climbing to the top
- Thread starter iwillmott
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Anything after the first 6 ft can be dangerous. I'm sure others besides myself and my son have done it numerous times for inspection or maintenance reasons and the view is pretty too.
Just make sure you have a second safety line attached and someone you trust to tail it.
Just make sure you have a second safety line attached and someone you trust to tail it.
I work with radio tower climbers and have told them they were crazy to climb 500' towers. One of them told me once that it's all the same above 70'. In other words, he didn't know of anyone who had survived falls from above 70'. I have a slight fear of heights, so I still think those guys are crazy. I know who I'm calling when I need work at the top of mine too.
A person you trust who knows how to surge a line through a winch is a must. A second means of securing yourself to the mast too.
The person on the deck is very important. They absolutely need to know how to run a winch.
The person on the deck is very important. They absolutely need to know how to run a winch.
I have an ATN top climber as well. Been up three times in the last week to replace a bulb and install a new VHF antenna. I use the main halyard to raise a line and then use the spin halyard as a back-up safety line. I feel fairly comfortable going up/down but it does require some effort.
Tom
Tom
My wife has been up in the Bosun's Chair a fair number of times. She seems to actually enjoy it!
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There are some important issues
Next:
Always 2 halyards; one as a safety backup.
Never use the halyard shackle. Always put a bowline loop through the chair D ring, And the clip the shackle over the ring.
Only use a good quality chair, with zero fraying, etc. Inspect it thoroughly.
A better option than a chair is a climbing harness, cause you can't fall out of them. (Spin lock makes one)
Never use a self tail to grind someone up, unless you have the second safety halyard keeping close step with the primary
Always use a sheet stopper, and then put 2 half hitches over the winch.
Have clear communication set out between you & the deck
Firstly, and most important., if this spooks you, hire someone. There are tons of people that will do your mast work for a moderate fee.
Next:
Always 2 halyards; one as a safety backup.
Never use the halyard shackle. Always put a bowline loop through the chair D ring, And the clip the shackle over the ring.
Only use a good quality chair, with zero fraying, etc. Inspect it thoroughly.
A better option than a chair is a climbing harness, cause you can't fall out of them. (Spin lock makes one)
Never use a self tail to grind someone up, unless you have the second safety halyard keeping close step with the primary
Always use a sheet stopper, and then put 2 half hitches over the winch.
Have clear communication set out between you & the deck
Adding to the communications suggestion, we use our "marriage savers" when I go to the top. They are great and prevent yelling back and forth to communicate.
Radios are great, but...
There are 2 issues:
Firstly, ensure you have the radio on a safety lanyard. Nothing more dangerous than a radio crashing to the deck
Secondly, you should also have hand signals worked out as a backup.
I've been up a spar, when the radios didn't work. At that point, you need to know some basic communication strategy.
Here is a safety quiz for everyone.
There was a very bad accident last year on a sailboat in St. Marten.
A woman was hoisting her husband aloft by herself.
She had the line in the winch self trailer.
It was a 53' (I believe) boat, with a reasonably large electric winch.
For some technical reason, when she took her finger off the switch, the winch didn't stop.
Unfortunately, she got her arm caught in the line with terrible results.
What should she have done?
I have, on occasion used radios on really tall rigs. (> 100 feet)
There are 2 issues:
Firstly, ensure you have the radio on a safety lanyard. Nothing more dangerous than a radio crashing to the deck
Secondly, you should also have hand signals worked out as a backup.
I've been up a spar, when the radios didn't work. At that point, you need to know some basic communication strategy.
Here is a safety quiz for everyone.
There was a very bad accident last year on a sailboat in St. Marten.
A woman was hoisting her husband aloft by herself.
She had the line in the winch self trailer.
It was a 53' (I believe) boat, with a reasonably large electric winch.
For some technical reason, when she took her finger off the switch, the winch didn't stop.
Unfortunately, she got her arm caught in the line with terrible results.
What should she have done?
I was really nervous about going up the mast but was eventually forced into it because it was so hard to get help during the busy season. A buddy of mine eventually offered to help and he had a good bosuns chair. It was actually pretty easy and even fun. Things I learned:
- If you are winching, the line must feed onto the winch at the angle it was intended. If you rig a line to a winch from a different angle it won't work properly and could be dangerous.
- Definitely run the line through your halyard clutch for an added measure of safety. I would never count on the winch tailer to hold.
- The person going up the mast should be an active participant in lifting. That is, he/she should help lift themselves up. It's amazing how much easier it is when the person takes even a bit of weight off by shimmying or pulling up on the spreaders or rigging.
- Ideally the guy at the winch will have a helper to tail the line, even if you have self tailers. This is particularly important if you have small winches or a heavy guy going up.
- Definitely run a second safety line (we used the spinnaker halyard) with someone one deck taking up the slack. Naturally that person should keep a wrap around the mast cleat because if anything did happen and the second line was needed there is no way anyone could hold you.
- Plan your trip up carefully and bring a camera. It's fun taking pictures from up there but more importantly you want to take pictures of the hard to reach places for reference in the future. It's a pain to have to go all the way up the mast just to find out what kind of screws connect the anchor light to the mast.
- If you are winching, the line must feed onto the winch at the angle it was intended. If you rig a line to a winch from a different angle it won't work properly and could be dangerous.
- Definitely run the line through your halyard clutch for an added measure of safety. I would never count on the winch tailer to hold.
- The person going up the mast should be an active participant in lifting. That is, he/she should help lift themselves up. It's amazing how much easier it is when the person takes even a bit of weight off by shimmying or pulling up on the spreaders or rigging.
