I have a small amount of water in my mast from having it lie on its' side outdoors this winter. The water seems to be in the bottom section of the mast in a confined space. I removed the silicone where the diamonds attach to the mast and loosened the thru bolt for the internal downhaul. I couldn't get the water to drain out. Are there cross-sectional pieces in this Blade wingmast that won't allow the water to drain out?

Have you tried to contact Matt? He would know.

I think there's a plug above the internal downhaul bolt, so water could get stuck between there and the top of the mast, and it'd be pretty hard to drain out through the diamond holes. Easiest thing might be to drill a hole in the seal at the top of the mast, drain it, and then re-seal.

Paul

Thanks guys. I sent an email to Falcon Marine and haven't heard back yet. It's not a lot of water but it's annoying that it's in there. It would make sense that there is a foam plug above the bolt for the downhaul. The water seems to stop there. I worry that too much water might come in if I flip or turtle.

I think that there may be another plug near the diamonds fittings. Punching a hole in the top didn't get the water out for me. I had take my diamonds off and root around in there a bit before I got drainage.

A plug right above the internal downhaul system is pretty common.

My solution would be to just drill a small hole just above this plug and drain the water water out that way. Possibly by drilling a second hole 100 mm higher up the mast (to let air in more easily). This should be about 1500 mm up from the mast base BUT PLEASE CHECK THIS with the builder of your boat/mast.

These holes will be in a pretty safe place as this part of the mast will never submerge in a normal capsize. Only when the boat goes turtle but that is an extremely rare occurance with the F16's due to their overall lightweight and relative bouyant masts. So one could leave these holes open and allow the mast to vent. This also avoids underpressures in hot masts when they are suddently cooled by the water during a capsize. This underpressure can be a cause for the water inside the mast.

Anyway, but if this is not to your liking then putting two aluminium blind rivets (pop rivets) in will seal the mast again. Aluminium rivets are also very easy to drill out when you'll find water inside your mast at a later time, thus reusing the holes. Alternatively, you can place a screws into the holes or just take them off.

Wouter

Did you ever learn the internal anatomy of the Blade mast? Were you able to get the water out? If so, how did you? I have the same problem and would like to learn from your experience. Thanks.