Head sail Halyard pulled out of mast

[hamburking]

All for the lack of an eight knot.
That should be the lesson here.

[Seighlor]

It's amazing... the wonderful ideas that come off this board.

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by nigel1

What worked for me was the bicycle chain and a large cable tie.
Form the cable tie into a large loop, bit bigger than the cross section of the mast. Turn the loop vertical and push through the exit slot in the mast (don't let go of it ). The turn it back to the horizontal. With a bit of wiggling you'll get it to form around the inside of the mast. Drop the weighted line down the mast, and it will pass through the cable tie loop, then pull the loop back out through the slot.

I've heard of a large magnet being used to pull the chain towards the slot, but I think cable ties are more available on boats than large magnets.

Or another method of retrieving the messenger is to use a length of the strong 1/2 inch poly / plastic tape that is often used to secure parcels and packages, double it over and push into exit slot until it takes the shape of the mast, and as for the cable tie loop, the messenger passes through and you just pull the tape and messenger out the slot together.

[Jim Cate]

IME, fishing the string and weight out of the exit slot is pretty easy, just using a bit of wire with a hook bent into the end. It's getting the string down there that's the hard bit, at leas in some crowded masts.

If the string & chain keep getting fouled on the way past spreaders, etc, go to home depot etc and buy an electricians "fish". This is a long fairly stiff wire that comes in a coiled up reel. Sparkies use it to run new wires through old conduits, etc, and it works well for the mast job too. Not expensive, either.

Jim

[Tikka]

I did it a few times using the other halyard, instead of dropping nylon with weight.
Sure SS wire hooks made before and a bit of fishing need it,

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Having seen this happen once at a marina in Georgia I wonder - was your halyard in the habit of clanging against the mast when the wind picked up?
Are there any liveaboards in your marina? Just curious.

Man there's some mean bugga's over your way.. just a piece of string can solve halyard smack.

[Enchantress]

Instead of bosun's chair, ascenders, etc. -- consider a Mast Mate.

I bought one for our boat (similar mast height) as there is no way my helper (the Admiral) could possibly winch my fat arse all the way up to the top. I've used it several times, once to perform the very job you are doing :big grin:

I should mention that I actually don't like ladders and heights, but I felt very secure using this device.

[bradpb]

Originally Posted by hamburking

All for the lack of an eight knot.
That should be the lesson here.

thanks for that - your advice is invaluable

[bradpb]

Originally Posted by Enchantress

Instead of bosun's chair, ascenders, etc. -- consider a Mast Mate.

I bought one for our boat (similar mast height) as there is no way my helper (the Admiral) could possibly winch my fat arse all the way up to the top. I've used it several times, once to perform the very job you are doing :big grin:

I should mention that I actually don't like ladders and heights, but I felt very secure using this device.

I looked at the mast-mate, I may look again. Thanks.

[Badsanta]

All the suggestions forget you either have to be at the top of the mast to fish the line through the top or you need another line to climb or to pull you up.
I had a stuck halyard and had to get a crane to haul someone to the top. Unable to get it loose I had to pull the mast out. Fixed the running rigging, then I found broken wires and had to replace the standing rigging. It never ends.