Ok so I was told that it would be a good idea to get rid of the little metal sail feeder on my mast(Hobie 20). It really is a POS because it chews up the bolt rope in the foot of the sail. When I backed the screw out there was a 3-4 second pshhhhh of escaping air. Great! Previously when I tumped the mast floated well giving me ample time to right it before going turtle. With the comptip it seems like I need all the air I can use. Anyway, I took it all off, dabbed some silicone on the screws, put them back on and covered both screw heads with silicone. Does Hobie pressurize their masts when they send them off? How screwed am I?
You did it perfectly. No worries! The only thing I do is use a rivet and a cap and pop it in the holes to seal. Just looks cleaner. Don't worry about it though. Sail it! You're stoked you have a mast that is that sealed.
The air pressure that you described is why when a boat capsizes and it's hot out, if the mast is leaky, when the hot mast hits the cold water it actually sucks the water in. Hulls do the same thing.
Hope that helps.
