2 conductor to
    a new piece of 3 conductor and pull that back and then to fish the
    single conductor out of a new exit hole, attach that to the co-ax and
    pull and back.  Both got stuck in the mast.  The two-three conductor
    came down about halfway and the co-ax went about 2 feet.
    
    I am at a loss, these wires should have just followed the previous
    route and so should not have wrapped around halyards etc. (internal
    halyards).  It would be very difficult to take the bottom off the mast
    and the top is welded on.
    
    Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

    Last year, when I ran a coax for masthead antenna, I had lots of
    trouble with the wires getting hung up. In my case there were lots of
    screws sticking into the mast waiting to snag anything and everything
    that came by.
    
    Maybe your case is different. I am working with a 19' boat, so there
    are many longish self tapping screws sticking quite a ways into the
    mast. If all your screws are short machine screws that are into tapped
    holes, you may not have the pointy snaggers that I have, but if you can
    figure out where the snag is, you may be able to back out some screws.
    
    Bill
    

    Just a guess but you may have internal 'wire guides' inside the tube
    which the wiring passes thru on its way down the tube.  The opening of the
    guides may be tight to the diameter of the new wiring or splices??
    
    

re .8:

Wires and halyards have a nasty tendency to wrap themselves around each 
other and fishing new ones through the mast can be very difficult and 
frustrating. There is considerable friction from the halyards and wires 
just rubbing each other and the mast wall. 

Snags seem to happen near halyard exits, rigging compression sleeves,
and the like. You might try turning the mast (about the long axis, of
course) while pulling on the wires. The wires may fall away from
whatever they're snagging on. Removing the rigging compression sleeves
may help, too. 

If this fails, I'd suggest taking the base off your mast if at all
possible. Using a bright light, you may be able to look into the mast
from the base, halyard exits, etc, and see where the problem is. You
probably won't be able to, however. But at least you'll be better able 
to see what's happening. 

Our mast has five internal halyards. I once got them so tangled that I 
had to take them all out and start over. The first halyard went in 
easily. With the mast lying on its forward face, I found I could tension 
the halyard sufficiently that it wouldn't lie on the inside of the 
forward face. Then the second halyard went in, etc. You may have to pay 
attention to which side of the rigging compression sleeves the halyards 
and wires go. You don't want them touching the sleeves under load. 

One last idea -- fish a very strong line (eg, 1/8" dacron) that is at 
least twice the the length of the mast through the mast. Carefully tape the 
wire or halyard to the middle of this line. Now if a snag happens, you 
can pull hard in both directions without worrying about the tape splice 
failing and leaving you with the problem of getting that first line 
through the mast.

If absolutely nothing works, borrow a trained hamster from your local 
boatyard ...... 

Alan

    If you've attached the old wire directly to the new, the combined
    diameters of the two is probably too big to fit through whatever's
    inside your mast.
    
    Try attaching the old and new wires with a piece of string.  Wrap the
    string along the old wire for several inches and fasten in place with
    spiral wraps of tape starting at the end of the old wire.  Do the same
    with the new wire but start the tape spiral going from the end of the
    string to the end of the wire.  The idea is not to have the tape
    overlaps impede the wire's progress into the mast.  Cut the new wire on
    a bevel so the string to wire butt won't hang up on whatever's inside the
    mast.
    
    Also lubricate the tape and string.  Electricians use a product called
    "Wire Lube" for fishing wires in walls.  Whatever's lying around that's
    greasy enough will probably do.
    
    It is guaranteed that the spreader insides will cause aggravation as
    you try to snake the new wire past it, unless wires are in a dedicated
    tube.  Rotating the mast on sawhorses to get the wires to drop to an
    unobstructed side can sometimes help.  But sometimes there is no
    unobstructed side.  Then, the only cure I've had any luck with is the
    electrician's snake referred to in an earlier reply.
    
    - gene

    re. -1
    
    I like the idea of the double length of line and will try that this
    evening, part of the problem with these things is judging just how hard
    to pull and so this way I can be a little braver.
    
