Options for single-handed mast climbing?

[Cthoops]

We have an ATN Mastclimber, which I (a just-turned-50 year old woman) have used 3 times already. It works great.

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by tilostahl

I have seen several riggers hoist a block and tackle to the top of the mast on one halyard, then just pull themselves up the mast in a bosun's chair. I don't recall what purchase they used - maybe 5:1. They ALWAYS secure themselves with a prusik knot on a second halyard.

This is the system we have used for many years on Gaia. In addition I carry a small block and tackle for when I need to get up an additional foot or so. Works well.

Jim

[sail sfbay]

I use a SwiTec Mastlift with 10:1 purchase with a bosuns chair and on a spare halyard with a non-stretch spare halyard or topping lift as a safety back-up.

[B_Wieberdink]

Originally Posted by tilostahl

I have seen several riggers hoist a block and tackle to the top of the mast on one halyard, then just pull themselves up the mast in a bosun's chair. I don't recall what purchase they used - maybe 5:1. They ALWAYS secure themselves with a prusik knot on a second halyard.

I use a 4 to 1 purchase with the working part coming down, so actually a 5 to 1

[roverhi]

Mast Climbing:

Mast Climbing

Have used the set up in this video but with a climbing harness. It works but the climbing harness is not comfortable for hanging for longer periods. Notice they used the seat/harness from the Mast Climber in the video. The Ascender/Grigri system is cheaper to put together, but not by a whole lot, than the Mast Climber. Going with off brand hardware and a used bosun's chair could bring the cost down. Limited experience with the system, a couple times up the mast. Initial experience, it seems to take a little more effort to climb with it than the ATN Mast Climber. Using both legs and arm felt iike more work than the Mast Climber system. Now that I’ve had a little more experience with the rig, Can climb faster but still no easier than the Mast Climber. Way easier and faster to descend, however though you do have to do some rerigging to come down and go back up. To desend have to remove the ascender and foot straps which is a little scary and takes some time. Don’t overshoot on the descent cause you’ll have to rerig the ascender to go back up even an inch if your forget to release the safety Prusik knot. The Grigri was so easy to use. Could descend as fast or slow as I wanted with virtually no effort. Had to make some modifications to the foot straps mainly sewing a bit of seat belt material onto the stirrups to hook them together so had leverage against the mast. The rock climbing harness that I used had high rating for comfort but wasn't comfortable for more than a trip up the mast and very limited work while up there for me. The waist belt began to dig into me and was quite uncomfortable. Tried another harness and that dug into my legs. That’s why i highly reccomend getting the ATN seat/harness if you can find one and still keep your limbs after paying for it. The climbing rope doesn't have to be anchored to the deck with climbing gear which makes swinging out to work on spreaders or around the mast to work on the side opposite your climbing line. People say GriGri’s are line diameter sensitive but mine works on 5/16” through 1/2"

Have a Mast Climber that I've used extensively. The foot straps work out of the box. The harness/seat is very comfortable and safe for working hours aloft. The ascenders are a little clunky in use and hard on my hands without gloves. There were/are two different types of ascenders that came/come with the Mast Climber. The early ones are black anodized aluminum and have to have the climbing line fed from the end. They only work if you have external halyards or a dedicated climbing line hauled up a halyard. The current version ascenders are gold anodized. They can be fitted anywhere on a line so no need to thread the bitter end of the climbing line into the ascenders. Find it easier to use with the climbing line anchored to the mast and winched tight. Climbing is straight forward and relatively easy with either type ascender though not a walk in the park. Descending is its weak point as you have to carefully gauge how far you move the ascenders down the rope. It’s the opposite of climbing but hard to gauge how much you move the foot and seat ascenders. Lower the foot ascender too much and you can't release the seat ascender and vice versa. You have to reposition the foot or seat ascender to be able to release the opposing ascender and descend. Takes more energy than you'd expect with gravity working with you and was slow but you get in the rhythm the more often you use the system. It still gets you down but takes longer than the GriGri though maybe not if you include the rerigging that the GriGri requires and especially if you overshoot on the descent and have to reinstall the ascender/foot straps to go back up.

You could do the Mast Climber thing with rope and Klemheist or Prussik knots and a bosun's chair or climbing harness. Use one length of line for a foot strap and another for the chair/harness and up you go just as you do with the Mast Climber ascenders. One word of caution, the Prussic knots on the 5/16" halyard locked up when put under load. Discovered this when I kept forgeting to slide the Prussik knot safety line down as I descended with the Grigri. Had to take tension off the K/D knot with the ascender foot harness and physically loosen the K/D knots to get them to slide up or down. Don't seem to remember this happening on the 3/8” or larger halyards on my otther boat so it may have something to do with the rope diameter.

Caution about Bosun's Chairs. Without a restraining strap that will keep you on the seat it's really easy to slide forward off the seat and find yourself hanging by your armpits. That is dangerous especially if you silde completely through the seat and fall free. At best it can be difficult to get back onto the seat. The Mast Climber chair/harness has heavy duty leg restraints that keep your butt firmly in place on the seat. Best of all, the seat is so damned comfortable I spend way too much time when I climb the mast with Mast Climber seat enjoying the Zen moment.

