Jim, To pile on, the previous owner of my boat (or perhaps the factory) "radiused" the bottom aft side of the mast, starting 2" up and ending at the center of the 4" extrusion (~2" radius). There is also a semicircular chunk (radius about 1") cut out of the new end of the cross plate. I don't know the motivation for these cuts, but hitting bolt heads could be one. The mast goes up and down fine without loosening the shrouds. I had a problem with the mast wiring being cut by the sharp cross plate edge, and getting jammed in the slot and breaking, so I epoxied the edge of the cross plate and closed the bottom of the slot with epoxy; problem solved so far. At this point I still prefer the wiring to come up through the center of the tabernacle, by the mast bolt, and into the mast, but some folks have routed the cables through a separate hole with the plugs on the outside. I can see the long-term benefits of this latter tactic, not least of which is the ability to waterproof the exit hole without the rubber being loosened every time the mast is rotated up and down. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On Sep 30, 2009, at 12:06 PM, James Poulakis wrote:
For those following the issue of raising / lowering the mast with the shrouds tensioned on late model M17s;
I've discovered that there are bolt-heads that stand proud off the mast-step plate that keep the mast from being raised. Once the "cross-plate" in the mast section hits them everything comes to a screeching halt. My plan is to cut the cross-plate to clear the bolt heads, then round off the aft edge of the mast base a little. Gary H. and Joe M have also cut away a bit of their mast base with no ill effects so I shall forge ahead.
Jim M17 "Spirit" (2008 model)
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