Halyard Jam

[Dave]

From time to time I have had the problem of going to raise the main and find that the halyard has "jumped the pulley" and jammed. This makes for a bad day since the mailsail will not raise. To date, the solution was to sent the lightest crew member "up the mast" to put it back on the sheave. Not so easy when you don't have light weight crew members. If others have had this problem, please let me know you solved it. Is there some type of "keeper" to insert over the sheave to keep it in its track? I will contact Catalina to get their answer, but would appreciate input from anyone that may have had and solved this problem....DAVE S/V Lyric

 

[Tim C350 April IV]

Guess = Wrong Size Line?

Only guessing at what would cause a halyard to repeatedly jump a sheave - is it the correct size line? Would a line that is larger than the sheave was meant to handle be more apt to jump?Is the sheave in good shape - no deterioration of the sides?Only guessing.Good Luck!Tim BroganApril IV C350 #68Seattle

 

[joefusa]

what's your set-up?

what's your halyard set-up? do you have all rope, wire-to-rope? it's possible you have the wrong sheave for the configuration you have.

 

[Dave]

set up

Set Up is 1/8 in. wire to 3/8 braid. Pulley is the fiber one that Catalina uses. Worked great for years, so sizing is o.k. I sent someone up the mast...everything was turning properly and there was a little wear in the center of the sheave, but nothing out of line. DAVE

 

[joefusa]

is a puzzlement

when somebody went up to check, did you put tension on the halyard or just check the sheave? if it has worked for years, and the wire is good (no kinks, etc), it would seem to be worth the effort to just put in new sheaves - they're not expensive. i would replace all - main and jib. there is also a metal 'separator' between the main and jib sheaves. check to see that something wonky didn't happen there either.