Safety lines. Use one line always attached to your seat/harness and a separate halyard with a Klemheist or Prusik knot. If something should happen to the primary line, you'll still be hanging around up there. A fall of even a few feet can be painful and 10' or more deadly. Keep a separate line to rig if you ever end up suspended by your safety line. If your primary line fails you'll still be hanging around unharmed BUT you'll have no way to get down on your own. With a second Prusik/Klemheist knotted safety line that you can rig, you can use that as the foot stirrup to work your way down. Saves you the embarrassment of having to flag down passers by to call the fire department to get you down.

I've got low stretch, Dyneema/Spectra cored, dacron covered halyards and use them to climb. Way better when working at the mast head as you can get a few critical inches higher than with a dedicated climbing rope tied to a halyard. When you tie two ropes together, as you would with a separate climbing line, the knots take up critical space that limits how high or even if you can get your head above the mast head. Halyards won't work as the climbing line if you have wire halyards or have stripped the dacron cover off your exotics so don't do that. The low stretch exotics make climbing a lot easier as you waste way less effort with lines that don't stretch. My favorite is T-900 as stretch is practically zero even in 5/16" but it's way pricey and stiff. If you are replacing halyards, do at least one in the lowest stretch line you can afford. Even StaSet X takes less energy to climb on than straight Dacron double braid.

[Catboat Willy]

We like this thing. Mast climbing ladder
https://kinlevenmarine.com/shop/yacht-mast-ladder/

[ron finnen]

Originally Posted by Cthoops

We have an ATN Mastclimber, which I (a just-turned-50 year old woman) have used 3 times already. It works great.

I have extra line on my main sheet assembly and I detach it from the boom and traveler and attach it to the main sail halard,l the other end to a bosens chair ...works great

Ron

[chuckr]

As an ex-rock climber I use my rock climbing equipment and go right on up. Been doing it for 12 yrs now. At 74 now the admiral is getting a bit of a pain when I decide to go up - but it is easy -

[Christian B]

Originally Posted by Sailon1

What are some safe options (if any) for single-handed mast climbing?

I'm looking at folding steps, for one. A safety harness should be worn with this
method. So how does one use the steps with the harness as far as using a
halyard or some sort of attachment to a safety line?

What about the "TopClimber" self-hoisting setup, is this a viable option?

Thanks!

I'd never do it without a mate to watch over me and take me up on a halyard, but you may find luck in ascenders from the climbing industry!

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by chuckr

As an ex-rock climber I use my rock climbing equipment and go right on up. Been doing it for 12 yrs now. At 74 now the admiral is getting a bit of a pain when I decide to go up - but it is easy -

Same here except I'm only 64. One could use ascenders, but they are expensive so I do it self belaying something like this with a 4:1 purchase (2 pulley block at top and bottom).

- Tie a climbing rope to main halyard,
- clip top block to main halyard,
- run climbing rope through both blocks and hoist top block to top of the mast keeping bottom block at the deck.
- Tie another/second line to a different halyard and hoist that line to the top of the mast.
- Tie the second line to an anchor point on deck making the line taut.
- Tie a Prussik knot on the second line and clip to my chest harness.
- Clip seat harness/bosun chair into the bottom block (4:1),
- Tie a foot loop to the free end of the climbing rope with a bachmann knot.
- Pull myself up with my arms and the foot loop using the 4:1 purchase.

[mercater]

Hi. I have a gaff rig and sail solo mostly. With my mast having rings around it for the mainsail lifting mechanism, I cannot have mast steps or the like. Another issue is I have block and tackle lifting devices rather than winches. The point is I’ve tried and reviewed various products to lift my self solo up the mast. My solution which I’m very happy with is the use of a device called a gri gri and an assender with a foot strap. The decent is very easy as well. You could also use the devices on your existing halyards and bosons chair.
Essentially for mountaineering and also tree loppers use it. Check the various web sites. Best of luck

[GILow]

Standard climbing ascenders with mast steps is the combo for this solo sailor.

[Sailor 99]

Originally Posted by Sailon1

What are some safe options (if any) for single-handed mast climbing?

I'm looking at folding steps, for one. A safety harness should be worn with this
method. So how does one use the steps with the harness as far as using a
halyard or some sort of attachment to a safety line?

What about the "TopClimber" self-hoisting setup, is this a viable option?

Thanks!

I have folding steps and I will be taking them off. The halyard can get jammed in them and then you have to try and get it off. Not always possible without going up.


Have not done it yet and if anyone has any ideas about how to stop the halyards from getting wrapped I am willing to listen.


if not then I will get new ropes for my climbing harness.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Dark Horse

I have folding steps and I will be taking them off. The halyard can get jammed in them and then you have to try and get it off. Not always possible without going up.


Have not done it yet and if anyone has any ideas about how to stop the halyards from getting wrapped I am willing to listen.


if not then I will get new ropes for my climbing harness.

With the non-folding sort the trick seems to be to use a line from step to step on the outside edge of the steps. Might something like that help with the folding sort?

[home_maarten]

Hi,


I have been sailing solo extensively, and had TopClimber. Works fine at dock or in calm anchorage. Have tried to climb at sea to fix broken halyard, which proved pretty much impossible, as you get slammed back and forth - and against mast and rigging.


Had the impression this could be possible with mast steps, when you can get a firm hold on the mast. Never tried though, as I didn't have them .