Need help - Things falling from the mast

[Stella Polaris]

Two days while I was sailing two things dropped from the mast. Things dropping out of the mast is never a good thing. I've asked Gideon (the designer of the boat), but he also has no idea where they are from, so now I turn to you fellow sailors. Hopefully one of you will know where these two things are from.
I've enclosed two pictures that will hopefully make them easier to identify.

[Tropic Cat]

It kind of looks like a lamp base. Are all your nav lights still up there?

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

It kind of looks like a lamp base. Are all your nav lights still up there?

Yes they are. The two things that fell down aren't necessarily linked together. I think it might be best to look at them as separate entities.
They are also quite small; The round disc with a hole in it, is only slightly larger than a quarter.

[GordMay]

The round disc with a hole in it looks a lot like a hole saw cutting.

[scotte]

The thing on the right looks like part of a locking mechanism - the sort where you stick a screwdriver in the slot and rotate it on the O-ring until the flange is clear...

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The round disc with a hole in it looks a lot like a hole saw cutting.

I agree, but I can't figure out where in the mast it could originate from.

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by scotte

The thing on the right looks like part of a locking mechanism - the sort where you stick a screwdriver in the slot and rotate it on the O-ring until the flange is clear...

I completely agree. But as with Gord's advice I can't figure out where in the mast it could come from. I need to take another trip up the mast and take a new proper look. Only problem right now: I'm alone onboard.

[Connemara]

Could the quarter-sized object be part of a grommet? Something from the sail, perhaps?

Connemara

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by Connemara

Could the quarter-sized object be part of a grommet? Something from the sail, perhaps?

Connemara

I need to check it as soon as I get back on the boat. I hadn't thought that it might be a part of the sail and not the rigging.

[btrayfors]

Andreas,

I feel your pain!

Three years ago, after particularly rough passage from Maine, I was hosing my boat down in my slip in Washington, DC and noticed something lying atop my bimini.

It was a stainless steel pin. About 1/4" diameter and about 2" long. Just lying there in the middle of the bimini.

That bloody pin has been driving me crazy for the past three years. I can't find where it came from, despite having gone over my rigging numerous times. Everything works as it should. Everything is secure. No pins missing from the genoa blocks on deck (about the same size as the sliding Garhauer blocks I use). No pins missing from the blocks beneath the main boom.

I keep worrying that I'm missing something and one day the whole rig is going to come down on my head.

Hope you have better luck in finding the source of your 'objects from above'.

Bill

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

Hope you have better luck in finding the source of your 'objects from above'.

Hi Bill,
Thank you for your well wishes. I completely understand how you feel, hopefully I'll be able to settle this before I get an ulcer from it

[clausont]

Originally Posted by GordMay

The round disc with a hole in it looks a lot like a hole saw cutting.

That is what I was going to say on that one.

[DeepFrz]

Do you think that someone could have tossed some scrap on your deck? And don't ask why I thought of that...<gr>

[Stella Polaris]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

Do you think that someone could have tossed some scrap on your deck? And don't ask why I thought of that...<gr>

... he he he ... The good old dirty regatta trick ...
The round thing yes .... It could have been thrown onboard, because I only found it on the deck, but the other one no, because I have a spare one in my kit, but neither I nor Gideon knows where it is from. Having said that the "spare" one could also have fallen down earlier and has ended up in the spare-kit.

[CarlF]

I like a sail grommet or part of the headboard.

Next, I'd check the masthead sheaves. The ring could be an inside part of a sheave. The outer piece might have gone over the side or be hanging up there. Doesn't look quite right but it is something that could let go while sailing. The halyard could now be riding on a 2nd sheave, the lip of the headbox or a bare axle.

Carl