[C38] between dinette seat and holding tank

Tue Jun 25 23:07:29 EDT 2013

Hi Tom,

Very cool.  You are miles ahead of me.  I’d like to see photos of your mast step repair.  I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before that and the mast rewiring projects make it to the top of my list.

Thanks much,

Ray

Sent from Windows Mail

From: Tom T.

Sent: ‎June‎ ‎25‎, ‎2013 ‎6‎:‎49‎ ‎PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] between dinette seat and holding tank

Hello Ray,

Believe it or not, my boat had the wiring from the mast going from the bilge to the nav station between the inner and outer hulls at a place below the forward edge of the nav station.  There was no way to see this route and to use a steel fish tape would be dangerous unless you disconnect the battery bank and disconnect from shore power since you will be coming up the starboard hull if you feed from the bilge.  I had to run several wires over the years and pushing a fish tape from the bilge allowed me to reach the back side of the electrical panel area with very little problem.  I even had a closed circuit tv camera on the masthead so I could see forward on a small tv from the nav station.  This was really nice at anchor at Egmont Key at the entrance of Tampa Bay when we anchored overnight.  With the TV we could look over the island to see the sunset which was hidden by palm trees.  The camera would also show fish, boat traffic or trash in the water from the nav station.  The reason I mentioned this is I had the coax from the mast routed via the route discussed above and with the talk on the forum about re-wiring masts, this was one of my mast wiring projects.  I got the little color CCTV camera for about $30 at Harbor Freight Tools and instead of using their 120v transformer, I picked up the vessel's 12v in the forward settee where the terminal strip to the mast was located.  I just ran an additional service wire from the nav station electrical panel via the route above.

I put an air conditioner under the nav station and fed the condensate hose via this route also so the condensate would feed to the bilge. The condensate hose was larger than the wires but all went the same route.

I have picture of the mast step modification/repair and also my air conditioner if you or anyone else is interested.

Tom Troncalli
Ex-owner 1981 #95

On 6/25/2013 12:57 PM, Ray Torok wrote:

Thanks Tom.  That's good info.  My boat has lots of wires in the bilge, anchored to the underside of the cabin sole on one side.  Sounds like they did it differently in the newer boats.  How does your mast wiring get back to the nav station? 

Thanks,   Ray Torok

On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 6:16 PM, Tom T. <tdtron at earthlink.net> wrote:

Between cabin sole below the mast and the keel is a piece of timber.  Mine became soft and I had to cut out the sole to remove the soft wood.  I replaced the wood with laid up fiberglass in a mold I formed in the bilge.  This was a very difficult project but it allowed me to glass in a couple of electrical PVC wide angles for my lightning ground cables which I attached to the inside of the mast before it was re-installed.  I also attached another ground cable to the aluminum mast base while the mast was out making it a conductor to the forward keel bolt which is almost impossible to get to except with this procedure.  I ended up with three 1/2" ground cables, two going along either side of the bilge, connected to the keel bolts, and terminating at the engine block.  The third cable was from the mast base to the front keel bolt.

I kept my mast wiring going out through the port side hole in the lower mast by the forward settee but you could use this technique to use an electrical PVC elbow to carry the mast wiring but then you would have the wiring in the bilge instead up high and dry like Catalina did it.

I have sent a nylon messenger down from the top of the mast with a small fishing weight and was able to snag it with a piece of mechanics wire once the line was down.  I had no problem snagging the messenger through that little hole in the mast.  I did it with the mast wires still in the hole too.

There are several places where wood was used on the Catalina 38 where other materials would have been better, the mast step is one of them.

Tom Troncalli 

On 6/24/2013 7:14 PM, Ray Torok wrote:

The idea was to look at cutting the cabin sole (not the mast) to get better access to the bottom of the mast and the step.  I'm not sure how much it would help.  The idea of additional holes in the mast is another question. 

On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Donald Strong <drstrong at ucdavis.edu> wrote:

Don't hole that mast!

