Climbing the Mast with Webbing Ladder

[skenn_ie]

When I was a teen, I used to climb the halyards and sit on the spreaders.
More recently, I had some steps made from aircraft 6064 alloy to rivet onto the mast.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by thinwater

As a climber, you do NOT want to be considering "jumping." You either

• Have a good safety system and trust it completely.
• Focus on the climbing 100% and don't fall. This does not mean moving slowly, this means moving with focus on what you are doing and not focus on the ground.

If you are thinking about jumping as an alternative, you climb down and reconsider your safety system until you don't need to worry about it. 100% certain.

Was thinking of jumping as best I could if the mast fell and I was about to be impaled by a stanchion or tiller.

Not jumping as a way to get down!!?

Whatever.

I had just gone to the boat to put the sail slides into the webbing ladder then before I knew it I was testing the setup and stepped onto the ladder and went up a step

I was amazed how much it stretched

then I took another step...

then another not having planned to go up at all which is why I had no harness, tether, or helper

maybe I have watched too many documentaries on free solo climbers

I just have to stay away from mirrors that let me know I'm not really Alex Honnold at age 26 or any of the others which are most likely in their 20's also. I know Marc-André Leclerc was in his 20's.

Tommy Caldwell may be 30's now.

Beth Rodden.

Anyway I went all the way up

FYI Alex used to live about like a sailor liveaboard except he did it in a van so he could go to his favorite spots to climb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqJ_dkxxqa8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRpVyzagXLQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR1jwwagtaQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIvhRAQ7F4k

[merrydolphin]

I’ll stick with a bosuns chair. Mast steps are ok as they are rigid but should still have a halyard safety back up or use a prussic sling.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by thomm225

... I was amazed how much it stretched....

The ladder will not stretch or move at all if it is tensioned properly before climbing; the pretension should be more than body weight plus the dynamic force of stepping tot he next rung. Over 500 pounds, like a tight Cunningham. In fact, the down haul is the usual method.



Just one of the details.


The ladder must be coiled away flat with the steps folded down, not up. In this way, they will open properly when hoisted.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by thinwater

The ladder will not stretch or move at all if it is tensioned properly before climbing; the pretension should be more than body weight plus the dynamic force of stepping tot he next rung. Over 500 pounds, like a tight Cunningham. In fact, the down haul is the usual method.



Just one of the details.


The ladder must be coiled away flat with the steps folded down, not up. In this way, they will open properly when hoisted.

Yeah nice.

After I finished the climb I tossed the ladder down the forward hatch.

It's still in a pile in the V Berth

After the first step on the ladder when it's on the mast all the stretch is taken care of then you can just climb up. No need to secure the bottom it appears but I did have the sail slides in down there

[NYSail]

I have one of these and love it. However i also use a bosuns chair. I climb and my wife pulls the chair as I go up. When I need a break I sit. When I get to where I want to work I sit. Then when I am done my wife lowers me down…… while sitting. Like the double protection. And the webbing ladder does not stretch (at least mine doesn’t). It’s your halyard that is stretching. And also rolling it up properly is important…… everything for the most part opens perfect. Mine was bought when o had another boat so I just pull ladder and tie off bottom. Sail slides don’t fit my new mast but no big deal….

Greg

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by NYSail

I have one of these and love it. However i also use a bosuns chair. I climb and my wife pulls the chair as I go up. When I need a break I sit. When I get to where I want to work I sit. Then when I am done my wife lowers me down…… while sitting. Like the double protection. And the webbing ladder does not stretch (at least mine doesn’t). It’s your halyard that is stretching. And also rolling it up properly is important…… everything for the most part opens perfect. Mine was bought when o had another boat so I just pull ladder and tie off bottom. Sail slides don’t fit my new mast but no big deal….

Greg

I'm not a "fold up properly" guy. (got my fill of that in the military)

Maybe next time though I'll flake it down into the V Berth as I bring it down.

Also the webbing on my ladder is pretty thin so I'm pretty sure it's what is stretching.

The halyard that was holding it is maybe 5/8" (or more) and it doesn't stretch when I put my weight on it to tighten the jib

[NYSail]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I'm not a "fold up properly" guy. (got my fill of that in the military)

Maybe next time though I'll flake it down into the V Berth as I bring it down.

