Project Log: Sunday,
April 27, 2014
After pointedly ignoring the boat all morning while I
worked on other things, in the mid-afternoon I decided
to give the mast wiring--specifically the snake--another
shot. It seemed I was at an impasse. I just
couldn't get the snake to move past a certain point,
just as before.
I figured what was probably happening was that the snake
was getting itself up into the small slot at the outside
edge of the plastic internal conduit, then eventually
jamming. I'd even seen this happen through my
little "portal" halfway down the mast--the eventual
masthead (steaming) light location where I'd had to free
the snake once or twice. But when it happened
somewhere downhill of that, there was no easy way to
free it other than to try and twist the snake through,
or back and forth as needed.
Finally, after some minutes of back and forth and
twisting and so forth in unsuccessful attempts to free
and move forward the snake, I withdrew the snake further
than I had before, keeping an eye through the wiring
hole at the spreaders so I could see when the end of the
snake disappeared from there and avoid pulling the snake
all the way out accidentally. (I took a picture of
this, but all it shows is the mast hole, and fully dark
inside, but I could see the snake within.)
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Anyway, at some point I decided I'd reeled in enough of
the snake: it was still in the conduit, but
somewhere closer to the top of the mast. Slowly
and carefully, I started pushing it back through the
conduit, and to my surprise and pleasure, it seemed to
keep going, and before long, it was out the bottom of
the mast. Sometimes these things happen so
unexpectedly that one wonders why it could ever be so
hard, and I was caught by surprise that I'd actually
succeeded. |
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That was a major hurdle to pass, but I still had to pull
three wires through from mast base to masthead. I
was concerned whether they'd even all fit through the
conduit and, especially, through the 1/2" hole at the
masthead. To see what I was in for, I drilled a
1/2" hole in some scrap plywood, and checked how the
three cables (SimNet network cable for wind instruments,
14/2 sheathed cable for the anchor light, and coax cable
for VHF antenna) fit through. They did fit, but
I'd have to lead with the SimNet cable, with its
attached connector, since it required the most
clearance. As for the conduit itself, it turned
out to be plenty large, with an internal diameter of
about 3/4". |
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I set up my wire reels, and then securely and thoroughly
taped the network cable to the snake over a long area,
hoping to avoid having the snake come out if pulling
encountered any resistance. I'd long ago removed
the standard hook from the end of my snake, as most
boating-type pulling tasks were only complicated by
this, so the end of my snake was smooth and as
low-profile a possible, but this did mean that it could
pull away from the cable if not really securely taped.
This particular cable was a fixed length, something like
50 feet, but much longer than I needed, so for pulling
purposes I could afford the extra length, and I allowed
plenty of room--a few feet--before I taped on the next
two wires, also staggered by a foot or two so that at
any given time I'd only be forcing one additional cable
through the top hole. It's the bulk and "edge"
where the end of the cable is secured to the snake that
can make pulling hard. |
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Stuck in one of our typical spring Omega-block upper air
patterns with its easterly flows, and its resulting
unsettled weather featuring destructive sunshine,
there'd been showers off and on all day, but when I
started the job it was actually partly sunny and hadn't
showered for some time. I even stopped to take a
picture of one (I thought) departing shower, forgetting
that the showers were actually moving the opposite
direction from normal: this meant that the dark
clouds to the east, highlighted in the afternoon sun,
were actually heading my way, as I was to find out
presently. |
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Slowly, I pulled in the assembly, going back and forth
from masthead to base to keep the cables free and avoid
unnecessary wire tension. It started to rain, and
I moved the horse containing the wires under a nearby
boat for a little protection. Eventually, I saw
the first signs of black tape at the masthead, and very
carefully I eased the bulky network cable connector
through the hole. |
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One down, two to go. I continued, finally exposing
first the electrical cable, then (the one I was most
worried about) the VHF coax. As it happened, there
ended up being no issue getting these safely through the
mast and to the masthead: a clean pull the whole
way, and, while tight at the top end, there was
sufficient room to get the wires through. |
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In increasing rain, courtesy of my little black cloud, I
cut off the two reeled cables and got them indoors,
leaving substantial extra at the bottom, and removed by
long-suffering snake from the top end. I still
needed one more cable run between mast base and the
spreaders (for the masthead light)--and I thought there
was plenty of room in the conduit for this--but I'd
continue that another time, as it was simply too wet. |
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Total Time Today: 1.25 hours |
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