How do you deal with being thrown about when going aloft at sea?

[Franziska]

Hi,

for those who have actually done it.

What pragmatic measures do you use for not being thrown about when going aloft at sea?

We just tried it with a fair bit of waves (unfortunately only little wind) to recover a spi halyard, but had to abandon because I was thrown about a lot despite climbing harness and safety line around the mast.

Suggestions? I know it's best to wait fora dead calm, but that is not always possible offshore.


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[Jammer]

Flipline adjusted to the proper length. Grippy rubber shoes. Push away from the mast with feet bracing against the flipline. Time your climbing moves between waves. Wear a helmet.

[Franziska]

Originally Posted by Jammer

Flipline adjusted to the proper length. Grippy rubber shoes. Push away from the mast with feet bracing against the flipline. Time your climbing moves between waves. Wear a helmet.

Thanks. Good point regarding helmet. What's a flipline?

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[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Franziska

What's a flipline?

https://www.wesspur.com/tree-climbin...iplines?page=1

Line that goes from one of the big D rings on the belt of your harness around the mast (or tree, as the case may be) and back to the other big D ring. They are adjustable in length to accommodate a variety of work positions. For arborculture, they are made of stiffer rope to allow them to be "flipped" up as you climb, often achieved by inserting a thin core of flexible steel cable inside a single-braid rope with a fid.


With a smooth mast (rather than a tree) you can get away without the steel core.


If you have a recreational harness that doesn't have D rings, well then, ....

https://www.wesspur.com/SAD805M-Tree...imbing-harness

[thomm225]

Wait for a day when you have smoother water........especially since a spinnaker halyard is not essential sailing equipment

I hate going up there in rough water.

[chrisr]

use a climbing harness rather than bosuns chair. of itself it doesn't stop you getting thrown around but you are much more secure when you are and thus more ability to hold on

if you have enough hands on deck, a downhaul line is useful as well, but it needs to be kept taut.

and if all else fails there is the mastwalk...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4loB_UGxw8

cheers,

[JPA Cate]

Given the quick jerky motion of cats, experiment with slowing down the boat, but making steady very slow way (1-1.5 kn, just enough to maintain steerage way.) Also, keep the main sail up, at least some of it, it will provide some roll or jerk resistance.

Otherwise, the chest line to the mast to help you stay with it is about the best you can do.

It is always going to try to throw you around some, and you should expect the bruises to last.

Going aloft at sea puts a lot at risk. Never turn loose of a halyard before you have made sure it is successfully secured. (I once let the main halyard go at the wrong time--we were trying to heel the boat to get it off a coral head. Man, was I ashamed!)

Sometimes one can snag a loose halyard with the boat hook.

Fair winds,

Ann

[boatman61]

As Jim said, a cats motion is really jerky unlike a mono which is more predictable.
I find the best bet on a cat is turn to run with the waves just fast enough to keep steerage way so the motion is minimised.
If in a chair lip a line from the strap on one side just long enough to reach round and clip to the other side, if just a harness do the same at waist height.. a cheap bicycle helmet will save on headaches..

[catsketcher]

Gday Fran

I don't even like being up the mast when a power boat goes by my 38ft cat. The problem with cats and mast climbing is that cats have a very high natural frequency. I guess my cat has a natural (resonant) frequency of about 1 hz. I have gathered this because she really gets the shakes sideways onto cruiser powerboat waves that have the same frequency. I don't even sail that much on a beam reach in any sort of sea - I tend to close reach and broad reach when the sea is up - up and then down. Like others have suggested, going aloft would be a real pain offshore. That said if I had to then I would probably try going as fast as possible dead downwind - or straight down the 1Hz frequency waves. Sometimes we can get in synch with waves and the motion smooths right out so I would give that a try.

Did you lose the kite halyard when dropping the kite? If so I would recommend NOT dropping the kite as most cat sailors do. Most of them go up the bow and try to pull the sock down or pull the kite down from the nets up forward. I don't like this. I don't ever do this now.

