What's in a Tiki 21 mast?

[Éric Bouvéron]

Bonjour,
I finished to stitch my second hull today, I will «open» it tomorrow, but I want to keep my long workbench to make the mast. I shall use wood.
Tiki 21 mast is given for 6553 (!) millimeters, I may add 250 millimeters to get a better vision and organize the foot of the mast more clearly. Or may be not.
However, the mast is hollow, and I wonder if you put something inside and what? VHF antenna? Or you use a handled one (as I did on my previous boat)? Do you put an electric wire for you navigation lights? (so you need a battery) An anemometer? A GPS antenna? A «Mer Veille», active radar detector? (http://www.foxtrot-marine.com/en/radar-detectors/1186-marine-radar-...)
And, if you put lines in your mast, how do you make it waterproof, at the place the wire comes out?
Thanks
Éric

[Ricardo Aráoz]

I will fix a flexible electric tube inside the mast through which all wires will go, and will have an continuous string inside it to conduct the cables through the mast easily (that is, the string goes through the tube and the outside of the mast, so you can pass the cables after the mast is built). Can't remember where may cables exit the mast on top, if the cables exit the mast going downwards then there is no problem, gravity will do the job, if the cables exit the mast going upwards then you have to fix a U tube that will make them go down on exit (same system with electrical cables coming out of a house). Mast will be epoxy coated on the inside and there will be air vents on top to prevent too much condensation.

[Éric Bouvéron]

What do you mean by
«air vents on top to prevent too much condensation»?
The mast can rot from the inside, even if epoxy double coated? How and where do you put these drain holes?

[Ricardo Aráoz]

The mast will not be airtight on top, it will have openings for halyards and cables, those openings count as air vents. The bottom of the mast isn't airtight either so that any water may flow out. The mast shouldn't rot from the inside if epoxy coated, but you never know. There might be a scratch in the coating or whatever, so it's best if water may flow out and air may flow in and out.

[Ian Bamsey]

Eric,

I rebuild my rotten wooden mast using the good sections to build a new crane and foot, the rest in aluminium. 

If I were doing it again I would add 250mm as you suggest. Visibility is an issue and in stronger winds you can lower the whole thing.

I would not run wires directly in the mast. It would be better to run a conduit (plastic tube) and then thread the wires when you need them. A navigation light and VHF are things I've missed the most. It's hard to find somewhere for nav lights on a Tiki21 other than the mast. I'm not sure of the best way to make it waterproof.

One good trick I have heard of is to use cable ties, tied around the conduit with the tails left on. Arrange these at different angles all up the inside. This stops the conduit (or wires) from moving around and make a noise as it hits the inside of the tube,

Regards Ian

[Ricardo Aráoz]

Ian,

regarding the cable ties, if they are fixed to the conduit it would be better not to have any moving lines inside the mast that might snatch them. If they are fixed to the cables I would be worried that they'll interfere with each other when you have to insert a new cable or extract an existing one for inspection/replacement.

[Ian Bamsey]

I agree, use the ties only with a conduit. They are plastic and shouldn't scratch anything.

[Éric Bouvéron]

Thank you for your answers. I will then go for 250mm more on the mast, coat it generously inside and put a tube if I decide to put wires. However, I found some nice solar powered navigation lights here http://www.ledconcept.fr/feu-de-navigation-et-mouillage-tricolore-s... (and a Tiki 21, being under 7 meters, only need a all white light, so this one could be used : http://www.ledconcept.fr/feu-de-mouillage-blanc-solaire-et-eolien.-...
Thanks again,
Éric

[Pius Bielowski]

On SAUS UND BRAUS we also use one white light for everything.

We forgot about the wires when building the mast, so we had to figure out a different solution. The wire for the light and the antenna for the radio run along the port shroud. We have all the electrics in the port hull. So the two cables exit the hull and go up directly. The advantage is that beams and plattform stay free of cables. Works very well for us. 

[Pius Bielowski]

Its not the perfect photo but I think you will get the point.

[Éric Bouvéron]

On the contrary, Pius, your picture is perfect! L'Aventure, c' est l' aventure.
And your idea for the wires on the shroud is not bad at all.
Éric

[Éric Bouvéron]

Sorry to come again on this but I found this info which may be of some interrest on the forum.woodenboat.com
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?92599-VHF-Antenna-on-a-w...
I quote:
PALADIN:
If you can get inside the mast for the coaxial cable, you don't need the antenna, just peel back the black covering on the coax, carefully, for 21 inches, exposing the braid. Then using your pointy marlinspike or the point of an icepick, carefully work to loosen the braid where the black part ends, and fish the opaque center conductor through the braid without breaking it. Straighten the opaque part, straight up for 17-19 inches, and turn the braid downward and tied it with the black part of the coax....then slip a large piece of heat shrink over the entire think and heat it with the missus hair dryer....VOILA instant antenna that I betcha works as well as the umpty ten fourty sawbuck one....epoxy it in place inside the spar.....UH....This only works with WOOD spars...

And I give it in French:
pour faire une antenne, si on a accès à l'intérieur du mât pour le câble coaxial , on n'a pas besoin d'antenne , il faut juste peler le revêtement noir sur le câble coaxial , soigneusement , sur 21 pouces (53 cm), pour exposer la tresse . Ensuite, en utilisant votre épissoir pointu ou la pointe d'un pic à glace , travailler soigneusement pour desserrer la tresse où la partie noire se termine , et pêcher le conducteur central opaque à travers la tresse sans le casser. Redresser la partie opaque , vers le haut sur 17-19 pouces (43-48 cm), et retourner la tresse vers le bas et ce à égalité avec la partie noire du câble coaxial .... glisser alors un grand morceau de tube rétractable à la chaleur sur l'ensemble et chauffer avec le sèche-cheveux de la patronne.... VOILÀ . À n'utiliser que dans les mâts en bois, ça ne fonctionne pas avec les mâts en métal (ou carbonne).