getting up in the mast

[Syversens]

Hi All, I need to get up in the mast to replace bulbs for either the deck light or the steaming light. I have a bosun chair on the boat but its the first time we tried it, there was no way in heck my wife could pull me up there... I read others have used the windlass to power which seems like a good idea, any experiences here ?My neighboor boat had a temporary ladder going up the mast in the mainsail track but my boat have roller furling so I'm sure that won't work the same..... Any tips appreciated.Oh and... I could probably reach this with a ladder but it would be nice to have a permanent soltuion for getting up there...

 

[Mike B]

You need the winch

Gaute, you'll need to have her winch you up and even then she may not be strong enough. I always have one of my buddies take me up and they always make a comment about it not being easy, and I way about 170 lbs. If you have a non sailor take you up make sure you show them how to wrap the line around the winch and also how to release it without dropping you on the deck. Use the spinaker halyard and make sure you tie the chair on with a bowline, do not use the shackle as it could open on you by mistake. If you can tie a second halyard on for safety's sake do so. As far as the light is concerned my bet is it's the deck light, which is a halogen bulb. If it burns out netiher the deck light or steaming light will work as they're wired in series.

 

[Steve]

wraps

Make sure you put 4 wraps around your winch and take your time. Good luck.

 

[Doug_Meyer]

Double Winch It

We just had to go up the mast yesterday to clear a spinnaker halyard. We put my son (28 yrs old and 190 lbs) in the bosun's chair, hooked him to the main halyard and used both cabin top winches ( cross winched) to hoist him up. four wraps on each winch. No problem, just a lot of cranking. If both halyards had been available we would have put one halyard on each winch just as a safety precaution.