Replacing Old Mainsail Halyard Line with New

[rardiH36]

This weekend, I will be replacing my very old "who knows how long its been on the boat?" mainsail halyard.

I have my own ideas about how to the join the old halyard with the new line securely, and with smooth edges, so that I can use the old halyard to pull the new one through the mast base sheave, up through the mast and back down from the mast head sheave.

But rather than risk a bad outcome, I would like to hear from those that have replaced their halyards before with mast up.

Thanks in advance and regards,
Rardi

 

[Maine Sail]

I usually just..

Melt both ends then while hot stick them together and roll between wetted fingers for a smooth joint. I then use my sailors palm and whipping twine to whip the joint together for added strength.

I've used this method many times and have yet to have a problem with it going through the mast head..

 

[Scott]

siezing wire

Poke holes in the ends of lines to be joined with an icepick or anything pointed. Get small diameter wire. Put wire thru holes and twist together. Fold twisted portion of wire flush with line and wrap with tape. Pull gently. If feel too much resistance, pull it back and make sure you haven't made the diameter of the coupled lines too large to go thru the sheaves easily. PULL GENTLY

 

[Steve Dion]

It does not get any easier than this.

Rardi:

Just use a large paper clip and some rigging tape. It does not get any easier than this.

 

[fastscot]

I agree with Scott

I take the running rigging off my 23' at the end of each season using the exact method he describes. Make the connection point as close to the size of the line as possible and retain as much flexibility in the joining section as possible. I also sprayed the taped area with a sail lube.

 

[caguy]

I used zip ties to join the ends.

They are flexible and strong and poke through the rope easily. The first one I did was at night and I could not see the mast head but I tried to feel it go through so as not to pull too hard. It passed through undetected.
You are going to have to used a mesenger line if you want to keep your fitting and eye splices intact.
Frank

 

[Nik]

Sew them together...

I've always sewed them together like Main Sail first suggested; except for the melting together psrt. I kinda like the idea of using the fine lashing wire. Just remember that it should run through as effortlessly as your halyard does now. If it binds up do not force it. The most likely place for it to bind is going to be as it exits the mast and comes across the top block, thats the sharpest bend that it makes.

Nik

 

[Seattle Scott]

Rardi, you are going to reeve backwards

You wrote:
so that I can use the old halyard to pull the new one through the mast base sheave, up through the mast and back down from the mast head sheave.

If you are going to have a spliced on shackle you have to reverse your plan. Cut off existing shackle on old halyard, join bitter end of new halyard to end you cut shackle off. Clip new halyard shackle to something on the boat. Raise the new halyard with the old halyard through the mast head and back down.

 

[sailaway78]

Paper clip

It doesn't get much simpler than a paper clip. Just hook a paper clip through both ends, a couple wraps of tape and your good to go. All the other ways will work, but for me simple is always good.

 

[bffatcat]

reply to Mainsail

Hey mainsail how long does all that burning and whipping take?
I like Niks Idea better Just take some whipping twine and sew the two ends together neatly and evenly. No tape no burning no mess. Worked for me every time
over the last 40 years.

 

[Maine Sail]

Bfcat

If you are running parallel braid halyards, like Sta-Set X, you run the risk of the whipping sliding right out the end of the line if you pull to hard as you would only have maybe two or three braids of the outer jacket only holding the whipping in. I never understand the "git er dun quick" mentality. Any job worth doing, is one worth doing right.

Ask your self what will happen, and what the added time and expense will be, on a mast with internal halyards, if the two halyards, the puller and the pullee, separate inside the spar. So yes I both whip and melt and it could probably lift the weight of my RIB inflatable. Overkill? Apparently for some it is...?

Burning the ends takes me about 15 seconds and the whipping takes me another minute to minute and a half. The melting alone is probably sufficient as it is, and can be, very strong if done well...

If you have external halyards, who really cares, all it will take is a bosuns chair to fix. I still think spending under two minutes on a very, very solid splice is not a lot to ask, Hell, most of us stand in line for Coffee more than two minutes per day...

