E37 Maststep
Date: March 14, 2001
From: Art Terwilliger Atwig@aol.com
I'm hoping someone is familiar with the construction of the mast step on the E37. I had some rot on what I assumed was a solid wood mast step, however, as I began to dig away the rot I discovered that the wood was only 1/2 " plywood that surrounded a solid mast step made of a hard material. I don't know what the material is. It's white and looks somewhat like ceramic although I doubt that it is.
The plywood is not secured to anything structural and I wonder if it was used as a form to pour the material that is used as the mast step. I also wonder if it is necessary to replace the plywood as it does not appear to have any function.
Any help will be greatly appreciated
Date: March 15, 2001
From: Peter Gradeff gradina@innet.com
Hi Art,
Attached is a copy of a comments I made to another Endeavour owner. I think you may find it relevant to you question. If you need to discuss this further do not hesitate to contact me.
Peter
You obviously have Plan B, hence a different view point toward the problem area than mine. I have E37 '83 Plan A and had to deal very recently with a case that could be very well similar to yours. If I manage to make myself clear, the following might help.
1. The cutout on the floor where the mast goes through is in two sections going around the mast and covering sort of a box underneath 11x17 inches. On the bottom, perhaps about 10 inches from the top floor,there is the fiberglass body of the keel. In my case I found that the mast was seated over a 3/4 inch plywood / why plywood and not directly on the keel? or why not a metal plate? / In any event, that plywood was about 85% rotted. I was not aware of this however, because they had built a fiberglass "pan" just over the plywood and all around the mast and the four sides of the box / the aft side being the bulkhead just before the water tank, and I had no idea what was actually under the "pan"
2. Seated on the floor above the water tank and looking at the mast ahead,I have a locker on my left /the port side/. On the floor in front of the locker, there is 11x11 inch panel accessing two seackocks. From there I can see the bulkhead that is aft the mast and an oval hole through which I can see another bulkhead with a similar oval hole about 3 feet ahead and then another one further ahead. In other words,the flat surface of the keel there is really divided in three sections, but water in one section will not freely communicate to the other since the oval holes are somewhat above the floor level. When inserting my left hand through the hole and twisting it toward the base of the mast I then discovered an abundance of rotted wood fibers......
3. I managed to cut out and discarded the fiberglass "cup" in the box around the mast that was hiding the view of the base. To my amazement I was observing about 3/4 gal of water accumulating there after rain. To make the story short, helpful explanation came from The Forum in one sentence: "The water comes from inside the mast". I could not locate any pipe that should have been there to direct this water to the bilge just aft the bulkhead....so the water was standing there between the two bulkheads...... It is likely that you have somewhat similar case. I will appreciate very much If you kindly let me know how is your mast seated? is the view of the base restricted by a "pan" such as the one I had ?...and especially where is the drain pipe located ?... as it will help me understand my own case better. Let me know if you have questions I could answer.
Some Clorox into your standing water will kill bacteria and odor. Good Luck.
