Going up a furling mast

[Phantom154]

I have a Selden furling mast and need to use the halyard to haul me up to fix/replace my anchor light. I took the sail down, but it appears difficult, if not impossible, to remove the halyard from the top swivel without losing the pin down the mast. Can I attach a line to the shackle that held the head of the sail on the swivel and tie that to the bosun's chair? The other option would be to make a loop in the halyard and tie that to the chair. What have others done?

 

[waternwaves]

not knowing the shackle specs.......

I would be much more comfortable at my size to tie a loop into the halyard. JMHO YMMV

 

[Gordon Taylor]

I use the topping lift to access the top of our mast. It is normally coiled at the mast but should be just long enough to feed the tail through one on the turning blocks at the mast base and back to one of the cabin top winches. Ours was only just long enough so I replaced it with a longer line. If you are not 100% comfortable with going up the mast you might want to hire a professional to do so. Some boat yards have bucket trucks that they use to access the top of masts. Good luck!

 

[David in Sandusky]

The stresses on running rigging like your halyard far exceed your weight! You halyard system should hold you with ease. I would rig your jib halyard as a safety line, even though it doesn't go to the top of your mast.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

I've never gone up a mast but any rigger I watched do it always tied a knot in the climbing lines, never used shackle or loop in the lines. The halyard was used to haul him up, the topping lift was the safety.
Bob

 

[shemandr]

A friend of mine who does rigging doesn't go up on an existing halyard. He brings his own cordage and replaces whichever halyard or other line he chooses to use. And then switches back when he is done. He doesn't do guesswork. That is just one step in a chain of safety practices he uses. The point is he uses a technique.
While the strength of the cordage can certainly hold one's weight, you don't know the condition of the halyard, especially at the turn of the sheave. How long has that been up there? Particularly with a rolling furling main the chafe around the sheave could be significant. And, I witnessed halyard's parting on maybe a dozen occasions. And, no one Rx's using a shackle to attach the halyard to the harness. You have to tie it.
I think a lot of others on this forum would say something to the effect of, if you have to ask how to do this you should probably not do it. At the very least you should enlist someone with experience to teach you and supervise you in how to do this with a safe technique.

 

[seadaddler]

I have been up my mast a few times on my 2007 H-36 and always used the topping
lift haylard and use a spinnaker haylard for backup.
Nick

 

[Phantom154]

Thanks for all the comments. On my previous boat, a 40-foot catamaran, I went up to the top of the mast frequently, sometimes for a long period of time, like when pulling up a new wire. I always tie the line to the bosun's chair and have a secondary line as backup. I appreciate all the suggestions, but after looking at it more closely, I had decided to make a loop in the halyard to tie to the chair. I will also use the spinnaker halyard, which doesn't go all the way to the top, as a safety. I have inspected the halyard and there is no chafe. The part that would be chafed at the turn of the sheave would be past the loop where I tie into it anyway.

 

[tkwhalen]

Like Gordon Taylor. I use my topping lift / spare main halyard. If you don't have one rigged I would suggest rigging one while changing your anchor light bulb. Good luck!

 

[artboas]

Like Gordon Taylor. I use my topping lift / spare main halyard. If you don't have one rigged I would suggest rigging one while changing your anchor light bulb. Good luck!

Question:
On the 49 furling mast, is there a spare sheave at the top to run an extra main halyard? How do you exit it at the base?
Any photos? If so, please send them to me

 

[tkwhalen]

Art ... my spare main halyard / topping lift was on my 44 which had an exit on the mast like the other halyards and a spare sheave for it at the top ... there is an exit through my 49 mast a few feet off the deck marked spare main ... and I ordered a spare over the winter which I have here at the house in the box so there better be a spare sheave when I go to rig it or I spent a bunch of money foolishly ... I plan on taking my mast down in a few weeks to rebed the deck plate, add a spinnaker pole track, add a flag halyard, tune the furler, change light bulbs, tune the top half of the rig and add the spare main halyard. I let you know and get pictures when I do?

 

[Jeff Jellick]

Question:
On the 49 furling mast, is there a spare sheave at the top to run an extra main halyard? How do you exit it at the base?
Any photos? If so, please send them to me

Art, Different subject, did you ever publish your fix to changing out the raw water impeller?
Jeff