- Ideally the guy at the winch will have a helper to tail the line, even if you have self tailers. This is particularly important if you have small winches or a heavy guy going up.
- Definitely run a second safety line (we used the spinnaker halyard) with someone one deck taking up the slack. Naturally that person should keep a wrap around the mast cleat because if anything did happen and the second line was needed there is no way anyone could hold you.
- Plan your trip up carefully and bring a camera. It's fun taking pictures from up there but more importantly you want to take pictures of the hard to reach places for reference in the future. It's a pain to have to go all the way up the mast just to find out what kind of screws connect the anchor light to the mast.
One very good point
Also, if you use a block to lead a line to the winch, make sure the block is well rated for the load, and in excellent condition. Don't use anything marginal. You will hear a "bang", and your man aloft will drop pretty quickly.
If you use 2 halyards, always tie off the safety line.
Make sure the line leads fair to the winch. Over-rides with a man aloft are seriously dangerous.
Also, if you use a block to lead a line to the winch, make sure the block is well rated for the load, and in excellent condition. Don't use anything marginal. You will hear a "bang", and your man aloft will drop pretty quickly.
If you use 2 halyards, always tie off the safety line.
Art. What is the solution to the St Martin tragedy? I read about that and it freaked me out. I don't go up but I do the lifting when I hire someone. I lifted a guy in Antigua last month and everything went fine except I used electric winch. If that kept going when my finger came off the button I don't know what I would have done. Answer the riddle and should we grind instead of press when raising someone? A man came to help the lady in st Martin and he was hurt badly as well.
I go up the mast on my 40.5 a few times a year to check the rig etc. I am lucky enough to have an electric main halyard winch and a halyard with a spectra core. My wife usually works the winch. I do not use two halyards but rig a safety line around the mast. If the rig fails I will only fall to the lower set of spreaders. With this set-up I have been able to do most things necessary on the mast. A few years ago I was thwarted by having my main halyard block go out at the masthead. In this instance, I went up on the topping lift. Unfortunately both the topping lift block and the main halyard block are held by the same pin on the tapered spar that I have from Isomat. I ended up having to get a bucket guy to replace both blocks.
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For those interested here is a link to an article I wrote about the incident you are talking about. I interviewed a couple of first hand witnesses for this so it is as accurate as possible without having been there.
http://www.projectboatzen.com/forum/content/154-antigua-turned-tragic.html
lessons
1. Always test your equipment first.
2. Avoid the use of powered equipment unless you have an emergency stop or deactivate.
3. Do not use self tailing features
4. Use the right size equipment for the line used.
I think by far the safest way up is using climbing gear designed for human climbing. The person climbing has full control and knows what is happening at all times. Have someone tail a safety line.
I will have a video of the rig i use in a couple of weeks on my web site and youtube channel
http://www.projectboatzen.com/forum/content/154-antigua-turned-tragic.html
lessons
1. Always test your equipment first.
2. Avoid the use of powered equipment unless you have an emergency stop or deactivate.
3. Do not use self tailing features
4. Use the right size equipment for the line used.
I think by far the safest way up is using climbing gear designed for human climbing. The person climbing has full control and knows what is happening at all times. Have someone tail a safety line.
I will have a video of the rig i use in a couple of weeks on my web site and youtube channel
Very simple.
Once you are down to 2 wraps, ease tension, and you can lower the man aloft as the winch drum is spinning. Without the wraps on the drum, there isn't enough friction to keep going skyward.
Real simple.
The woman (who was seriously hurt), had the line in the self tailer. Immediately take the line out of the self tailer, and then drop wraps off the winch.
Once you are down to 2 wraps, ease tension, and you can lower the man aloft as the winch drum is spinning. Without the wraps on the drum, there isn't enough friction to keep going skyward.
Real simple.
Please reconsider
I can assure you that if your main halyard gave way, and you dropped onto the length of safety, you'd likely sustain injury.
Just think about this. Assume you were a modest 10 feet above the spreaders. Just falling that distance, you'd likely be banged pretty badly into the spar. Assuming that this occurred, you are now dangling from the spreaders, hurt, with no way of descending.
The option of a second halyard is unquestionably safer under these circumstances.
I understand your thought process of using a safety line around the mast.
I can assure you that if your main halyard gave way, and you dropped onto the length of safety, you'd likely sustain injury.
Just think about this. Assume you were a modest 10 feet above the spreaders. Just falling that distance, you'd likely be banged pretty badly into the spar. Assuming that this occurred, you are now dangling from the spreaders, hurt, with no way of descending.
The option of a second halyard is unquestionably safer under these circumstances.
I use a climbing harness and ascenders. This gives me full control over my ascent and descent as well as allowing me to do it single handed using a halyard on my H42 passage. I can climb to the top in about 5 minutes in total safety. If you want you can also use another halyard as a safety line and a seperate harness but I do not feel it is necessary.
I have been to the top of my mast about 4 times so far, alone, with no assistance. I have had bosn' chairs but have had problems recruiting deck apes to hoist me. I have tried the climber that was mentioned but must be dislexik and couldn't get off the deck. I borrowed a neighbors Mast Mate and loved it enough to buy one for myself. As I said before, I have been up the mast about 4 times so far and each time it gets easier. The mast mate is hoisted by the main halyard in the mainsail track. I have a safety harness that goes around my waist and a strap that goes around the mast. You do have to remove the mast strap as you pass the spreaders and stays but that is a simple one hand procedure. You can add an extra margin of safety if you want to and have an additional halyard attached to the harness with someone on deck to tail it. The safety harness has a tool bag that you can put your tools in. I am not a salesman for them but whenever I get a chance, I love to mention it.
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