Best way to attach halyard to bosun's chair

[NormanS]

There are only two of us aboard our boat, my wife and myself. Last year we had an "incident" with the genoa furling, when the lug broke off the swivel. This necessitated a trip up the mast, to retrieve the halliard. Luckily, there was another yacht anchored in the loch, whose crew immediately offered assistance.

During the past winter, I fitted folding steps to the mainmast. I had already fitted fixed steps on the mizzen, the previous winter. A few weeks ago, just prior to launching, having re-stepped the mainmast, I found that the masthead tricolour wasn't working. This meant that the new steps were used rather sooner than expected. It was a dawdle. I climbed up, "wearing" the bosun's chair, with my wife taking up the slack on the spare genoa halliard on the winch. On my reaching the masthead, she made fast the halliard, and I was able to work at the light, in complete comfort, with both feet on the twin top steps.

The steps mean that we now have a safe, simple way of getting up the mast without requiring assistance from anyone else. I highly recommend them. Obviously, they must be used with due care, and with either a harness, or a bosun's chair. The harness is easier to climb with, but not as comfortable once you get there.

 

[prv]

Another thing that seems to have been missed was that the halyards used should be internal to the mast (in one direction). i.e. Do NOT do this on a halyard that goes up and down outside the mast and just passes through a block at the top.

A good idea if you have the choice. But for those of us with wooden masts, there's no option.

In my case the preferred approach is to bring the mast down, which can be done afloat without external assistance, and I don't even own a bosun's chair. But with a bigger boat that's not feasible. With two independent halyards, I'd be reasonably confident that both blocks weren't going to let go at once.

I wonder if tying a giant prussik knot around the mast itself would work as an emergency brake, on a gaff-rigged boat where there are no spreaders and the mast is of constant diameter?

Pete

 

[NormanS]

The point is not that the halliard is internal. What IS required is that the halliard passes over a sheave in the mast, and not a block hung from the mast, as is the case with many spinnaker halliards.

 

[Norman_E]

On one previous occasion I saw a topping lift being used as the safety line but I was not convinced of its strength in an emergency so I personally would avoid that.

It is a good idea to have your topping lift of the same diameter and strength as the main halyard. That way it is perfectly acceptable as either hoisting line or backup, and can be used to replace the main halyard if the latter fails whilst sailing. You might be surprised at how thin a line you can use to hoist someone. Personally I would never dream of using anything less than 10mm polyester, and my halyards are 12mm, but a look at the Marlow website shows that 6mm Doublebraid has an average breaking strain of 1360 Kg. That is about 18 times my weight, so even allowing for the loss of strength caused by the knot it would still have a fair safety factor!

 

[Norman_E]

I wonder if tying a giant prussik knot around the mast itself would work as an emergency brake, on a gaff-rigged boat where there are no spreaders and the mast is of constant diameter?

Pete

I don't know about a Prussik knot, but a webbing safety line clipped to my harness and taken a full turn and a half round the mast and the other end clipped on will not slide down if I put my weight on it. I have used that as a backup safety when I had to ascend on the spinnaker halyard with its mast head hung block, using the main halyard as backup, because I could not reach the spring clip holding the wind instrument on if I did it the other way round.

 

[Martin_J]

prv - You have a good point about the wooden mast with all halyards run outside the mast. Prusik knot - Since the rope used in the loop has to have a diameter much less than that of what it's wrapped around - in the case of a halyard then the loop I use is about 6mm diameter rope. I guess that on a mast you could make a loop with 12mm rope.. it's worth a try.... Leave it slack as you descend but if weight is suddenly taken up on it then it could slow the fall.. Perhaps using a locking carabiner (as used in climbing) to attach to the loop then it would be easy to pass the spreaders.
Edit - Norman E just beat me!

 

[prv]

The point is not that the halliard is internal. What IS required is that the halliard passes over a sheave in the mast, and not a block hung from the mast

Right, but my mast has no sheaves in it. All the blocks are attached either to a band at the hounds, or to wire strops looped round the mast and resting on wooden thumbs. Whatever I did, if I were to go up it I would be relying on blocks and their shackles.

I guess that on a mast you could make a loop with 12mm rope.. it's worth a try.... Leave it slack as you descend but if weight is suddenly taken up on it then it could slow the fall

That was my thinking. Whether you'd slide, and if so how fast, would depend how recently the mast had been varnished

Perhaps using a locking carabiner (as used in climbing) to attach to the loop then it would be easy to pass the spreaders.

That part at least is easy - gaff masts have no spreaders at least as far as the hounds, because the gaff and mast hoops (or lacing) go right round the mast and have to go up that high. Masts with tall mastheads for big topsails may then have crosstrees above that, but mine doesn't.

Pete

 

[Elessar]

After a few too many fatal accidents with bowlines, the climbing schools now teach the rethreaded figure if eight. It's what I use when going aloft.

Nothing wrong with a online for going aloft as it's under tension. Bowlines can fail only when slack. And almost everyone here can tie a bowline, few will havof heard of a rethreaded figure of eight, so risk getting it wrong. So "use a bowline when going aloft" is sound advice.

