What is the cloth inside my mast?

[EO32]

I'm putting some air horns on my mast and I'm trying to run the air tube down the center. It seems to be lined with a cloth, I suspect to keep noise down from internal wires banging along the sides.

Is this common?

There seems to be a wad of it at the base, which is making my hose run difficult.

BTW: I'm no longer a "Up the Mast" virgin.

[sailingdog]

Umm... do you have photos of the cloth or the air horns???

[TrueBlue]

Never heard of rags inside a mast - they're supposed to be on the outside (g). Did a PO stuff some rags up the mast in an attempt to isolate wire banging? Is it deck stepped?

[EO32]

The cloth runs the entire length of the mast, like a liner. I'm using a borescope to look at it. It's a keel stepped mast. I doubt the PO added it.

[sailingdog]

Hmm. that sounds odd... since a cloth would absorb and hold seawater, and probably increase the chances of corrosion problems.

[EO32]

Maybe cloth is the wrong word. It kind of has the texture of lightweight fiberglass mat. It might be a plastic. I'm going to try to pull some of it out through my 1/2 inch hole at the base.

[Wannafish]

"I'm going to try to pull some of it out through my 1/2 inch hole at the base."

Ewww. That sounds painful!

[FarCry]

Originally Posted by Wannafish

"I'm going to try to pull some of it out through my 1/2 inch hole at the base."

Ewww. That sounds painful!

Probably less painful than leaving it there.