Hi, I'm a novice boat owner, I have a Catalina 22 (1984) that I purchased 3 years ago; my son was 9 at the time, so we didn't sail that much as he wasn't old enough to really help. This summer was his third year of sailing school, with friends, and I've been allowing him to captain and he's done quite well. (Proud mom). This past weekend we went out and it was very windy; the boys rigged the sail, backed out of the slip, motored out through the channel to the Lake and did so quite well. They had the ropes done correctly..or so I thought. After an hour of sailing in really windy conditions and really hot weather, my son and his first mate were really tired from sailing, so we decided to pull down the main and motor in. It was then that I discovered that his first mate had tried to tie an 8 knot on the main halyard right at the point it was cleated...and the knot had gotten twisted, wet, tight, and we could not get it undone to save our lives. I tried pliers, everything. At this point, the winds kicked up, the boat was bouncing around and the kids were getting scared. We couldn't get the main down, we couldn't motor in with the sail up...so I did what any mom would do, I cut the main halyard so we could take down the main sail. It was only as the boys were taking down the main and I watched the halyar disappear into the boom that I realized I had saved the day but created a much larger problem. Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this? I don't want to pay the marina to do it because they are very expensive and besides, I need to learn how to work on my own boat. I am the laughing stock of the marina right now (or at least the boaters who knew what happend) so I'm equally as interested in finding a solution on my own to save face and not be the dumb broad with the Catalina!! Thanks, Ann
Main Halyard sucked up in Mast--How to fix??
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Ray Bowles
"Live by the sword......"
It sounds like you cut the halyard at the cleat. If the cleat was on the mast then the halyard tail would have run up inside the mast. Is this correct? If it is it will require lowering the mast. This can be done with the boat in the water but is much easier on a trailer. When the mast is down then a new halyard can be installed. Get back on this site if you need advise on lowering the mast, but if you have never done it then you need to enlist the aid of another 22 owner that has done it to help. Ray
It sounds like you cut the halyard at the cleat. If the cleat was on the mast then the halyard tail would have run up inside the mast. Is this correct? If it is it will require lowering the mast. This can be done with the boat in the water but is much easier on a trailer. When the mast is down then a new halyard can be installed. Get back on this site if you need advise on lowering the mast, but if you have never done it then you need to enlist the aid of another 22 owner that has done it to help. Ray
In water fix
Ms. Excaliber, do not fret. Every C22 owner should know how to unstep and step her mast, and you have just created the opportunity to do so. The boat is made to do this relatively easily, even in the water (as I always did when I owned mine). Take Ray's advice and look in the archives for directions, or ask another C22 owner for help. Before you do so, think about what else you would like to do at the top of the mast while it is down, like replace the lines there now, fix/check the lights, add a spare halyard, etc. You'll be back sailing in no time.
Ms. Excaliber, do not fret. Every C22 owner should know how to unstep and step her mast, and you have just created the opportunity to do so. The boat is made to do this relatively easily, even in the water (as I always did when I owned mine). Take Ray's advice and look in the archives for directions, or ask another C22 owner for help. Before you do so, think about what else you would like to do at the top of the mast while it is down, like replace the lines there now, fix/check the lights, add a spare halyard, etc. You'll be back sailing in no time.
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Exalibur
This forum is awesome!
