rain water entering bilge thru mast.

[mschpero]

It's winter and our 42' boat with mast in has a custom canvas cover. After a rainstorm I am always finding new water in the bilge and have been pumping it out for now. It is obviously coming in thru sheaves and track possibly. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get on the boat during the rain to assess this and if so does anyone have a thought on how to prevent the rain from entering other than unstepping the mast every year or going up the mast in the fall and wrapping it in plastic?

[deniseO30]

Welcome to Sailnet! It's not likely you can fill the mast with foam inside because of the halyards and wires inside it. I just live with it. it's not that much of a problem.

[Faster]

Common issue with keel stepped masts, I'm afraid.

[captflood]

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS :- I have used a pice of old tire wrapped around the mast and foot held in place with a juberlee clip mastic can also seal the joints AS ALWAYS GO SAFE

[L124C]

Happens to my boat all the time. It's fresh water and it's going in your bilge as designed. Now.... if it's not going in the bilge (i.e., puddling at a bulkhead), thats another issue. That happened to me once when the mast drain became blocked.
So, two good things. Your boat is functioning as designed, and you've got a Keel stepped mast! Be happy....why worry!
Besides, there are so many other real issues to worry about on a boat!

[Tempest]

Common problem.

Here's one solution: copied from a Fellow Sabre owner

Installing Garboard Drain

On my version ( centerboard) I have removable nut in the bilge that allows me to push down a stuck centerboard. In the winter, I just remove the nut and any water that gets in the bilge from the mast, drains down through the centerboard trunk.

[Minnewaska]

Happens here as well. However, it became a serious problem the first winter I had the boat. It filled the bilge and backed up to the genset locker and then froze solid.

I now remove a thru-hull near the base of the mast and it acts as a drain during the winter. In my case, it happens to be an intake for the head. Anything in the path of the ingress would work.

[xort]

Way back when we had our keel stepped boat up north, we got very little rain into the mast. Most of the holes had fairleads with little hoods which deflected water. Top of the mast has a cap that overhangs the shiv openings and keeps most rain out. Took a lot of wind to put much rain into the mast.
Can you tape over any of the holes for the winter?

[L124C]

Originally Posted by Minnewaska

Happens here as well. However, it became a serious problem the first winter I had the boat. It filled the bilge and backed up to the genset locker and then froze solid.

I now remove a thru-hull near the base of the mast and it acts as a drain during the winter. In my case, it happens to be an intake for the head. Anything in the path of the ingress would work.

Wow! Unless you have a very shallow bilge, thats a lot of rain entering through your mast! We've had high winds and a lot of rain last month. My bilge hasn't filled enough to even activate the bilge switch (two inches), including the drip from the prop shaft.
Why didn't the auto bilge pump dump your water before it froze?
Good solution. Obviously the boat the boat was on the hard, correct?
The OP didn't mention Ice. Ice not withstanding, I still don't see it as a "problem".
In any case....it's good to be in California!

[L124C]

Originally Posted by Tempest

Common problem.

Here's one solution: copied from a Fellow Sabre owner

Installing Garboard Drain

Nice job and great documentation, but that's a lot of work, and the less holes in the bottom of my boat the better AFAIC!
As long as the water stays in the bilge, what harm does Ice do? Will it crack the bilge/hull? If so, Couldn't you simply have a space heater in the salon with a thermostat set at 40 degrees?
I know!...Treat your bilge to a pint of Bacardi's 151!