replacing halyard with mast up

[pat]

My main sail halyard for an O'day 23 is half wire, half rope. I need to replace it with all rope(5/16 sta-set)- without taking the mast down. If I cut the wire and tape the new rope to it-- to pull through the sheaves on top of the mast, will it get stuck in the sheaves?

 

[Tom Ehmke]

If it's not wire on both ends...

pull it through the other way!! Lead the LINE through the sheaves and avoid having the wire pass through them. I've replaced rope halyards with the mast up and it's not difficult. One other tip. Sew a flemish eye ( I think that is the right term) to connect the new halyard to the old one. That way there is a lot more flexibility where the two lines connect and they will pass through the sheaves much easier than they would using tape to connect them. A flemish eye is simply a loop sewn into the ends of the halyards to connect them. Make several passes through the ends of the new and old halyard with strong thread. When you're all done, just cut the loop with a knife and pull out the thread.Have fun!Tom

 

[Justin - O'day Owners' Web]

hmmm

Pat -I would be concerned about the sheaves. If they're not designed to take both wire and rope, then they will either bind the rope or break from the inappropriate loading that results when rope doesn't full seat in a sheave. I don't know what your boat has up there, but I'd check it out first.Justin - O'day Owners' Web