    Thanks

    Cruising World or the like had an article on "painless" internal mast
    wiring.  It called for running a PVC tube up the mast and attaching it
    with pop rivets or sheet metal screws.  This provided a dedicated wire
    chase as Gene mentioned a few back.  Did not seem to take too long and
    I would think this would make life a whole lot easier in the long run.  
    
    Brian

re .14:

>>>    Cruising World or the like had an article on "painless" internal mast
>>>    wiring.  It called for running a PVC tube up the mast and attaching it
>>>    with pop rivets or sheet metal screws.  

The PVC tube is a good idea and pop rivets would be ok, but sheet metal 
screws???? How long before those nice sharp screw points cut through the
insulation on the wires? Not long, I'd think. 

    re .11 
    
    Hamster tend to lack strength, use white lab mice, the "genetic
    combinations" type they are much stronger....
    
    Seriously.
    
    I recently changed all halyards and wiring in my "Surprise" mast.
    
    4 of the 5 halyards were changed by sewing the ends together, and
    taping with shakerston tape.
    
    1 halyard (Top Spi) was new and neededto be fed all the way
    the top lighting cable needed to be fed all the way.
    
    The way we did it was to drill the pop rivets on the 7/8 Spi halyard
    exit, connect the new halyard and wire (at the same time) to the 7/8 Spi
    halyard (Shakerston tape) the we pulled and fed the lenth of the mast,
    and pulled the lot out of the newly drilled exit holes at the bottom.
    
    Then detatch the lot and re-pop riviet the 7/8 Spi halyard wheel.
    
    Paul

    Thanks to Alan for the suggestion, I now have my new masthead light run
    and my new VHF antenna done as well.  The comfort of having enough line
    in the mast allowed my to P U L L when necessary and it worked.  I
    finished late last night so I have not double checked the halyards but
    I'll do that on the weekend.
    
    Now if I can only entice that damn hamster to come back out of the mast
    ....

    re: .14
    
    The PVC tube works well. Did it inside my mast and it is a great deal
    easier to run wiring now. The only thing I found as a drawback is
    certain wind/wavetrain combinations case the pvc to gently slap inside
    my mast, which can be a minor irritant if you're a light sleeper. 
    
    As I didn't think of this when I installed it, I didn't screw it down,
    etc. You could also use the aerosol foam insulation found in hardware
    stores to anchor the tube. I may drill a small pilot hole and do this
    still. When dry, it won't allow movement or slapping and can be done
    without screws.
    
    Robert

    
    	Beware of this insulating foam unless you want things the way they
    are PERMANENTLY! It will solve the immediate problem of the PVC banging
    around but you will never get the PVC out if needed later, and will be
    unable to tread anything else down the mast should you need to in the
    furture. Of course this also won't work if you have internal halyards.
    I tend to shy away from solutions that don't allow me options in the
    future. Just my point of view....
    
    	How bout some of that foam water pipe insulation?? It won't secure
    the PVC but if you put it on the PVC are regular intervals (as opposed
    to covering the hole length..) it won't stop it from slapping but will
    probably keep things quiet.
    
    

Some years back, I worked with the people who commissioned all of the 
Catalina's, Cal's, Ericson's in San Diego.  They used PVC "wireways", slipping
one inside each mast prior to stepping it.  To avoid the slapping problem, they
tied lengths of foam about 12" long, 1" wide, and maybe 1/4" thick (length 
varies according to size of mast section) to the PVC.  Two strips were fixed to
the tube in a kind of "X" pattern with whipping twine.  These "X" patterns were
spaced about 6 feet apart along the PVC tube.  Of course, the foam strips were 
tied to the tube before slipping the tube inside the mast.  The foam is pliable,
and doesn't hang up on the way in.  It is also pretty quiet when the PVC tube 
moves around inside the section.

Dave

Last weekend, to the amusement of another noter, I went up the 
mast to attach the windex.  Coming down, my foot hit the 
Forespar combination steaming/decklight. Evedently I didn't 
screw it down properly, because it popped off into the ocean 
blue.

A call to Forespar (714 858 8820) had me the part in less than 2 
minutes, and all they asked for was the address to ship it to.

These guys are ok by me....