Whaddya Mean - Up the Mast???

[delmarrey]

swagman once whispered in the wind:
We too do not rely on any safety line.

I was always taught never to trust a shackle of clip for such climbing when you can easily tie the halyard to the chair or harness with a loop. A bowline will never open or break - the shackles or clips just might.

JOHN

Professional climbers rely on this tested equipment to survive. And I've had bowlines come loose, where as I've never had any fall-safety or climbing eq. fail yet.

There are years and years of building and profecting climbing/safety equipment and I'm betting my life on the stuff.

Part of my trade is going aloft on bridges. cranes, heavy equip., confined spaces & so on. I rely on this safety eq. constantly an so does OSHA. to underestimate this eq. is a risk in itself......................._/)

[markpj23]

Many excellent points made here - my sincere thanks.

A call to my local rock-climbing center turned up an instructor who also owned a sailboat and has experience going up the mast. I go for a session with him on monday.

[ssullivan]

I tell you... I was getting the willies just reading this. ha ha ha I absolutely hate heights. In fact, I get all weak and have trouble doing anything when suspended far above the ground.

My wife (101lbs) loves it for some reason. We have not had reason to go any more than half way up the 55 ft height, but she has done it both times.

It's an easy winch to get her up, but I'd like to look into more climbing equipment such as listed here to try and do it myself.

[CaptainK]

Hey Sean.

You could send me up the mast. I'm not afraid of heights. Never was!!

[Rippy]

Our mast steps are the best thing since..........We have had mast steps on other boats as well as ratlines back in the 70s. We now have the folding mast steps and do not give a second thought to going up to either the mast head or the spreaders for maintenance, reading the water/lookout for coral etc., or whatever. Great views too. Ha! But we always use a safety line to tie off.
Roger Rippy
SV Tin Cup

It is chilly this morning but the sun is shining and life is good!

[cyclepro]

Rippy:

I am looking at installing mast steps. What brand of mast steps do you have and how are they attached; did you use pop-rivets or screws and what kind of material was used for those attachments (alu or ss)? Any (dis)advantages over the steps that have the preformed/permanent shapes in which you 'step in'? Any Locktite used?

-Jan

Having gone aloft both with the fold down and the step in steps, I prefer the step in style. I have used both underway in calm conditions, and the fold down steps in rough seas, and I am much more comfortable with these. I intend to install them on the trimaran.

[markpj23]

Delmarrey - I must say your pointing me towards the climbing gear was one of the most useful ideas I've gotten from this forum - and there have been many.

Just completed my training sessions at the local indoor rock climbing place, and man what an experience!! I now feel confident enough to go up alone and be able to protect myself from the "big fall."

1st thing is to toss out that bosun's chair - way too uncomfortable compared to the climbing harness. A tool pouch over the harness will be all I need.

Using the ascender / grigri combo is a snap. I also practiced a scheme by which I would be hoisted up say the main halyard and have another halyard secured to the deck. A safety loop - or perhaps an ascender - would attach to the 2nd halyard. So if the winch tender has a heart attack I can simply transfer to the 2nd / safety halyard and come down. Kinda fun to pratice line xfers at 45ft up off the floor.

I highly recommend this to anyone who plans to go aloft. Even if you have steps all the way up, a safety connection to a fixed halyard is simply worth the effort IMHO.

[Joli]

We use two halyards and a standard bosun chair with front and back webbing. I also tie in whoever is going up as well as tying off the chair through the swaged halyard eyes. If we are going to be hoisting anyone when the breeze is on and we are underway we also secure the chair to a taught halyard a the mast base.

Too much? Not for loved ones and friends.

Better use a nice photo or my daughter will be mad at dad.

[Joli]

View from 80 feet.

[CaptainK]

Lovely lady sticking her tongue out!!!

[Alan Wheeler]

Wow what a view, and the look down ain't bad either.
I feel you can get a little overly cautiuose. I mean, you use two halyards, you tie knots through shackles and around buckles and through eyes and over loops and through flaming hoops and mast falls down.

I took a bunch of teenagers out for a quick trip today. We did a bunch of things the city kids never dream of. One was hauling them up the mast. They loved it. Even though they screamed (actually that was the boys, the two girls didn't) and swore, they loved it.

The only thing I do NOT trust, is a quick release shackle. To easy to accidently release. I place a safety line through the eye splice on the halyard line and clip both saftey clips to the eyes on the Bosun chair. When I get to the top of the mast, I take the safety line throught the mast head. Mainly in case Dawn has a wee oopsy with clutches and gear below and lets go of the line at the wrong time. So she gets ready to tail me back down and when she is ready, I then release my safety.

[Joli]

Alan, guilty as charged. That is a physical display of my fear of heights.

Funny story, first time I took my wife to the top of this rig I had her most of the way up when I realized I had forgotten to weigh the halyards. My wife weighs 125 pounds and I wasn't sure if the halyards (200' of 5/8" Dyneema) weighed more than her. I hadn't rigged a downhaul to pull her back down.

[Jentine]

I, like Swagman, do not trust shackles and the like. I use a double figure eight knot to afix the climbing harness to the halyard. The knot can be found at http://www.animatedknots.com/fig8fol...matedknots.com

[Charlie]

I don't mind heights its falling I don't like. Even then falling isn't nearly as bad as the sudden stop at the end. Gravity its not just a rule its the law.


I'm inclined with Wheels on this one. A halyard is going to carry a load far greater than any human you would want to haul up a mast. I'd make sure that I tied in to a fixed part of the shackle and my harness or bosun chair.


Used to rock climb so I was always going up the mast. When I was younger I shimmied up the mast to retrieve a halyard during a race on SF Bay. It was only an etchells but we needed the halyard. Skipper said keep your legs wrapped around the mast and you can't get too hurt. Never found out if he was right b/c I never fell.

Worst time up the mast was when someone didn't latch the mainhalyard shackle properly. The main fell about five feet and the halyard stayed up at the top. Can't stop racing can you. It was on an IOR Farr 40 (the one ton type not the One design). Anyway I went up on the second jib halyard (Oh yeah did I tell you it was a 3/4 fractional rig) then I climbed up the diamond stay. which meant the halyard had to be lossened as I went up past the jib halyard. The key was to keep the boat going up wind and well heeled over. You can almost walk up the mast then. I got the halyard and refastedned the main. They dumped the main to haul up the lost five feet. They could have waited till I got down. I didn't think about how stupid it was till I started reading this thread.

As far as safety goes a short lanyard say 5 or 6 feet with a timber hitch around the mast cinched tight and then fastened to the bosun chair would stop your fall. At least by the spreaders.

Charlie