I've heard of using copper pipe (1/2 or 3/4) and a conduit bender. Shape the pipe to go as straight as possible between a keel bolt and the mast. Then flatten the ends and drill a hole to accept a large bolt. You can drill and tap the very top of one of the keel bolts to accept a short 5/16ths or 3/8ths bolt and probably reuse an existing base bolt on the mast. Corrosion at the contacts is your enemy. The copper will naturally corrode with the aluminum mast and stainless bolts. You might try tinning the terminations with a torch and solder. You could actually tin the whole pipe. You might also try tef-gel or silicone grease on the contacts. Its kind of a toss up between the insulating properties of the grease and the insulating properties of corrosion.
Josh Muckley S/V Sea Hawk 1989 C&C 37+ Solomons, MD On Jul 25, 2016 10:00 AM, "Ryan Doyle via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Hey guys, > > Wondering if anyone can describe to me how they've ground their mast. I > have a 1976 30mki and we got caught out in a very fast-moving t-storm this > weekend and I realized I should have done this when I bought the boat last > fall. My mast step is not original. It is a big, fat piece of mahogany - > which I envision blasting apart if the mast took a direct strike. > > The only idea I've had is using a steel ring clamp to attach a terminal on > a very large gauge wire (maybe 2 gauge?) to the bottom of the mast, then > run this wire a foot or two aft and down into the bilge to a keel bolt > where I would have a second ring clamp hold the wire's terminal to a keel > bolt. I worry about how this would look and I also worry whether it would > even be effective. > > Anyone have a better solution? > > Thanks in advance. Hope you're all having a wonderful sailing summer. > > Ryan > > Sent from my iPhone > > > Sent from my iPhone > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All > Contributions are greatly appreciated! >
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