Forestay / Backstay Replacement

[MicHughV]

You may have to google this, but I found a guy " working out his truck". Actually his truck was a van, replete with every type of rigging hardware one can think of. Top quality stuff too.

His prices were excellent. I replaced everything, or should I say, he replaced everything. Swage on top, staloks on the lower end.

My understanding is that there are several riggers up and down the US east coast that will come out to your boat and perform this work.

This particular chap was excellent at his work, and very quick.

I chose this option, as I didn't care for being on the top of my mast, hanging on with a long wire in one hand and tools in the, all by myself

The Chesapeake is bound to have several of these types of people around.

[MicHughV]

As a footnote, I was hauled for a bottom job and this guy was re-rigging another boat, so I walked across to where he was, to see what he was up too and we struck a deal right on the spot

One of these yards might be a good place to enquire about a rigger.

[sailingharry]

Three comments.

1) There are a lot of comments and opinions on using dyneema. Without really stepping into that argument, I would consider a backstay to be the one place that cries out for a do-it-yourself dyneema replacement.

2) I priced rigging once for an old boat from secosouth and was blown away by the price. Reach out to them.

3) Going up a mast while replacing the rigging is absolutely no issue. A couple of halyards to help. But if you think about this, you are putting 200 lb almost directly in column. Your mast weighs an easy 400 lbs and the yard will pick it up by a sling at the spreaders, hanging horizontally. That load is many times larger than the load that you will put on it. Forward and after lowers at the spreaders will hold it just fine. Your boat is deck stepped, but if it were keel stepped you could go along with no shrouds -- if your heart could trust your brain's decision on that!