Having trouble feeding halyard through Selden mast, advice?

[ComoxSweetCaroline]

Hi everyone,
I was aloft for a long long time yesterday attempting in vain to feed a new gennaker halyard down the mast of my H386. I have a Selden setup with in furling main. What is happening is that the rope stops feeding right around the lower spreaders. I tried feeding a weight and fishing line and it hangs up at the same place.

I have an electrical contractor friend who has all sorts of tools for fishing wires and we are thinking of trying to run the fish tape up from below but the hard part will be getting hold of it above with only a small hole above the pulley.

Our best idea so far is to run a line up on the end of the fish dangling a steel nut that I can grab with a magnet pickup tool. I'd pull that out the top of the pulley, tape the new halyard and then he would pull the fish down again. Does anyone have a better idea or advice?

thanks!

 

[jssailem]

I'd pull that out the top of the pulley, tape the new halyard

Use a small line as a messenger attached to the fishtape, not the halyard.

Is there other things going on at the spreader? Like electrical wires, screw fittings etc. Are you trying to run the line down the side of the mast that already is crowded with conduit, wires and lines? Perhaps you need to put the halyard on the other side of the mast?

 

[duality]

get about 5' of old style light pull chain, the metal type thats made up of balls. attach it to nylon string.
while on top if it dosnt go down right away make it dance by pulling it up and then dropping.
have your helper make sure it didnt go through the pvc pipes.
good luck

 

[ComoxSweetCaroline]

I am replacing a line so I know the basic path should be ok. I spent a long time dangling stuff from above and I'm now pretty sure we need to work from below up. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[sail sfbay]

I am replacing a line so I know the basic path should be ok.........

Since you are replaceing the line suggest sewing the new line or a tag line to the end of the old line, cover the seam with tape and pull it through. If you attach a tag line, reverse the process with the new line. That is the way I replace all my running rigging.