Best Way Up the Mast?

[druid]

I need to get up the mast of my Crown 28, probably by myself. Last time I went up a mast, I was quite a bit younger, lighter and more spritely.

Any suggestions as to the best way to go up? I can fashion a Bosn's Chair well enough, but how do I get up?

druid

 

[Alan]

Yup, use a pair of ascenders and a climbing harness. If you can sit and stand up it's as easy as that. One suggestion, don't use the ascenders on your halyard. Hoist a dedicated climbing line with the halyard and climb it. Works flawlessly with such little effort.

 

[Todd Smith]

Research rock climbers prussik knots. It'll be slow but secure. Use a harness instead of a bosn's chair, so you can't fall out of the harness.

If you are not light and spritely enough to do that, hire a rigger maybe ?

 

[Steve Dion]

ATN Top Climber.

http://www.atninc.com/index_en.php

 

[Ed Schenck]

For years I have threatened to go to climbing school at Appalachian Outfitters. I have the harness and the ascenders. I actually practiced in the garage on a rope from the rafters. Got up eight feet! Had trouble getting down. And still I have not been higher than standing on the mast winches. The ATN is a nice package but expensive compared to ascenders. I was able to use some good heavy line and create the same sit and stand arrangement with ascenders.

 

[druid]

Sounds great - I'll check out Mtn Equip Coop for Ascenders (Have to be careful how you say that!). The way I make a bosn's chair, I don't fall out, but I could make a harness instead (used to rig skydiving harnesses in Another Life).

Looking at ascenders, I think I made a similar device when I last went up, using cam-cleats. But I found the main problem was coming back down. I'll have a look at some videos to see how it's done with proper equipment.

Seems to me I saw some sort of winch-like device for climbing a rope, where you used either arms or legs in a stair-climbing motion. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Or is that just how you use ascenders?

Oh, and I found out years ago that simply hauling up a rope ladder is NOT the way to do it - VERY scary, boys and girls!

druid

 

[Steve Dion]

Ed: Remember what goes up, must come down. Ascenders without Descenders is not a lot of help. We have done the ascenders and then had the ground crew lower the chosen one that is up the stick.

I think a lot of the pro's use the old block & tackle method.

 

[Winkfish]

At our yacht club, they have permanent ladders with a cage around them so you can dock your boat next to it, climb up the ladder, and be at the top of your mast. Any marinas around you with a similar setup?

 

[druid]

BTW: just did some calculations. I weigh about 220lb with all my gear and tools, and will be about 35ft above the WL. My boat's ballast is 2800lb, at about 2.5ft below the WL. So, I'm giving 7700ft-lb of moment, and the keel is only counteracting with 7000 ft-lb. Sounds dangerous to me! Have others come across this? Do you do calculations to see if it's safe to be at the top of the mast?

druid

 

[druid]

Ah- a ladder would be a Good Idea! I don't think there's one nearby (there's a bridge, but I don't think they'd look kindly on somebody climbing the buttresses...).

For descending, I'm thinking of running two lines: one for ascent, the other for descent. For descent I'm assuming a "standard" rappelling technique would work. Make sense?

druid - Also did some rock climbing in Another Life

 

[Steve Dion]

Just remember the deck is very hard, but you may bounce when you hit.

I believe that you can purchase ascenders and descenders for a single line. REI has all of this good stuff.

 

[jibes138]

Druid,
The moment arm is only the distance from the center of bouyancy to the center of your mass hanging on a rope close to the mast. So your 220 pounds is only acting over maybe 2 feet unless a big wave hits and swings you way out. Using your weight at a 35 foot moment arm would only apply if the mast was parallel to the water or at a 90 degree angle of heel.

 

[druid]

Druid,
The moment arm is only the distance from the center of bouyancy to the center of your mass hanging on a rope close to the mast. So your 220 pounds is only acting over maybe 2 feet unless a big wave hits and swings you way out. Using your weight at a 35 foot moment arm would only apply if the mast was parallel to the water or at a 90 degree angle of heel.

Ah, right - brain's not as sharp as it used to be! However, the same ratio applies: if I go out 2ft at the top of the mast (35ft from CoB), the keel weight would swing out the opposite direction 2.5/35 * 2 ft (0.14ft). My moment would be 440 ft-lb, while the keel's moment would be only 400 ft-lb. HOWEVER, we learned in our discussion of water ballast that on a non-spherical hull, the CoB moves outward as the boat heels, so I think we're OK.

BTW: I started adding up the cost of all this climbing gear (probably close to $500) and figured I could get a rigger to go up several times for that price!

Oh, and I understand you CAN do it with one rope, just thought it would be simpler and safer with two.

druid

 

[Steve Dion]

We always use two lines. One to go up/down, the other is a safety line (help reduce the "bounce").

....and yes, the rigger may be a better idea, but when you need to do it again you still need the stuff.

 

[RAD]

My method is with a Mast Mate and with a bosuns chair strapped to my a.s I have someone pull the slack of the halyard attached to the bosuns chair so as I climb and when I get to my working level I can sit and work and it also serves as a safety line.
To come down the person on deck can use the winch to lower slowly, I have this system on board so in the event I'm cruising then my wife could help with little effort

http://www.mastmate.com/

 

[Todd Smith]

Druid,

I used to do a lot of rock climbing, the prussik knot works just like the ascender, but is slower. It would cost about $10-$20 for the line to create the complete setup, not counting the harness/chair.

It is also possible to use the prussik/ascenders going down. It's just not as easy as rappelling. If you have the rappelling gear use it on the second line.

 

[DannyS]

Just remember if you go the ascenders (descenders) /climbing harness route, you need a right and a left ascender. This is what I did when I needed to go up the mast and it works great. $500 sounds too high to me. REI has ascenders for $70 ea. harness approx. $50 and a dedicated climbing line about $75. Total= $265 give or take.
Along with the climbing harness, I also wear my body harness with a tether around the mast to keep me close to the mast should something fail. I make the tether as tight as I can while still retaining my mobility with the ascenders. Once above the spreaders, I can only fall as far as the spreaders.

 

[DannyS]

Here's a photo...

 

[RonRelyea]

Tree Climbers Gear

I've done it with this setup .... http://www.newtribe.com/documents/tip4.htm

Tie a static line to your halyard and raise to top of mast, so you're not using the ascender on your halyard

and take a look at the ATN Top Climber videos for tips too

 

[John]

How you like Mast Mate?

My method is with a Mast Mate and with a bosuns chair strapped to my a.s I have someone pull the slack of the halyard attached to the bosuns chair so as I climb and when I get to my working level I can sit and work and it also serves as a safety line.
To come down the person on deck can use the winch to lower slowly, I have this system on board so in the event I'm cruising then my wife could help with little effort

http://www.mastmate.com/

How do you like Mast Mate? Any complaints? (I've heard some people say the cloth steps would not be too comfortable, also that it might be difficult to get your feet into the straps/steps.)