How to run new halyards?

Flyboy69 · Aug 8, 2014

I do halyards like this, I always use the old to fish the new one through by doing a lazy kind of internal splice and a needle and thread through them to make the joint fast and then haul away, clipping the splice off and whipping the end again.
I recently ran new masthead wires the entire length of my 48' mast using an electricians fish tape through the length of it and dragging the wires back down. Went off without a hitch too!

rardiH36 · Aug 9, 2014

Not too many responses here --- (maybe because the topic has been covered a lot over the years and members aren't as inclined to address the question with as much gusto as before?)

Anyway, what has worked well for me, but under the condition that your sheaves run free and you won't need to yank your new line through any catch points ...

- Get some of the 3M type mailing packing tape that has fiber-glass threads running through it for added strength. Like this http://www.staples.com/Staples-Fiberglass-Filament-Tape-09-x-60-Yards/product_467886. You should be able to find a "consumer" quantity role of it for only a few dollars.

- Cut two 12" pieces.

- Butt up to each other the old and new halyard ends.

- Align 6" of the the 12" filament tape over each of the halyard ends. Press on both pieces of the filament tape so that the two pieces cover the entire circumference of the halyards.

- Then tightly stretch over the filament tape a few wraps of electrical tape in several places. This will compress the adhesive side of packing tape into the fibers of your old and new halyard lines.

- This process will make for a very secure temporary joining of the old and new halyard for the purpose of hauling through a new line. Check by trying to pull apart with your (undoubtedly impressive) arm strength.

- Providing it holds (as I expect), switch out the old and new halyards by pulling the assembly up/down the mast.

- Remove the tape and in your preferred manner treat the bitter ends of your new halyard.

Benny17441 · Aug 9, 2014

I do sew the bitter ends together with heavy fishing line and then apply some tape. Have not lost one yet. You may need to go up the mast with a reel of fishing line and a weight and drop the line down and fish the line with a wire so that you may attach the halyard to it and pull it up.

Joe · Aug 10, 2014

You're going to have to go up the mast... drop your weighted fish line... have some one tie it on the new halyard and pull it up slowly enough to feel if you get any resistance... it the other lines are tensioned, and the wires are bundled, or maybe in a conduit..it should go smoothly. if the new line is wrapped around another... you can feel it.. it's the messenger line that wrapped on the way down. so stop.. undo your messenger and re run it.

The most likely thing that would snag your halyard would be something inside the mast inserted to keep the wires and halyards from banging. I've heard of people putting pieces of Styrofoam... or cable ties around the wires to keep them from moving around inside. If you can't work around those obstacles, you'll have to drop the mast... No way to tell ahead of time...just be prepared and cautious.

Ron20324 · Aug 10, 2014

For a new halyard: Tighten and cleat all lines that are inside the mast. At the top of the mast have a weight such as a few inches of bicycle chain, drapery-weight chain, or maybe a couple nuts tied to a strong string. Outside the mast, lower the weight down to the point where you plan to pull the line out(exit plate?). Mark the string, at the top, and you will know how much to lower to reach that same lower point, but inside the mast. Have one or more people stand on the beam of the boat to tilt the boat/mast. Put the weight into the mast at the point the halyard will come out. The weight will slide down the mast inner wall and not wrap around other wires or lines.

PatTormey · Aug 11, 2014

If you lay the mast down you can run several pieces of electrical conduit ($5/12 footer) thru, foot to top and it will keep the wiring out of the rigging runs.

Then pull it out when you are done. You can prolly still return the conduit, if you are cheap by nature.. ;-)

I used it, with electrical fish tape, and it worked just fine..

Pat
Blue Skies Ports NH

Joe Blizzard · Aug 11, 2014

njlarry said:
the spinnaker halyard was lost trying to feed the new

I've never used them to fish anything through a mast, but these things can be handy: http://www.harborfreight.com/3-16-inch-x-33-ft-fiberglass-wire-running-kit-65326.html

jhnewsome17 · Aug 12, 2014

Lots of good suggestions already posted so I won't be redundant with previous ideas. I replaced the all my running rigging and rewire my mast a couple years ago by dropping the mast and stripping it down to the bare pole and starting over, and I learned a lot about internal masts systems in the process. My boat had wire/rope halyards which could not be easily replaced with the mast standing.

I replaced all the lights with LED fixtures, added a wind instrument, and TV antenna. I already had a 1" piece of conduit running the length of the mast but I could not get all the wires inside. I completely removed the 32' piece of joined together conduit and ran all the new electrical wires inside, and then ran the coax cables to the outside of the conduit and snap tied them in place.

The conduit was then covered with outdoor/UV stable commercial pipe insulation and periodically snap tied and joints taped. I also added the largest snap ties I could locate every five feet of so and cut them slightly longer than the inside diameter of the mast. The idea hear was to prevent the conduit from banging around inside the mast. After all, you can only connect the conduit at the top and bottom of the mast. Once the conduit was packed inside and outside with the new wiring bundles it was simply fed down the mast and reattached at the bottom and top by a small SS bolt with a lock nut.

Here's a link to photos of the conduit before and after installation.

https://picasaweb.google.com/111041...&authkey=Gv1sRgCPe8mKCH8azkcA&feat=directlink

PatTormey · Aug 12, 2014

Nice work. Thanks for showing us how it's done.
I read (Practical Sailor?) that you can use a strong adhesive on the conduit along it's length to keep it from chattering. My Oday 322 already had a channel in the mast for the wire run, so I was just rigging the halyards.

I fished the line thru the (plastic) conduit which was easy then fed the conduit into the mast to keep the lines from messing with the electrical (Masthead, Deck lights), peeled them from the top of mast and pulled out the conduit.

Pat
Blue Skies
Ports NH