OK, I 'fess-up. I did a real bone-head 20-20 hindsight thing last fall. When I de-commissioned my h40.5, I attached 1/16" nylon string (very stong) to all of my halyards and pulled all of them to the top of my 63' mast. My boat was being stored in water and I wanted to get the lines out of the sun for the winter and also not have them clanging against the mast. I've done this before, but I've used 1/4" message lines instead of the 1/16" line this year. Why did I use this 1/16" line? Because I had it and I thought it was stong. Well, by now you guessed it. This very strong 1/16" line chaffed through during January. I lost my main, jib, and spinaker halyard. Luckily, I still had my topping lift. Now in my 3 years of ownership, this was the first time I needed to go aloft. Now I am as brave as the next guy, but I decided that it wasn't a swell idea for a 200# guy to go up on *only* a 3/8" 4-year old topping lift and no safety. Well, last weekend I recovered all of my lost halyards. Here's how.... I taped a S-hook to the topping lift about 12" from the end and then tied a 60' length of line to the end of the topping lift. With the help of a friend, we worked the hook up and down at the top of the mast and managed to hook the shackle of the main halyard after about 40-50 tries. Binoculars and patience and the desire not to spend $125 with my boatyard to have them go up in their boom lift kept me going. After retrieving the main halyard, I went up in my bosun's chair with the main halyard and the topping lift and retrieved the other two halyards. In retrospect, I would use 3 or 4 large hooks taped to the line if I had to do this again. Hope this story and method of retrieval helps someone else. Rich
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Congratulations, but did you ever
Did you ever consider attaching a strong magnet instead of the S hook?
Did you ever consider attaching a strong magnet instead of the S hook?
Don't think a magnet would work!
Andy: I don't think a magnet would work. Presumably the snap shackles are stainless steel and should not be magnetic.
Andy: I don't think a magnet would work. Presumably the snap shackles are stainless steel and should not be magnetic.
teeth
About 20 years ago I tried out for the foredeck position on a Shields one design down in Monterey. Our first spinnaker set was perfect except that after the chute filled the halyard shakle released. Hoping to still impress the skipper, I shimmied up the mast after we pulled the spinnaker out of the water, but when I got to the masthead I was too frightened to let go of the stick with one hand so I grabbed the shackle with my teeth and then slid down to the spreaders, where I finally felt brave enough to use a hand. When we got back into harbor, by the way, the skipper told me he'd call me when they needed me for a race. Never did. Sigh. As a matter of fact, I haven't worked foredeck once since that day.
About 20 years ago I tried out for the foredeck position on a Shields one design down in Monterey. Our first spinnaker set was perfect except that after the chute filled the halyard shakle released. Hoping to still impress the skipper, I shimmied up the mast after we pulled the spinnaker out of the water, but when I got to the masthead I was too frightened to let go of the stick with one hand so I grabbed the shackle with my teeth and then slid down to the spreaders, where I finally felt brave enough to use a hand. When we got back into harbor, by the way, the skipper told me he'd call me when they needed me for a race. Never did. Sigh. As a matter of fact, I haven't worked foredeck once since that day.
Kitchen Tools Halyard Retreval Devise..
..when the main halyard was let go just before a trip many years ago, I went to the market and purchased: pasta fork, potato masher, cheese grater. Taped them all together and sent them up the topping lift. 20 minutes later... got it. Don't feel like a bonehead. You have a bunch of company. RD
..when the main halyard was let go just before a trip many years ago, I went to the market and purchased: pasta fork, potato masher, cheese grater. Taped them all together and sent them up the topping lift. 20 minutes later... got it. Don't feel like a bonehead. You have a bunch of company. RD
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