At what point is buying a bosun's chair a good investment

[gettinthere]

BTW
I get hauled up on an INTERNAL halyard by the chair. External halyards run thru external spin blocks are not recommended.
I only have one internal available so my safety line is an external on a new halyard and beefy, large, new block.
I use an ascender for the safety line. Deckhand (wife) hauls me up on the primary while I slide the ascender up on the secondary. Works pretty well.

 

[MattObjects]

I also use the Mast Mate on our boat. I am a big guy and prefer it because I don't need to impose on a friend to winch me up. Also, our mast has two sail tracks so I don't need to remove my mainsail to run the Mast Mate up.

That said, the major limitation of the Mast Mate is that it keeps you fairly close to the mast, which can be a problem if you need to work out at the spreaders. I climbed up the Mast Mate this past weekend while wearing a climbing harness fixed to a spare halyard. My wife took up the slack on the line as I climbed up, but stepping off the Mast Mate to swing out from the mast to replace the spreader boots was a tricky affair.

If you are going to go with a climbing harness, make sure it fits you properly and that when you are hanging in it, most of your weight is on the straps under your legs. I think I've gotten a bit too fat for my harness- it is not good to realize most of your weight is being carried by straps digging into your gut when you're swinging between your spreaders. Though I think some other folks on nearby boats may have had a good chuckle.