Posted by Don Young (donzenet@…>)
Greg said, “After lots of research will go back to the 8 gauge green wire
led to a seacock.”
I don’t believe 8 gauge has a chance of “conducting” a strike to ground!
And, if it did, I wouldn’t want it to disintegrate a seacock - they are
below water line, right?
-----Original Message-----
From: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com]On Behalf Of Greg
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2005 5:55 PM
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re: mast questions
David - Welcome to the Pilothouse 39 club! I bought my '84 several
years ago and love it. Raced it in Great Chesapeake Schooner Race
past two years.
Pulled the mainmast this winter. I also have those cracks around the
gooseneck collar. Not worried yet - Grinding and filling sounds like
a good idea if not water logged.
My mast was moving port to starboard on its ‘tophat’ step. So I
added a bit of wall thickness with epoxy and tape to inside of mast.
I also rewired with both pipe insulation and 100’s of wire ties left
long to keep wire slapping to a minimum.
Will use spartite this spring. Check your mast steps when you pull
your masts. The Two bolts may be quite loose. Mine were. (FYI mine
was also labeled as a F-44 mast step).
Not sure about your 20 foot up bulge – you may be able to see
inside
the mast with a powerful spotlight once it’s down and wires are
out.
I also agonized over the lightening strike issue. After lots of
research will go back to the 8 gauge green wire led to a seacock.
The boat is 22 years with no strikes yet!
Some masts were left bare. Mine, like yours, are painted/coated –
no
idea with what. In very good shape, I just waxed mine.
— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “davidwysen”
<davidwysen@y…> wrote:
Hello Freedomers:
Just bought a 39 Pilothouse. Questions on the masts:
They seem good, but is there any preventive maintenance or
such to
be considered??The mizzen (larger) mast has two very small cracks running
around
in a circle exactly where the large “goosneck” collar is joined to
the
mast. As a result, water has crept in the top crack, saturated the
collar area (is it a huge stainless sleeve section in there that
has
the boom fitting welded to it???), and small watery rust stains are
out of the bottom. This is pretty minor looking (or is it), so I
am
not that worried, but does anyone think it advisable to grind out
those cracks (especially the top one), fill with very fine tape and
epoxy, and sand back down??? I thought about a bead of 5200, and
may
do that, but I am not sure if it would look good??There is a somewhat strange “buldge” in that same mast about 20
feet up running around the mast, almost like the mast had been
sectioned together there. It is minor–cannot see at deck level–
but
I did notice it when I went up to inspect. Any ideas??Anyway to mitigate possiblility of lightning strikes??
I may pull the sticks to transport the boat. Any ideas? If I
do,
I would probably refinish and repaint. Any experience with paints
on
fibre?? And–by the way–what is on there now, gel-coat???Thanks,
David Wysen
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