Whats this sticking out of my mast?

[Ed_Sail]

Good morning all,
This weekend I was out starting the spring tasks on my Hunter 38 and noticed that the Raymarine Wind Transducer is missing from my hast head ... its totally gone, not swinging on a wire, not on deck .....
I did notice this protrusion from the mast (see pic). So the question is, it this related to the inmast furling (yes I know a Hunter with in mast - I dont plan to sail around the world anytime soon) or its this somehow the transducer?
I would love to hear your thoughts,
Many thanks,
E

[Andrew Troup]

Looks to me as though possibly it was hanging down, 'swinging on the wire', unnoticed, last time the mainsail was rolled.

[senormechanico]

Your wind instrument got furled into the slot on the aft side of the mast along with the sail.

[sailr69]

what is that wire looping down next to the antennae? could the wind instrument have been connected to it? unroll the main and see what comes out. you have a fractional rig? will be hard to get up there.

[Ed_Sail]

Thanks guys ... that is what I was thinking, I did unfurl the main ... nothing came out :-( I will go up (or better find a friend) on the toppinglift with the spin as a safety ....

I think the wire near the antenna is the wind wire ... I have not been up yet and it may be a few weeks.

[senormechanico]

Take a picture of the mangled bits and post it when you retrieve the remains.

[Bash]

You're getting some really bad advice here, probably from well-meaning folks who've never used a Seldon in-mast furling system.

That black protrusion from the slot is part of the halyard swivel. It keeps the top part of the swivel, to which the halyard is attached, from twisting when the sail furls.

Not to scold, but it sounds as if you need to get to know your rig better. If you don't have a Seldon manual they are available online for free. At the very least, you should unfurl the main, lower it, and examine the swivel so that you at last know how the system works.

As far as scolding is concerned, those who informed the OP that his halyard swivel was the remains of his wind transducer ought to be ashamed of the advice you've given here. If you don't know your way around in-mast furling systems--as some of you clearly do not--you have nothing to offer on a question like this.

[savoir]

Take a look at page 13 of the Selden furling mast manual here

Seldén Mast AB

It is a pretty good diagram of the gizmo in the photograph. The black thing sticking out of the slot is there to stop the upper half of the swivel from rotating with the lower half. Some brands of furler use a pin but in any event you must have something sticking out to stop rotation.

As for you Bash - 1/10 for style points

[Ed_Sail]

Thanks again all (esp Bash) - boat is relatively new to me (last season, & love it) - great guide ... that swivel looks very like the pic - interestingly I did not see the same on other inmast boats in the marina .... many many thanks - still have to go up there and see what’s going on ....

[44'cruisingcat]

The Raymarine wind transducer plugs into a socket which is screwed to the masthead. There's a plastic locking collar which screws over the socket.

In bumpy conditions there's a lot of leverage working against this collar. As well it's not hard to overtighten the collar which can also cause it to fracture. It's then only a matter of time till the transducer falls off.

If this happened, there would be no wires visible, and the socket and base would still be there, but may not be visible from deck level.

It happened to us once, but luckily we're a cat, and the transducer landed on deck. I repaired the collar with fibreglass and epoxy, extended it so it supports the transducer mount tube much better.

[Nicholson58]

We nearly lost our RayMarine to a lightning strike. The big plastic nut split at its base and released the instrument. Bought a spare and wound glass & epoxy over the nut to repair for spare.

All roller furlers I am familiar with have such a device to prevent the halyard from wrapping the track. Profurl on my fore stays and the in-mast units - all.

[Ed_Sail]

Thanks - I should be able to get up there in the next few weeks .... great description btw

[s/v Jedi]

You might want to unfurl and check what else is wrapped up in there...

[Nicholson58]

The more I look at the photo, the more I think there is something out of place above the anti-wrap device, jsut below the topping lift.

[SVNeko]

Catch 22 - unfurl and go aloft to see what it is and get it out. But halyard is taken by the sail and wouldn't want to be up there with the sail out anyway.