Stupid mistake to kick off the season

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tony litvak

Well, I managed to pull out my main halyard from the mast last weekend during my excitement to setup the sails. I have only have one (jib) halyard left, so I don't plan on going up the mast with only one halyard for support and would look for any encouragement or suggestions on how best to rethread a new main halyard on a C&C 24. I've prepared for the worst and plan on taking the mast down. My question is this - can I take the mast down without removing the shrouds? If I can remove the furler, will the mast, with some guideance be able to be lowered towards the stern? If anyone is available for advise please contact me at tonylitvak using the hotmail extension.
 
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Warren Milberg

Just sent you

..an email on this. Let me know if it doesn't show up.
 

RAD

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Jun 3, 2004
2,330
Catalina 30 Bay Shore, N.Y.
Tony

Are you near any bridge's, bring the boat next to a bridge early in the morning when its calm.
 
May 11, 2005
3,431
Seidelman S37 Slidell, La.
Getting the halyard

THis happened to me a year of so ago. Stupid mistake. What I did was get a friend of mine to bring his boat over and raft up to mine. Went up his mast in a bosn's chair with a long boat hook. He cranked me up, I reached over and grabbed mine. Was pretty easy.
 
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Waffle

Well, Tony that sounds like

something I would do. I bump the seawall and out a ding in the gelcoat bringing the boat into the slip for the first time. It is always something!
 

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,178
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
Its all good

to get it over with at the beginning of the season....................
 
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oldisrocker

Halyard

Tony, The previous posts will work for you unless your boat's on the hard still. then you will need to drop the mast. Isn't there a bit of hardware on the end that would have kept it from coming through the sheave(unless you let the bitter end through instead)? If you dock at a tall dock, it might be possible to fish it out with a makeshift setup(I used a surf pole from the highest point on a neighboring boat once).Even with your jib hanked on to the furler, it's possible to bring the mast down with it on. I usually will bungee the furler to the mast about eye level once it's been disconnected from the bow. this gives a bit more control(even if it might scratch the deck paint a bit..)
 
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Tony Litvak

Halyard is in my bag

well - the main halyard is in my bag - so no it's no longer attached to the mast. Here's the plan for the weekend by order of priority. 1. I'll first try to climb the mast with a ladder - I;m going to lean the ladder against the mast and tie it down against the stern rails midway point to prevent any movement. If this doesnt work plan 2. 2. I'll try to lower the mast with out a ginny pole. I'll disconnect the forestay and lean the mast back as gently as possible. My plan is to have 3 people. 2 on each side to prevent lateral movement and one in the front with a line attached to the foot of the furler. I'll let everyone know how I fair.
 
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Ed

Not that way!

I don't think one person can lower the mast by tying a line to the forestay. Two of us tried to do that to lower a 23' Coronado mast and we could not hold it when it was almost down. It takes a lot of force to control it after it has moved through about 60 degrees. Use your mainsheet block or vang attached to the bow to give you a 3 or 4 part advantage and put 2 people on the line.
 
Jan 27, 2007
383
Irwin 37' center cockpit cleveland ohio
just curious

My friend mentioned he needed to replace his masthead light (the one on the top of the mast) on his 30' Catalina and all eyes were on me for answers as to how to do it cheaply and safely. THINKING OUT LOUD..... First is to winch him up there, but then he would need something to stand on, he being 5'2" tall. So I was thinking of using a hunters stand once he reaches the top. It still doesn't answer the question...one halyard...no safety line. The halyards today hold unbelievable amounts of weight before breaking. I always look at the junk 100 foot lines at Lowes and Home Depot to see what the rated breaking strength is on those, and those are 300 pounds. Your halyard line has to be 500 pounds or more, so is a safety line that important? Look at it this way. Coming down you will have two, if your mission is accomplished. So I don't think it would be terribly bad to go up on the one line. Then I thought about hauling up the tree stand under the climber. In the event the line fails, he has the tree stand to stand on. Without tension on it (and a line attached to the highest part of the stand)the stand should freefall on his way down (i.e. not get stuck).
 
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John

mast

Hi tony ,I think i would use the halyard and a bosens chair and have someone pull me up up .I have never Gone up my mast like that becouse I am better at the bottom .My wife went up to change a steeming light. my son is twelve and i can pull him up easy to get a halyard but my mast is 42'and i would need the yard guys to put me up in there chair.I pull 25' masts all the time up and down .Im in a club and we all help out in the spring and fall.you would need three people one at the furler one guy to catch the mast on the dock with a Y on a pole about 10 feet long and some one that can walk the mast down on the boat .If you dont have a mast pivit on the mast step you would need a man on the bottom footing the mast.I work with long ladders and sideing poles and the mast is lighter then sideing poles or a big ladder ,the boat move under foot when you are in the water.Just dont drop it and be safe . John
 
Jun 3, 2004
730
Catalina 250 Wing Keel Eugene, OR
Mainsheet

We just lowered the mast on our C250 in the slip using the mainsheet. Attack one end (the one with the cam cleat) to the bow. Connect the other end to the forestay or the jib halyard (make sure the bitter end is secure!) and lower. We used the jib halyard. Have a couple of buddies on the cabin roof to make sure the mast doesn't move sideways and have an 6-8' step ladder in the cockpit with a fender on top for the mast to rest on. The mainsheet will give you plenty of control. When it is time to lift it up have the buddies give an initial boost and the mast will come right up with you pulling on the mainsheet. When we pulled into our slip for the first time this year it was very windy and this was our first time using our new boat. We pulled into the slip bow first and ended up tying up stern first! *yks It was not pretty. These experiences are part of boating!
 
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jeff

Topping lift

if you're topping lift is consistent (not cableline connected, which may jam on a skyward trek), then drop the boom and use it as your safety line and go up the mast.
 
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