Also the webbing on my ladder is pretty thin so I'm pretty sure it's what is stretching.

The halyard that was holding it is maybe 5/8" (or more) and it doesn't stretch when I put my weight on it to tighten the jib

Mine is an older model….. probably 20 years old and very robust. No stretch at all. I like it rolled up….. stores nicely and goes up easier.

Greg

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by NYSail

Mine is an older model….. probably 20 years old and very robust. No stretch at all. I like it rolled up….. stores nicely and goes up easier.

Greg

Yours may be a mast mate.

Mine is a webbing ladder from 4yachts in Poland. $136 delivered.

https://4yachts.eu/

[thinwater]

Another reason to fold the steps down carefully when rolling is spreaders. If they sweep back at all (the diamonds on all of my boats have) the ladder will hoist more smoothly if the steps are folded downwards (nothing to catch).

[NYSail]

Yep…… a mast-mate

[MHTinkler]

First. A word of caution about tying a climbing line to a halyard. NEVER use a boling (sp?) knot as an anchor knot that will support a climbers!! Always use a double figure 8 knot!! Anyone who climbs for profit or for recreation knows that a boling knot can easily "turn over" and untie itself. Very risky and NOT a knot to trust your life to!!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Another reason to fold the steps down carefully when rolling is spreaders. If they sweep back at all (the diamonds on all of my boats have) the ladder will hoist more smoothly if the steps are folded downwards (nothing to catch).

Yeah for the first time I don't have diamond wires just the straight out spreaders. (one set)

The thing is a couple weeks ago was the first time I have been up the mast in 10 years so it's not like it's a big problem if I have a few hiccups raising the ladder every now and then.

We'll see though. I'll have to put the ladder some place when out sailing for a few days rather than having it spread out all over the V Berth.

[cr180]

I’ve tried the web steps secured to the mast via slides in the track. Find the climb to be very difficult because I need to lean back to see the next step and secure my foot. Been climbing all my life, in my younger days (now in 70s), used ascenders. Retired from ascenders, thought the web ladder would be the thing, but not comfortable at all. Have gravitated to a bosun’s chair, halyard rigged to Genoa winch powered by Milwaukee angle drill. Admittedly do need a helper.

[Checkswrecks]

I'm another user of the Mast-Mate web ladder, so thought I'd throw in my 2 cents because those who mentioned using a web ladder by itself need to learn better.

First is that the mast ladder is only pulled up on a new piece of 5/8" rope or a newer one that I'm really confidant about after inspecting the condition of the splice.

Second is that the halyard gets locked in a clutch, then tied to (not just wrapped on) the house top winch, then tied again to the main winch. That's three locks. Having somebody winch you up is at BEST a single point of failure.

Third is that I wear a climbing harness and hang an ascender on the spare halyard. When I climb, I don't hold the next rung up on the web ladder, I put my hands through the ladder to hold the mast which also means my fore arms are slightly tangled in the web ladder and I'm using more upper arm than hand strength.


Anyone who goes up a mast without some type of fall protection just hasn't yet become one of "those who have or who will." I'm going on 67 and have had all sorts of surprises when up high, including a rusty steel rung collapse under me on a tower, loose electric wire whack me in the face, sail slug break on a different mast ladder causing it to jump, plus the usual abrupt big movements of a wake suddenly rocking the boat. I need to slide the ascender up or down every other step, but it's worth the hassle.


When at the top I have a short looped piece of dyneema that goes around the mast with a simple Prussic hitch to a locking carabiner on my harness.


If all else fails, the Prussic will lock me in place, but that's not why I use the piece around the mast. With it there I can lean back slightly to use both hands to work and rest.


It cost less for this stuff than paying somebody else to go up one time, plus having the right stuff and knowing you can rely on it means being able to focus rather than being scared.

Finally and while I've gone up masts a LOT in all sorts of shoes, I learned the hard way to wear work boots with tall socks. The socks prevent the webbing from chafing my ankles and the hard soles of the boots are a LOT more comfortable on those round pieces of PVC used as rungs.