 

[tkanzler]

If you go with a messenger

make sure it's not small enough to hop the sheave and land on the axle. I found this out the hard way (is there any other way?) when replacing a topping lift and the small messenger (mason twine) hopped the sheave. What I didn't know until I went up the mast was that the topping lift sheave was deteriorated from the sun, and the flanges looked more like a chain sprocket than a rope sheave. A full-sized line would have just gone over.

But the upside is that I found out that it needed replacement. The downside was that I was going to use the new topping lift to haul the safety line for climbing the mast (using the main halyard for the main line), and I had to go up without a safety line. Rookie mistake.

 

[Capt Jim24025]

What about a wire rope spliced to dacron line?

How would you go about replacing a wire & Dacron external halyard?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Maine Sail]

With...

Quote: "How would you go about replacing a wire & Dacron external halyard?"


With a newer higher tech line only and NO wire.

Your boat would do do well with a 3/8 or a 10mm line and there is no need for the meat hooks any longer. Heck you could probably go even smaller than 3/8 or 10mm on a 27 footer.

The only catch is that you may need to change the mast head sheaves. More often than not though a 10mm low stretch halyard will fit in an old wire/rope sheave. Tim R. has I think one wire/rope halyard left but the others have been replaced with higher tech line and I don't believe he's had to change the mast head sheaves but I could be wrong...

 

[Capt Jim24025]

Main Sail

Thanks for the input. My wire rope to Dacron halyard is on my 35' Chris Craft, so I'll probably need a larger line. I'll check at the local chandleries. Do you have any suggestions regarding size?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[Chris Burti]

Here is how I've done it for decades...

I can whip competently, but after having a whipped joint hang on internal hardware, I started using this method. It is faster and I've never had a failure and never a problem.

I use Duct/Duck tape. Just take an 18" piece and lay it down sticky side up. Lay the two halyards along the center of the tape butted end to end in the middle. Roll the tape lengthwise around the halyards neatly.

Despite some naysayers, done correctly, this joint will actually support your weight, it will roll right over sheaves, through exit blocks and through clutches slick as a whistle. I can completely replace a halyard faster this method than I can get my sewing kit out of the locker and thread the needle. Be careful, a sloppy tape joint may pull apart and I always test mine by hanging on it before hoisting.

Take care in removing the tape. If you try to peel it down like a banana, it will constrict and then have to be cut off. Just unwrap it.

 

[RickS]

End to End

With whipping twine, I sew the butt ends of the two lines together about four times and tie the two ends of the whipping twine. Next, I tightly roll the sewn lines in about 18 inches of duct tape lengthwise. The connection is extremely strong and will easily pass through the sheaves and blocks. After pulling the halyards, remove the duct tape and cut the sewn whipping twine off.

 

[rmilavsky]

one questions about your suggestion

They are flexible and strong and poke through the rope easily. The first one I did was at night and I could not see the mast head but I tried to feel it go through so as not to pull too hard. It passed through undetected.
You are going to have to used a mesenger line if you want to keep your fitting and eye splices intact.
Frank

Can you explain why you need a messenger with this process? I am trying to follow your method anad it would seem that if you have joined the two ends together, why is a messenger line needed? I am missing something and I am not sure of the exact process.
Wouldnt I cut the old eye splice and then join the new and the old, with your process, and then pull the old halyard through the mast from the bottom and just keep pulling the halyard and eventually the new halyard would go through the sheave at the top of the mast and keep pulling until the new halyard comes out the bottom of the mast? am i mistaken?
Thanks
Ray M.

 

[garylinger]

Re: one questions about your suggestion

The way you just described it is the way I did it with both my jib halyard and my main halyard. I did it carefully and it worked like a charm.

 

[caguy]

That's what said, if you want to preserve your old eye splice you will need to attach a messenger line to the other end and pull it through. If you don't mind cutting off your eye splice just cut it off and attach the new one to it. I keep my eye splices so I can have them as back ups. I also used my main halyard to replace the gennaker halyard with was in really bad shape. Make sure you use the small zip ties I tried it the other day with a bigger zip tie on a smaller block and it would not pass. The smaller one worked smooth as silk.