Stuff under mast sole

[olly]

Hi All,
In April 2009, a person commented in this section about the sole which the mast sits in, being blocked up and not draining because the previous owner had put in a pad of ply. I duly went and investigated and found that the holes did not drain and the part where the pulleys are full of water. I got my drill and drilled away and the bit filled up with some red gunk that reminded me of red lino. I could not gain access to the floor of the sole as the drill could not go upwards and so make a pathway for the water to drain.
Will I have to wait until the mast is taken out to get rid of this stuff? or is there another way?
Thanks,
Olly

[storm petrel]

Hi Olly,

When I first got my Top Hat the mast step drain holes were bloked with paint. You may have holes at the bottom of the sole that are not visible because of paint build up. I poked around with a bit of stiff wire to find mine and cleared it with by hand by tristing through a small drill bit at first. I would be suprised if your mast doesn't have a drain hole somewhere. If you can drain away the water when it first enters the sole you will not end up with rust stains and hopefuly have a bit less rust.

I had a rigger on my boat at the weekend who told me he had done a re-rig on a Top Hat including replacing the mast step with a fabricated aluminium one (still with the harbouir bridge style). He said the total job cost over $4000, so I am trying to keep the rust at bay in my mast step. I have stainless steel replacments but had not seen aluminium before. The rigger thought the aluminium was a better (and no more expensive) way to go.

Cheers,
Mark
Storm Petrel

[taunto]

G,day Olly ,i can not tell a lie it was i that posted the story about the ply under the mast foot.Before putting it all back together i hummed and harred as to weather i should put it back in or leave it out altogether and finally i decided to cut big channels in the ply to let the water out, although the mast sole is on a taper i think that it was resting on the ply and i did not want to change something that had worked well for years , i then filled it up with water to make sure that it all emptied out properly before reinstalling the mast .I think that drilling holes is a good start but the only way to be sure is to pull the stick out next time you have her out of the water and have a look , then you can assess what your course of action will be , in the mean time try and keep as much gunk out of the mast foot as you can. I hope it all works out alright for you .Cheers Tauto..