Can I go aloft?

[Randy]

Having just acquired my C-27, I began wondering about repairs and maintenance at the mast head. Assuming I have a safe, attentive crew on deck, can I go aloft safely? (I'm 240 lbs.) Do I need a lighter crew member to go up, or must any work be done by a yard, etc.? I'm wondering how much weight the boat can handle that high off the deck.Randy

 

[Bob Teeter]

Can I Go Aloft

The question as to if you can go aloft depends on who is going to hoist you up. I am close to your weight and went aloft on my C 25 when necessary.Suggest you get a good bosins chair and always, always use a saftey line (two halyards) and I never trust anything but a boline to make sure the line is safely attached to the chair. I never have trusted a pin with my life. The last thing I suggest is that you always have a line that runs from you to the deck. That way when you need a tool, your crew can send it up in a bucket or tie it to the line. Be sure and take your camera with you. You can use it to document what the masthead looks like, plus you can get a great view of your marina and the boat.Good luch and be safe.

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina]

Sure but

Anything really major will probably be handled by a yard so most of you aloft experience will be checking masthead instruments, spreaders, terminal ends and retrieving lost halyards. All of these projects are fairly easy, so I would recommend you be on the grinding end and someone lighter actually go up. You'd be surprised at how much sway there is up there and the more weight aloft, the more sway. Just a thought!LaDonna

 

[Tom M.]

UP, UP, AND AWAY

Now mast steps, are nice, but they do whistle, and chafe sails and foul up halyards, I went the way of a boswain's chair and 6 to 1 block and tackle, in Your case, 240 lbs devided by 6 - 40 lbs, this is what You'll be pulling up tbe mast. If You go this route, You'll need 210 feet of 1/2" line, and two 3 sheave blocks, a boswain's chair, I've been up my mast a dozen times though I only weigh 170 lbs but I'm 68 years old.

 

[John Finch]

Thanks

Thanks everyone:I've been contemplating going aloft on my C30. I weigh about 210 and was afraid of the sheaves spliting or the halyards breaking. I did go up to the spreaders last summer, but my mate gave out and I had to come down. I didn't use a bosun's chair, I just tied a loop and stepped in. I will be using a B/C next time and will feel safer.Later,John