Prepping the Mast

What started out as a easy project of replacing the old VHF antenna and cable took a quick turn for the worst when the string line separated from the cable as I pulled it through the mast. The line was supposed to make pulling the new able up nice a simple. At this point in time I have given up putting my tools away so I just grabbed what I need from the pile and started to remove the masthead, this is the large metal piece on the top of the mast everything connects to.

If you have been following along you know that is my tap set which is always an indication of trouble. Most of the screws holding the antenna on ended up being stripped so they needed new threads. Once the mast head was off I wasn't to excited to find several foam blocks throughout the mast which the wires ran through. These keep the wire from moving around but present a pain to get new wire through.

The process turned out to be ram a long PVC pipe through the foam, then feed a piece of conduit through with a string attached, then tape the string to the new coaxial cable and finally pull it through. With the new wire in we checked over the mast and found several bolts and pins that needed replacing.

This particular one held up our forestay, the wire that holds the mast upright from the front of the boat. Right now our mast is in the final stages of being attached to the boat so we will post pictures of it all complete when we can.