wires banging inside mast???options/ new owners

bcarli · **Joined:** 02 Oct 2011 20:39 **Posts:** 49

Hi,
We just brought our new to us 1977 Tartan 37 home yesterday ( Eden is her name). We have her on a mooring off of a little island called Water Island in the Virgin Islands. There is a lot of banging inside the mast when ever she rolls a bit and I am thinking that maybe the rivets that held one of the wiring tubes broke off allowing the entire tube to move. It definitely does not sound like just a wire or two. Pulling the mast is not in the works this season. I've had this crazy idea that maybe I could insert some type of inflation device (???) after removing the little plate on the mast that is located just below the headliner, and push this un-known device up as high as I could and inflate it...It may be crazy but I think if I could find the right thing it just might work...Thinking like a woopee cushion or something.
any ideas?
we are glad to be part of this great boating group

bill and chris carli
friday harbor, wa
water island, vi

Velera · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2006 09:38 **Posts:** 656

If the conduit has come adrift, you could try to refasten it. You will need a drill, a length of coat hanger or stiff wire, and a stainless rivet tool. If I recall correctly from replacing the conduit in my mast 15 years ago--- I think you will discover that the original conduit has two rivets together at 3 or 4 places along your mast. If you can determine where it is loose (if you can't you could just do all of them) you can drill out the rivets carefully. Then through one of the two holes, insert a hooked wire and pull the conduit to the hole and put in a rivet in the other hole through the conduit. Then put a rivet in the hole you used to fish it. I believe this is the way the original conduit was secured originally. This is a whole lot easier with the mast down, but I do not see that anything would stop you from doing it with the mast up. I think putting foam in the mast would probably not work if you have internal halyards (don't all Tartans have them?).

T397 · **Posted:** 08 Nov 2011 06:58

I have the same issue with my mast. Since I have no immediate plans to pull the mast I'm just living with it. The banging intensifies as the rolling increases and my wife says she can gauge wind speed by the noise now!

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

T397 wrote:

I have the same issue with my mast. Since I have no immediate plans to pull the mast I'm just living with it. The banging intensifies as the rolling increases and my wife says she can gauge wind speed by the noise now!

Who needs a wind anenometer??? Very Happy

Ardea · **Joined:** 19 Mar 2007 16:40 **Posts:** 195

I did as Velera describes with the mast down. It's a little tricky but doable. There were no wires in the conduit when I did this so be careful not to drill through any wires.

Celtic Lady · **Joined:** 05 Apr 2011 17:27 **Posts:** 66

I had the same problem on Celtic Lady, and typically it was when the wind was on the beam at the dock. Strangely enough though, when the noise occurred, the middle of the mast seemed to be pumping fore and aft, so must be some phenomena of physics where a beam wind causes the mast to go fore and aft.

Anyway as described, on mine the little rivets that occur about every 8' up and down the mast had pulled thru about 10 ft above the deck to the bottom of the mast. With the mast down, I had the marina refasten them but I was not there when they did it. It worked great for a couple of years with no more noise but unfortunately, they pulled loose again. Last year, I put some hard rubber chocks on the port and starboard side of the mast collar and I did not notice as much banging, in fact none, and I believe maybe the mast is not moving as much as it was.. When I got the boat it had rubber chocks only on the fore and aft side of the mast so maybe it helped to stabilize the mast. I have the mast down this winter and will be planning to try and re-fasten the conduit back to front of the the mast again though. I'm hoping I can find a way to have the fix be permanent this time.

Mark

Tartan37.com

wires banging inside mast???options/ new owners

Who is online