I tried the obvious way to replace the halyard by cutting of the shackle on the old line and attaching the new one to it to run it through. However I thought duct tape would be sufficient and it got caught about half way down and separated and now I'm left with the task of trying to fish the line through. I've tried several times to run 1/4" cable/wire fishing tool through the bottom of the mast but it gets stuck at the top of the mast. I really don't want to open up the top of the mast, but frustration has set in and I'm looking for suggestions. I should have sewed the lines together and I'd avoided this predicament! Any suggestions?