Replacing wire halyards with line on Columbia 26 MKII

[bll30148]

I'm thinking about changing both my main and jib halyard to line from the original wire/line mix. I'm thinking about replacing them with 5/16" line. Does anyone know if the sheaves at the mast head will take 5/16" line?

Thanks.

1971 Columbia 26 MKII

 

[Jnani]

Columbia Halyards

Hi, I'm new to this sight. Found it when I was searching for halyard to buy and ordered some on their site. Best price ever. When I saw the Columbia section I almost fell off my chair. You see a little over a year ago I bought a 1970 Columbia 26 that was abandoned and flooded. I found it in a boatyard and it was in rough shape although the fiberglass inside and out was sound everything else was corroded and the paint was discolored from the water lines. Yet something about it I liked and I couldn't pull myself away from it. It had lines and a personality, almost like it was alive and I had looked at a lot of boats. So I purchased the title on it for a song.
Looking online I was somewhat disappointed that there was very little on the internet, though I did get some color pictures and some specs. It seemed like the line had fallen off the map, so I set about using my own limited sailing knowledge and some common sense and over the past year I have spent just about every weekend replacing something. Some things like the stainless stays seem to be in mint condition. I figure she either went down early or they were replaced just before she sailed her last. Well anyways she going to float next spring and she and I have quite an affair going. Either my eyes are fooling me or she is starting to look fantastic. I am putting the finishing touches on her paint the next couple of weeks and will post some pictures then.
Regarding replacing the wire halyards. I have pondered this question for the past year and have thought about it a lot. I know nowadays many are being replaced with all rope, but I eventually came to the conclusion that there was a reason they were there in the first place. So I ordered today my main halyard and plan to do an eye splice attaching it to the wire. I plan to do the same with my jib halyard.
The sloop located on the outer reaches of Cape Cod in Chatham and I knew that buying a deep keel will drastically reduce those ports I can enter, but I'm thinking about coastal cruising later on. Where are you located?
Jim

 

[ArielC28]

Just Replaced Mine

Replaced my wire halyards on my C28 last summer. Took the mast down and looked at the sheaves in the masthead, and found that the thread on the sheaves was too narrow for 5/16" line.

I solicited some help from the local rigging shop, and had two new sheaves machined. It was actually not horribly expensive, maybe about $45/sheave.

NOTE: There is a aluminum "sheave separator" that sits between the two sheaves in the masthead; it is about 1/2" thick, and I had to have a thinner separator made (also not too pricey), but you could even come up with some simple solution yourself.

All in all, I've been super pleased with the change. The lines are so much nicer to handle than wire, and they don't bang against the mast and make quite as much noise as much as the wire. Further, they look better too.