Leak at bottom of keel-stepped mast

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

But it all comes back to "not vertical". Something is failing. When the rig goes out of column, sooner or later it collapses.

That may not be correct. Many rigs are designed to not be vertical. The Catalina 30 for years had a lot of rake in the mast by design (to combat weather helm) My Morgan OI 41 has a lot of rake in the masts, again by design. Both masts have never been vertical and are not failing. Speculating that the rig is going to collapse because the mast is not vertical is simply wrong. We need more information from the OP to make suggestions.

Hunter masts are not vertical, they (and some beneteau's) have a lot of prebend forced into their masts. Again we need to know what the OP means by this statement. does the mast have more rake than it did before? Is it leaning to one side or the other? Could also just be a perception issue. I've seen boats where you would swear the mast was out of plumb athwartships, but measuring confirms it's exactly centered. Measurements here are needed to determine what the issue actually is.

Rigging on most sailboats is fairly simple and can be DIY fixed. But I agree on one thing 17 years is too long without pulling the mast for at least inspection! Up here on the great lakes pulling the mast is a cheap and often annual ritual. most of the marinas I've been in on the great lakes only charge a couple of hundred dollars (Canadian no less) to do the job. My Ketch (2 masts) only cost $300 to do and often its discounted in combination with winter storage fees.

[hellosailor]

pcmm-
I'm not talking about rake. The OP says that their mast has gone OUT OF vertical, meaning presumably that it was vertical originally, and whether they are talking about a change in rake or a lean to one side, masts don't rake themselves. If a mast is designed to have rake, something originally has to have an angle to it. A keel plate, typically.
The OP found a CHANGE. If their mast was supposed to have rake and the rake CHANGED, there's still something wrong to be corrected.

[flandria]

Thanks, everyone, for the information. This forum is always great. Time for an update.
I had the mast un-stepped. Yes, there was a good amount of "crud" puddled in the mast, on top of the mast support. There was NO drain hole of any kind. There are now two... one inside the mast "pocket" (where the mast fits in) and one outside. Rigging inspection after all this time (yes, in fresh water and no salt in the air) was done. It is possible, according to Catalina, that a strong wind/gust may have been responsible for the mast shifting.... and we do have strong winds here on occasion. As to when the problem actually started, I have no idea. It turns out that the 6 sheaves between the mast and the deck had worked loose, which may have been why the mast no longer was vertical. This could well have been caused over time, through the motion of the vessel - either in dock or beating into waves. Two of the sheaves were "like new", 2 were worn, 2 were very worn. The mast went back up and now we will see what happens next season..... If it is true that any water flowing down gets into the bilge through the "seams" around the mast support, I suspect that debris just clogged everything.
As to the comments about keeping the mast up this many years, I do agree that many of us around the Great Lakes are.... lazy, cheap... Guilty as charged!

[flandria]

As to the mast being not vertical... I meant that the mast was now leaning to starboard (the mast touched the deck on that side. With in-mast furling there is only a minimal amount of rake, which had not changed.

[tomlisasail]

how and where were the drain holes placed?

[flandria]

A hole was drilled at the top of the bilge into the mast support, one hole drilled aft of the mast "pocket" to connect, and a second one just inside the mast pocket (aft side) to connect. Test water ran smoothly.

[tomlisasail]

Awesome, thanks, smooth sailing Tom & Lisa

[flandria]

Tom;

Did you have proper drainage at the mast? Was this a manufacturing oversight not to have it done on my boat? I have sent a message about this to Warren at Catalina in Florida.

Walter

[tomlisasail]

We had a rigger attempt to fix the leak and she focused on where the mast goes through the cabin ceiling. She also cut off the rubber boot at the base of the mast, I wasn't there when she did it. we are going to work with Warren via smart phone. I have not yet looked to see if there is a drain hole at the bilge. Warren says it's below the sole. I haven't yet removed the sole to take a look. When I do I'll let you know. If you want to send me your email mine is wtommoss@hotmail.com. I'm still learning to navigate this format.