Barry,

Good to hear that your mast is basically in good shape.

I haven't studied the pop-top car closely, but I would guess that it could be duplicated with a hunk of starboard and a tablesaw.  If Charles doesn't come through for you, I'd be willing to try, though I won't be able to get to mine until the tarp comes off in the spring.

Assuming the light at the top of your mast shines 360 degrees, it is your anchor light.  The light on the forward edge of your mast should be your steaming light, which should cover 225 degrees (22.5 degrees abaft the beam on both sides).  These should not both be on at the same time.

Apparently, in least in theory, it is possible to use one pair of wires to power both the steaming light and the anchor light, and only have one illuminated at a time.  This is based on the fact that LED lights are sensitive to polarity.  There's a thread discussing this starting here: http://www.rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/2006-April/029988.html

I've had my mast top plate off the mast several times over the years.  I can't recall what type of fasteners hold it in place on my boat, but it's not pop-rivets.  I can't see any harm in drilling yours out.

Peter Nyberg
Coventry, CT
s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)

> On 2023-12-31, at 08:03:56 EST, BARRY RUEHLEN wrote:
>
> After a full shake out of our mast system, we have found that we are in pretty 
> fair shape. Everything appears to be there. The mast and rigging had been stored 
> sense we bought the boat a year and a half ago. We had gone through it 
> originally but our efforts turned to the boat problems and hurricane damage. 
>  We had a bent spreader bolt, and a tortured top tang which are easy fixes. The 
> furling donut issue is being addressed with help from the group. Thank you all. 
> I have reached out to Charles about a replacement for the "pop top" attachment 
> car for the mast. If anyone knows of another means to find or make one, let us 
> know. Additionally, we found that we have in-mast wiring issues. Of the two low 
> voltage wires that plug into the top deck, only one actually goes all the way to 
> the top. The prior owner jumped the one hot wire to service both the masthead 
> and deck light. I'm assuming the deck light is the steaming light. If that's the 
> case they can't be on at the same time in my belief?? There is not a deck light 
> currently in place so I don't know what it's supposed to look like. The two 
> questions would be, what is that light just down from the masthead supposed to 
> be and has anyone drilled out the two pop-rivets that hold the mast top plate 
> on? I would like to remove that top plate to have access to pull all new wire 
> including a radio coax. Using the existing wire as a messenger won't really help 
> much. 
> Best
> Barry Ruehlen
> sv Perserverance '87
> Pine Island Fl
>