Ron, Another interesting find in my mast was a good sized nest of yellowjackets.
Steve On Nov 26, 2008, at 8:34 AM, Ronnie Keeler wrote: > > While re-rigging the mast on my M17 after it sat in my brother's > yard for 15 years, I found that the halliards would were jammed > inside the mast. It took several hours to remove the accumulated > nesting material from the mast using an electrician's fish tape > with hooks taped to the end. The stuff was packed 8 feet into the > base of the mast and filled a 5 gallon bucket halfway. A good > pressure washing cleared the remaining bit of junk. I made a > wooden plug to put into the foot of the mast to stop future > intruders when the mast is down. > > I spliced on new rope tails and fished them through the turning > blocks to the outside of the mast. Removing the bolt through the > mast that holds the spreader brackets simplified the job. I then > put a conduit of thin PVC tubing into the mast to prevent the > halliards from chafing the wiring for the new masthead tricolor and > the steaming light and another for the VHF antenna coax. I had a > new masthead extension (similar to the one on flush deck M17 Amy) > fabricated so the backstay will clear the roach of the full batten > main and gives a nice long flat top for the windvane, tricolor > masthead light and VHF antenna to be clear of each other. > > The moral of this story is that the open end of a mast is an open > invitation for critters to nest. > > Ron > M17 #14 (fin keel) > Griselda > > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Access your email online and on the go with Windows Live Hotmail. > http://windowslive.com/Explore/Hotmail? > ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_access_112008 > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
