The mast sits on a mast 'mouse', which is a casting that fills the inner contour just about perfectly. On our boat, the mouse penetrates the interior of the mast about three-fourths of an inch fore and aft, and about an inch and a quarter midway, which is where the bolt that runs from side to side holds the mast to the mouse. When we pulled our mast, there was a disconnect attached to several inches of slack wire; this would let you lift the mast about six inches or so and make a connection or pull the connection apart. When you do this, even if the mast is supported by a crane (weighs about 110 pounds), please use a 2X4 or two around the base of the mast mouse so if the mast happens to slip, you won't guillotine your fingers off while you're working.
The wiring for the mast in our boat came up out of the deck through a hole in the mouse casting, and was embedded in silicone sealant. I believe Catalina has a wiring diagram for the mast connection in the owner's manual. If you need further help troubleshooting, just ask-someone will know, or I can help. Good luck, Dave Shaddock From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Bernstorf Sent: Sunday, August 31, 2008 12:43 PM To: [email protected] Subject: catalina27-talk: mast lights All this talk about hauling oneself up to the top of the mast inspired me to change out my non-working mast light that is mounted at the area of the spreaders. My extension ladder worked just fine to mount the new light. I discovered that the old light had dropped one of the wires and when I pulled out the slide for the port side halyard, I discovered that the wire was worn through down there. I dropped a new wire down the mast and spliced it there but the light still doesn't work. I'm fairly confident that things are OK inside the boat since I recently installed a new panel. That makes me think that it is probably a problem at the deck top in the mast. Having had several trailerable boats I am used to seeing masts that have hinges or bolts or something to pivot them into place when stepping them and the wiring connections that must be made at that time. My mast has nothing like that and appears to just sit on a plate. I am assuming that there are splices of the mast wires to the boat wires in the bottom of the mast. Until I noticed that there is not apparent pivot point, I thought that I could just tip the mast back about 30 degrees to access those wire splices. My slip neighbor also has a C27TR and he told me that these boats take a crane to set the mast. I assumed that he was referring to the weight: now I'm wondering if that refers to how it is mounted as well. Is it possible to tip the mast back or does it get set straight down on the plate with a crane or something. If it can't tip, that means I can't finish this repair without hiring help which I hate to do!! Jim Jim Bernstorf Jules Distribution 6025 Cloverland Drive Brentwood, TN 37027 615.833.1848
