accessing top of mast

LANCE ON CLOUD NINE · May 25, 2010

Try this before you go up. Two people. One holds bottom of fouled halyard and gently whips it back and forth, holding it high so there is no "dangle weight". Other person grabs furled jib and attempts to unwind the twists. The coiled halyard really wants to unwind on its own and sometimes there is just enough friction in the swivel to help it along. This has worked for me several times

Ross · May 25, 2010

learn about the prussik knot and use that to safety off on the mast with your harness. Then should the halyard fail the knot will keep you from falling. You will need more than one to climb down the mast as you must take the strain off the knot to be able to move it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik

BobM · May 25, 2010

Probably a good time to change your main halyard if it is due too.

BobM · May 25, 2010

Ross, thanks for the Wiki link. I had seen the Prusik on the forum in several responses but never looked it up. It is the perfect solution for this situation, although he will probably need to be prepared to make two knots. I am thinking one to get to the spreaders than leave that one in place and make a second for above the spreaders, as I assume you are suggesting the mast will take the place of the center rope in the example. Do you agree? Do you just terminate the Prusik in a knot tied to a D-ring on the bosun's chair?

Note that it isn't easy to winch someone up to the mast head. The climber needs to participate for sure and having two people on the deck really helps as they can spell each other and tail for each other. Be sure to have another line to use to haul tools and stuff to the mast head. You will always need something while you are up there!

Ross · May 25, 2010

I like to screw pin shackle a four part tackle to the halyard and raise that to the mast head and use the tackle to hoist the man, much smaller effort. To decend while supported by a prusik knot you need a second one for a stirrup to stand on to slide the primary down the mast. Then you slide the stirrup knot lower and repeat.

bruce1309 · May 25, 2010

And don't forget the camera! You can get great scenic shots, but more importantly, you can have a record of what it looks like at the masthead!

Warren Milberg · May 25, 2010

Having seen a person take a nasty fall while going aloft, I don't think one can be too safe when doing this. Two lines are a good idea. Since your headsail halyard seems to be wrapped and the main halyard is the only one available, can you use your topping lift as a safety line?

Steve Dion · May 25, 2010

Doug: You are a chicken, but a wise chicken non-the-less.

I suggest you take your boat to a local yard and have them correct your problem. It is really not worth the risk if you do not feel comfortable.

Assuming that your main halyard is in good shape (no frays) you can just tie a knot in the line when you attach it to the chair or harness and you should be okay.

Seattle Scott · May 25, 2010

Doug, Go with the prussic knot suggestion, but add a climbers harness to the chair, so halyard to the chair and prussic sling around mast to harness. Just leave the sling untentioned around the mast and slide it up as you are hauled. If the halyard fails, you will be stuck, hanging from the mast, but better than the alternative, or you can haul up a backup line and another prussic sling than you could use to be lowered if you are left "hanging". the prussic is a loop so you need to terminate the ends with a fishermans bend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishermens_knot. Don't use the halyard shackle - you want to be tied in to the halyard itself.

Ross · May 25, 2010

I would suggest that you practice on the bottom five or six feet before you go all the way to the top.

ghost · May 25, 2010

Do you have access to a mast crane?
At our club, we hook the boson chair up to the mast crane and up we go. If it can hold a mast it can surely hold a person.

wufibugs · May 25, 2010

Having done this recently for exactly the same reason, I elected to borrow a riggers bosun's chair outfitted with lifting tackle from my son's buddy. Compared to my West Marine emergency chair, there is no comparison. I am no lightweight, and without the tackle, it would not have been an enviable task. I am not sure if such units are available for rent, but if so, I would beat a path to their door.

Ross · May 25, 2010

It is easy enough to assemble a four part tackle. two double blocks and 4 1/2 times the height of the mast for rope.

sailingdog · May 25, 2010

Topping lift, or using webbing with prussik knots around the mast are both good options.

Don12364 · May 25, 2010

A boat of the age of yours was most likely originally fitted with a topping lift. If this has been removed take a really close look at the sheave at the mast heel to see if the person who removed it left a messenger line in the mast for exactly the reason you now need another halyard. If it is there then the job is simple - just pull another line through.
Likewise look see if there is a spinnaker messenger.

BTW Once you do brave it to the masthead you might think about putting in a messenger ready for next time.

I have never tried a Prusik knot on a large diameter very smooth item like a mast and I am doubtful that it would grip sufficiently well. Ross offers the best advice to test the idea at a height you will survive if it slips.

Anyone out there actually used a Prusik on a mast please?

I once had a shackle open whilst at the masthead with no second backup halyard - yes I knew well the risk but would never have believed that my spinnaker snap could open - but it did.
The body's response is amazing. I heard the click and wondered what it was. Then I realized I was in free fall. All my sixteen arms and ten legs immediately wrapped round the mast and I clung on Koala bear like. I was amazed that I only dropped about 6 feet before coming to a stop, still wearing the bosun's chair with a bucket of tools dangling below. Adrenaline fueled I shinned back up the mast to the top and, holding the mast crane with one hand to support my weight, I was able to reattach the snap shackle. This time I taped it up and then finished my job.
Then home for a quick change of underwear!
I was younger then - alas.