On 6/24/13 3:39 PM, Ray Torok wrote:

Argh!  Isn't this why they invented saber saws? 

On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 3:35 PM, littlebreeze at comcast.net <littlebreeze at comcast.net> wrote:

Shit 

Sent from the San Francisco Bay, home of the 2013 Catalina 38 Nationals.  

----- Reply message -----
From: "Max Soto" <maxsoto at gmail.com>
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
Subject: [C38] Wiring the Mast

Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2013 15:17

Exactly, in that tiny space between the holding tank and the fiberglass.. 

Max Soto  
+506-8312-1367

Alajuela, Costa Rica 

On 24/06/2013, at 16:07, "littlebreeze at comcast.net" <littlebreeze at comcast.net> wrote:

So to clarify, most are using the existing hole(s) on the dinette side of the mast.  I mean in that tiny space between the mast and the holding tank.   No one is adding a hole on the companion way side of the mast, for access, and then putting a cover over the hole after the wires are run?

Kerry

Sent from the San Francisco Bay, home of the 2013 Catalina 38 Nationals.  

----- Reply message -----
From: "Steve Smolinske" <SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
Subject: [C38] Wiring the Mast
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2013 13:53

That should work if there is enough room in the conduit and the wires are not wrapped all around each other, if you try make sure to really tape the messenger and the wires together very good. 

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of littlebreeze at comcast.net
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 12:37 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Wiring the Mast

No I didn't.  I'm learning more and more as I go along.  But I'm wondering if I can use one of the existing wires as a messenger?  

Kerry 

Sent from the San Francisco Bay, home of the 2013 Catalina 38 Nationals.  

----- Reply message -----
From: "Steve Smolinske" <SSmolinske at rainierrubber.com>
To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <listserve at catalina38.org>
Subject: [C38] Wiring the Mast
Date: Mon, Jun 24, 2013 09:11

Kerry, did they leave a messenger in your conduit when they rewired the mast?

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org [mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of littlebreeze at comcast.net
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 9:43 AM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Wiring the Mast

If it was 30 year old wiring in the mast I wouldn't even ask the question.  The mast wiring is only six years old and was changed when the mast was pulled for painting.  But its still a valid answer. 

Kerry

Sent from the San Francisco Bay, home of the 2013 Catalina 38 Nationals.  

----- Reply message -----
From: "cat38skip" <cat38skip at yahoo.com>
To: <listserve at catalina38.org>
Subject: [C38] Wiring the Mast
Date: Mon, Jun 17, 2013 06:06

Kerry,

We re-wired the entire mast, in place, last year, New masthead light and wires new steaming/deck light and wire, new VHF cable and antenna and re-strung the masthead wind transducer. We have a 1 1/2 inch hole near the bottom of the mast at cabin sole level. It was easy :-) . That is,  after the hard, frustrating hours and days of mistakes & re-re-re-pulling of the tangled wires and messenger strings. Once we sorted out the best messenger to use (weed eater 'string') it was a matter of having someone up top who was comfortable being there AND who knew what he was doing, 2-way communication and staging the sequence and materials. We replaced all the bulbs with LED's so the wire guage was reduced significantly. We used multi-wire cable to reduce tangles. The PO had installed all primary wire and it was a mess. 

Give me a call or we can get together ..

Do you have someone to go uo there for you?

Dave

Sent from South San Francisco, where the wind never stops.

littlebreeze at comcast.net wrote:

Happy Fathers Day to the group.  

I was thinking of installing a wind speed indicator at the top of the mast.  However when I looked into accessing the existing wiring and PVC conduit, it looks to be an impossible task without pulling the mast.  Has anyone overcome this issue without pulling the mast?  The only way I can come up with is to cut a 3.5 inch hole in the starboard side of the mast approximately 6" from the bottom of the mast, and then, after making the appropriate connections, affix  a cover plate to the access hole.  Will this weaken the mast beyond use?  Should I just pull the mast?

Kerry Grimes
Little Breeze 139
San Francisco  

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