Climbing your mast alone

Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
No safety harness that I can see as both the red and blue lines are hanging way down.

However, having said that, I understand that most mast climbing accidents are due to the person on the deck releasing the wrong line at the wrong time. This fellow has no one on deck to worry about so I guess this system is actually safer that most other system without a safety backup line :thumbup:.
 
Jun 25, 2013
143
Hunter 30 Montreal
I Ralph, I'm not sure to understand well the part of your comment when you talk about the red and the blue line...

The red line is my main halyard and is my security in the case of an issue with all the rest.

I use my spinnaker halyard with the climbing stuff because she has the most forward position. But in the case of an issue with the spinnaker schackle, pulley or anyelse, I would not fall because of the security with another line.
 
Sep 25, 2008
1,096
CS 30 Toronto
I have done exactly the same setup but with a dedicated climbing rope designed for Petzel Ascender. All bought from Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC). A separate rope with Belay Device as safety. Nobody on deck to yell at or make mistake of.

A few people borrowed my setup. It took 15 minutes to teach them. Your leg does the work, not somebody's arm on a winch. Much safer system.
 
Mar 20, 2011
623
Hunter 31_83-87 New Orleans
I have done exactly the same setup but with a dedicated climbing rope designed for Petzel Ascender. All bought from Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC). A separate rope with Belay Device as safety. Nobody on deck to yell at or make mistake of.

A few people borrowed my setup. It took 15 minutes to teach them. Your leg does the work, not somebody's arm on a winch. Much safer system.
can you send a link to what you bought? Sounds great. Thanks
 
Sep 25, 2008
1,096
CS 30 Toronto
These are just examples. You can go to your local outdoor store and ask the people to help you select.
I went to MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop).

These comes in left and right hand.

A good comfortable harness helps.

Climbing rope design is different than boat ropes. They are springy to absolve shocks and stand up to the claws. I use the halyard to pull this rope up and secure it on a cleat. Tie the bottom to make the rope tight to prevent swing around.

Some webbing and Carabina . The store will make it up for you.

A belay device for safety line.
 
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Jan 21, 2018
78
Hunter P42 Ft Lauderdale
Thanks for the info, Alexco. Seeing your list a number of years ago would have saved me a lot of time. My experience at that time with stores like REI was, “We can sell you any of this stuff, but for legal reasons we will NOT discuss what you need or what anything does”. I finally found a fellow in a hole-in-the-wall shop in Seattle that was willing to offer advice and suggestions.

I use an ATV winch with a wireless remote from Harbor Freight (~$80). The remote hangs on my chest and I press the up button to go up the mast and the down button to come down. I attach the winch to the bow pulpit, a pulley to the spinnaker halyard and a line through the pulley to the winch cable hook. Then I hoist the pulley to the top of the mast while releasing the winch line. Ready to go. As the OP pointed out, I use the main halyard as a completely separate safety line with gear to allow me to descend on that line, so the winch setup is a convenience, not safety gear.
 
Jan 4, 2006
6,444
Hunter 310 West Vancouver, B.C.
I Ralph, I'm not sure to understand well the part of your comment when you talk about the red and the blue line...
Without being there, it looks like both lines are slack and not able to immediately take your weight in the event of a mishap with the other line. Good that you are safe both up and down.
 
Jan 20, 2020
34
Hunter H336 Milwaukee
Looks fine to me, the Ascender is on the Spinnaker line which is connected at the bow and there is a backup prusik knot on the main halyard (or topping lift).

I did the same but used the main halyard with backup prusiks on the topping lift both tensioned top and bottom