My new favourite technique is the pull the kite down on the deck as far aft as possible. Right in the lee of the main (if that is up)with windward sheet blown and if it not up and I have no mainsail to blanket the kite - I pull a sheet almost all the way aft so that one leech of the kite pretty vertical about 2/3 of the way aft when sailing dead downwind. (Just in front of the sidestay). Then when I drop the halyard, most of the kite falls on the deck and nets. It is super easy and pretty much the same technique used by skiff sailors to get their big kites into the boat. No more tugging from the net and getting lifted off.

cheers

Phil

[hpeer]

I have done it at anchor which can be bad enough.

We have steps and I use 2 lines around the mast. The second is for going over spreaders and the like. Transfer above the spreader before removing the bottom line.

By having steps you can brace yourself a fair bit. I suspect it is a good bit more stable than without steps.

[SundayMorning]

I read in Jessica Watson's book that it is helpful to attach your harness to a batten car (if the main is not up and you have battcars on your mast). A bit like a line around the mast but probably less movement.

[skipperpete]

There’s more to consider than simply dealing with being thrown about, going aloft any time is a life threatening event on several different levels. First you need to assess the need and then weigh up the consequences. If you fall from a height how long will it take to reach medical help? If you are the principal person on board, will the crew( or wife) be able to assume your now vacant role after you become an unconscious medical emergency. What if you have a stroke or coronary incident, can the crew get a now comatose you back to the deck?
I’ve been witness to one fall from a mast at Hamilton island (in the marina) and an associate fell from a mast in Sydney, neither incident was fatal but left both the sailors with severe lifelong injuries.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by skipperpete

There’s more to consider than simply dealing with being thrown about, going aloft any time is a life threatening event on several different levels. First you need to assess the need and then weigh up the consequences. If you fall from a height how long will it take to reach medical help? If you are the principal person on board, will the crew( or wife) be able to assume your now vacant role after you become an unconscious medical emergency. What if you have a stroke or coronary incident, can the crew get a now comatose you back to the deck?
I’ve been witness to one fall from a mast at Hamilton island (in the marina) and an associate fell from a mast in Sydney, neither incident was fatal but left both the sailors with severe lifelong injuries.

There's the tale of the couple doing the ARC a coupla decades or more ago, he went up the mast to fix a jammed halyard or something, tied himself off at the top then proceeded to have a heart attack.
The poor woman had to continue the remaining six days to St Lucia with her husband swinging aloft..
Nightmare scenario..

[Adelie]

Kayaking helmet

[catsketcher]

I know Fran asked about those that have done it (well I have gone up my mast innumerable times inshore) but I don't get tying yourself around the mast on a cat.

When I am 16 metres up and a powerboat goes by abeam my cat rocks like anything. It aint fun up there and I have to hold on with my knees but get my shoulders and head away so the mast doesn't beat me up. If I needed to go up the mast then I would actually consider something totally different, I think I would be safer going up a line AWAY from the mast. Cats move so quickly that even inshore the mast is a real danger. I would prefer to be pulled up the forestay - so I can hang below the forestay - so a sleeve around the furler led back to the climbing harness. That would get me most of the way up away from the mast. Hopefully I could grab the kite halyard with the boathook tied to the harness from just below the hounds - but the mast scares me lots when she jiggles, and she jiggles a lot.

If I had to go up the very top then I would like to put a pulley on a tight topping lift, attach that to the harness and go up the main halyard. I should try it one day and see if it is better when the powerboats are around. (But my wife always just tails me up the mast - I always pull myself up, so she would then have to winch me which sucks. It's a matter of some honour for me to be able to still climb a mast like I always have)

Then again, when the powerboaters go in front or behind there is not too much movement.

Of course the safest thing to do on my boat is to grab the topping lift. Tie a pulley on the end, grab a long 30 metre line and then haul up the topping lift to about 1.5 metres off the top. If I needed the kite for downwind sailing I could then wrap the topping lift around the mast one and a half times as I brought it down to the level of the kite halyard and then I have an old style external halyard. For my cat I would need to put the first reef in, which is no problem, because the main hoist would be reduced. Then we are free to carry kites as much as we please and can fix the problem up inshore. You don't even need a 30m long line, Just tie two together and remember which end has to go onto the kite.