Thanks to both of you for the very quick reply! You are right, I need to learn how to take down my own mast, I've been paying for that and now is the time to learn. My 12 year old son and I are going to take a stab at it this weekend--after all, never too early for kids to learn about how to take care of the boat, right? I'll let you know how it turns out. Best, Ann (Excalibur) ;D
Thanks to both of you for the very quick reply! You are right, I need to learn how to take down my own mast, I've been paying for that and now is the time to learn. My 12 year old son and I are going to take a stab at it this weekend--after all, never too early for kids to learn about how to take care of the boat, right? I'll let you know how it turns out. Best, Ann (Excalibur) ;D
Taking mast down is only half the challenge
Everyone else's suggestions are good, and having had a Catalina 22 before my current Catalina 30, I can say getting the mast down is pretty easy, I was almost able to do it all by myself (only needed one person to either stabilize or catch the mast as it came down), by using the genoa sheet block attached to the bow with a long 3/8" line run through it and tied to the forestay with a triple wrap with a back wrap knot -- don't remember what it's called -- maybe a type of clove hitch (along with disconnecting the forward lowers and loosening the aft lowers). However, once you get the mast down, your other challenges will be: 1. to acquire a replacement main halyard (depending on the year, it may be a rope spliced to wire halyard so you will need the wire size and rope size and overall length -- the sizes are important as the masthead sheave is sized to them. Your manual or Catalina22 website will probably help define the measurements/lengths. Try Defender.com for mail ordering. See link below for my guess at the sizes. 2. Snaking the new halyard through the mast. a couple of tricks which might work. One is a small piece of a bicycle chain attached to a light string, dropping it down from the top and fishing it out at the bottom. Another idea is to securely attach 2 seperate strings/small ropes (aka 'painters') to your genoa halyard and pull them both out the top, then detach one and use the remaining one to pull the genoa halyard back again, and the detached one can be used to pull the new main halyard down and in place. Be sure to pay particular attention to how the halyards are routed inside the mast and watch and avoid pulls on the halyard rope material from screws/etc sticking inside the mast. By the way, the catalina mast (at least on my 1984) is strong enough for a bosun's chair assuming the standing rigging is tight and the person is light. So another idea would be to use the genoa halyard with a 'chair' and pull up someone who can drop a painter down the mast and then attach it to the halyard and pull it up and down and out (the halyard might be heavy enough to not need a weight, but not sure). Hope this helps, and good luck...
Everyone else's suggestions are good, and having had a Catalina 22 before my current Catalina 30, I can say getting the mast down is pretty easy, I was almost able to do it all by myself (only needed one person to either stabilize or catch the mast as it came down), by using the genoa sheet block attached to the bow with a long 3/8" line run through it and tied to the forestay with a triple wrap with a back wrap knot -- don't remember what it's called -- maybe a type of clove hitch (along with disconnecting the forward lowers and loosening the aft lowers). However, once you get the mast down, your other challenges will be: 1. to acquire a replacement main halyard (depending on the year, it may be a rope spliced to wire halyard so you will need the wire size and rope size and overall length -- the sizes are important as the masthead sheave is sized to them. Your manual or Catalina22 website will probably help define the measurements/lengths. Try Defender.com for mail ordering. See link below for my guess at the sizes. 2. Snaking the new halyard through the mast. a couple of tricks which might work. One is a small piece of a bicycle chain attached to a light string, dropping it down from the top and fishing it out at the bottom. Another idea is to securely attach 2 seperate strings/small ropes (aka 'painters') to your genoa halyard and pull them both out the top, then detach one and use the remaining one to pull the genoa halyard back again, and the detached one can be used to pull the new main halyard down and in place. Be sure to pay particular attention to how the halyards are routed inside the mast and watch and avoid pulls on the halyard rope material from screws/etc sticking inside the mast. By the way, the catalina mast (at least on my 1984) is strong enough for a bosun's chair assuming the standing rigging is tight and the person is light. So another idea would be to use the genoa halyard with a 'chair' and pull up someone who can drop a painter down the mast and then attach it to the halyard and pull it up and down and out (the halyard might be heavy enough to not need a weight, but not sure). Hope this helps, and good luck...
E
ED CANNATA
MAIN HALYARD SUCKED UP
ANN, THE MAIN THING IS NO ONE GOT HURT & BOAT GOT HOME SAFELY !! THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO DROP THE MAST & REPLACE THE HALYARD BY DROPPING A WEIGHTED LINE AND THEN PULLING A HEAVIER LINE.THIS IS NOT A COMPLICATED PROCEDURE. TRY TO FIND SOMEONE WHO STEPS/UNSTEPS HIS OWN MAST TO HELP YOU. GOOD LUCK... ED CANNATA SNUG HARBOR - DUXBURY, MA. BY THE WAY, YOUR KIDS ARE LUCY TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT MOM .
ANN, THE MAIN THING IS NO ONE GOT HURT & BOAT GOT HOME SAFELY !! THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO DROP THE MAST & REPLACE THE HALYARD BY DROPPING A WEIGHTED LINE AND THEN PULLING A HEAVIER LINE.THIS IS NOT A COMPLICATED PROCEDURE. TRY TO FIND SOMEONE WHO STEPS/UNSTEPS HIS OWN MAST TO HELP YOU. GOOD LUCK... ED CANNATA SNUG HARBOR - DUXBURY, MA. BY THE WAY, YOUR KIDS ARE LUCY TO HAVE SUCH A GREAT MOM .
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