Mast boot questions (keel stepped mast)

[Boo2]

Hi,

Sunrunner has the common problem with keel stepped masts that water runs down the outside of the mast and gets inside inside when it rains. I just replaced the boot (tape type) with another made from Rubbaweld Mast Boot Tape which I got from Aladdins Cave but it has not fixed the problem as the rain obligingly started coming down in sunny Pwllheli a couple of hours afterwards

I don't think I really stretched it enough while applying it and am going to have another go when someone else is on the boat to give me a hand passing it around the mast and smoothing it down. It doesn't look too bad though, and in the interim I wondered if anyone might be able to guess if there's another way the rain is coming in ? The mast goes through a deck plate with a raised lip close to the mast which the boot tape is wrapped to. I've Sika'd up the luff groove just above the vang attachment, and the water is coursing nicely out there, but at the outer edge of the deck plate there is only old sealant in poor condition, might this be a likely entry point ? I've taken down the headlinings but the rubber mast chocks mean I can't make any sense of where the rain gets in when viewed from below.

Any ideas / suggestions ?

Thanks,

Boo2

 

[prv]

I'm confused - you said it was water inside the mast? If so, how is the boot supposed to help? It seals the hole in the deck, blocking water down the outside of the mast.

Pete

 

[Boo2]

I'm confused - you said it was water inside the mast? If so, how is the boot supposed to help? It seals the hole in the deck, blocking water down the outside of the mast.

Sorry, my post was ambiguous and I've fixed it to read :

that water runs down the outside of the mast and gets inside

AFAIK the water cannot flow from inside the mast to the outside in the thickness of the deck, though obviously water entering at the masthead sheaves etc does unavoidably enter the bilges at the mast step. It's not this water I'm worried about but water passing along the outside of the mast between it and the deck somehow.

Thanks,

Boo2

 

[savageseadog]

Self adhesive neoprene foam tape, the sort that you use on windows makes the top and bottom seal easier to get right.

 

[prv]

Sorry, my post was ambiguous and I've fixed it to read :

that water runs down the outside of the mast and gets inside

Ah - I see. If you'd said "below" instead of "inside" I'd have got it

A little hard to say without photos, but I'd certainly be suspicious of the seal between the deck ring and the deck. It sounds like you've covered everything else. KS had various fittings which water was able to run underneath and drip into the cabin.

Pete

 

[Seajet]

My Carter 30 had a keel stepped mast, with a gaiter secured by a big jubilee clip; these gaiters should be available off the shelf ?

I always find Sailspar very helpful.

Rain water did still get in via the sheaves etc, largely 'cured' by the mast foot being in the loo and shower tray; but if one takes things to extremes, without a solar panel and auto bilge pump, the boat could be said to be technically filling & sinking all the time !

Only a worry in reality if illness prevented tending her for a long period, amounts were tiny.

 

[saltylegs]

On my last keel steped mast I used a 2 part expanding latex type foam, I greesed the mast and inside of the deck ring and plugged the underside of the deck ring then mixed and poured the latex around the mast and deck ring.
and the only water I got below the mast came down the inside (of the mast) via sheeve's etc.
sorry I can't remember the brand but I got it from a GRP supplier and I think they use it for casting small moulds etc.

 

[bignick]

Sounds a bit like Spartite:

http://www.barrowint.co.uk/spartite.aspx

I've not used it but it looks like quite a good solution to me.