(Re)Installing the secondary halyard line

[jholovacs]

I was trying to untangle my secondary halyard line from my lazyjacks when I pulled a bit too hard, and being a noob I hadn't put a stopper knot at the end. A second after I realized my mistake, my line had zipped up the mast and fell most of the way down inside the mast.

To compound this issue, this was as I was prepping for Dorian, so I didn't have the time to fix this. I had to pull the line completely out and stow it.

Now I don't know how to go about getting the thing back in there. How does one reinstall a halyard line that has come completely out? I'm interested in safety and cost as the main factors... I'm too big to go up the mast myself (over 250lbs, max for the bosun's chair) and the marina I'm at doesn't have any maintenance services like that so I'll have to be creative.

Thoughts?

[psk125]

Find someone smaller to send up the mast. They should take a heavy bead chain or bicycle chain up with them, well-attached to a light messenger line. 12 year-olds love this, but you need to make sure they put it into the right opening and OVER the sheave. Get parents’ permission first. The reason to use the light messenger line is to make sure the chain is heavy enough to pull it all the way through. When the chain gets to the bottom, fish it out with a bent coat hanger. You can then attach the actual halyard and pull it through. Good luck.

[S/V Adeline]

We sent the wife up to drop a weighted fishing line, which was fished out the base using a crochet hook. Pulled a thin messenger up and used that to pull the halyard back through.
It is *very* easy to cross lines inside the mast.