Up the Stick with Block and Tackle?

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R

Ron Parkes

I am getting a spinnaker halyard put on my Hunter 320 to help with hoisting a dinghy on to the foredeck (and possibly a future cruising spinnaker). Does anyone have any experience using a block and tackle arrangement to raise a bosun's chair (with a person in it) up to the top of the mast. I was thinking that with the spinnaker halyard or the toping lift, I could raise a block up to the top, secure it, and then take advantage of the 4 to 1 mechanical advantage to raise up a fairly heavy person from below. At 4 to 1, a 240 pound person would feel like a 60 pound dinghy!
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
No experience with B

be sure that you tie secure knots and do not rely on snap shackles. It is alway best to have a safety line attached too. You can use your other jib halyard. By the way, I never use a bosuns chair. We only use a climbing harness (used for mountain climbing). They are much more secure. The only down side is the fact that you do not have the pockets of the chair to store stuff in but they are really better to work in anyway.
 
G

Gary Jensen

not that difficult

You can use both your jib halyard and your spinnaker halyard at the same time and hoist someone up your pole. You may want to get someone lighter than 240 lbs. They had a difficult time lifting me (at 220 lbs) using the winch on an Erickson 35....OR--You may just want to hire a rigger to do the job. It would take less than an hour TOTAL! I did mine on my 380 without any problem..
 
E

Ed Schenck

What about cost?

The ATN Top Climber is $310. How does this compare with all the components of mountain climbing gear?
 
D

Don

Just saw the ATN at Newport Boat show.

Looked so easy I ordered one. Note that Defender sells it for $285.
 
B

Bill Ebling

Costs for mountain gear

About $135 at Eastern Mountain Sports. This may be a good option if you already have a chair. Probably not as elegant as the ATN, but it works. Since I already had a chair, here's what I bought. Two Petzl Shunts (Model B03) for $40 each. These are ascenders/decenders but they don't have teeth that can tear into your halyards. They can slide up and down the a halyard with out any weight applied to them. Once bodyweight is applied they clamp on the line and don't allow movement. I bought one for the chair and one for a webbing ladder. Two POSITVE LOCKING Carbiners for $15. These go between the shunts and the chair or the webbing ladder. They also make it impossible for the shunts coming off the halyard. A third carbiner is helpful at the base of the ladder to keep it from swinging away from the halyard. I already had one as boat equipment. A six foot webing ladder for $26. This is a piece of webbing with 3 offset webbing stirrups on each side. Slip shunts over halyard and lock in place with carbiners, ladder shunt above the chair shunt (ladder hangs down 6 feet). Put your weight on the chair. Slide the ladder shunt up as high as you can go over your head. Stand on ladder and climb. Pull chair shunt up as you go and repeat. Reverse for going down. The ladder gives you something to stand on at the top of the mast
 
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