( ok they may have heard of it but the point is the familiar knot is more likely to be done correctly )

 

[Blue5]

Nothing wrong with a online for going aloft as it's under tension. Bowlines can fail only when slack. And almost everyone here can tie a bowline, few will havof heard of a rethreaded figure of eight, so risk getting it wrong. So "use a bowline when going aloft" is sound advice.

( ok they may have heard of it but the point is the familiar knot is more likely to be done correctly )

My thoughts too, also old dog and new tricks came to mind, having said that the figure eight follow through does seem very secure, perhaps get SWMBO to try it first

 

[prv]

My thoughts too, also old dog and new tricks came to mind, having said that the figure eight follow through does seem very secure

It also looks right when it's right and wrong when it's wrong, which might help someone who's not tied it before realise if they've made a mistake.

To me it seems a simple and obvious knot, although perhaps that's just from long familiarity (think I probably learned it in Cubs along with all the other basics).

All that said, until now it wouldn't have occurred to me to use anything but a bowline in a nautical context. I don't believe there's anything unsafe about a bowline for this purpose.

Pete

 

[Norman_E]

Nothing wrong with a online for going aloft as it's under tension. Bowlines can fail only when slack. And almost everyone here can tie a bowline, few will havof heard of a rethreaded figure of eight, so risk getting it wrong. So "use a bowline when going aloft" is sound advice.

( ok they may have heard of it but the point is the familiar knot is more likely to be done correctly )

I tighten mine by sitting in the bosuns chair at deck level, with my weight tightening it as I pull on the bitter end to ensure the knot is fully closed. I never make the knot without leaving a good bit of the end showing and the body of the knot close against the lifting ring. The risk with a bowline is having a very short end that can be pulled back through the knot

 

[PeterGibbs]

Got email this morning from YBW saying I am now approved ! Better late than never.

Anyway got job done over the weekend. Had few problems with XM bosuns chair (no instructions and not at all obvious how it should fit) so borrowed Spinlock alternative which worked perfectly.

Still have small question about best way to connect main halyard to chair. Halyard where it connects by shackle to top of mainsail is wire. Very strong. No doubt I was wrong to use shackle but was there any alternative ?

You are right to keep it simple and use the strongest link - the shackle on the wire halyard.
Folks get themselves into a terrible pickle, adding lines "just in case the first breaks" A recipe for confusion aloft and errors. If there is any chance the main haul line is not up to it, you just don't use it, do you?

As you have discovered, when hauling a person aloft, the winching effort is quite considerable, especially after the first 20 turns of the handle. In my view this is the risky bit - any overrides on the drum, or failure to secure the line when aloft, or failure to control the descent with the greatest of care - these are the risks, not the shackle on the halyard!

PWG

 

[Slow_boat]

The point is not that the halliard is internal. What IS required is that the halliard passes over a sheave in the mast, and not a block hung from the mast, as is the case with many spinnaker halliards.

Erm, I've missed the point here.

Why?

As for gaffers, the old way was to climb up the sail hoops like a ladder.

 

[Norman_E]

You are right to keep it simple and use the strongest link - the shackle on the wire halyard.
Folks get themselves into a terrible pickle, adding lines "just in case the first breaks" A recipe for confusion aloft and errors. If there is any chance the main haul line is not up to it, you just don't use it, do you?

As you have discovered, when hauling a person aloft, the winching effort is quite considerable, especially after the first 20 turns of the handle. In my view this is the risky bit - any overrides on the drum, or failure to secure the line when aloft, or failure to control the descent with the greatest of care - these are the risks, not the shackle on the halyard!

PWG

So you haul someone up on a single line, and get a riding turn on the winch! If you have a backup line you can easily transfer the weight to it, and sort out the riding turn. Personally I would always use two ropes, lifting on the one attached to the bosuns chair, and with safety backup from a second one attached to a harness. As for shackles, I do use the main halyard shackle on the safety line at times, but it is a proper halyard shackle, not a snapshackle. The latter come undone too easily.

 

[Amulet]

...halliard passes over a sheave in the mast, and not a block hung from the mast...

Erm, I've missed the point here.

Why?

As for gaffers, the old way was to climb up the sail hoops like a ladder.

because if an external block fails you come clattering down, whereas if an internal sheave fails you at least are still dangling.

 

[KellysEye]

I always tie a bowline and then clip the shackle above the knot.

 

[prv]

As for gaffers, the old way was to climb up the sail hoops like a ladder.

Requires the sail to be hoisted, of course, which is only going to complicate matters

I might give it a go on a really big mast, but you couldn't stand on the hoops on my 24 footer.

The real answer to all of this of course is ratlines - I've been up and down hundreds of times that way without a second thought. A lot of windage if you don't regularly need to work aloft though.

Pete

 

[chewi]

Erm, I've missed the point here.
As for gaffers, the old way was to climb up the sail hoops like a ladder.

otherwise you are depending on a hanging swivel, how strong is it? A line running over a sheave set in the mast has to slice down the whole of the mast or snap to catastrophically fail, but the one through a hanging block (typically spinnker) can just break away from the masthead, all it takes is for the pin oe sheave to fail.

 

[RakaiaBoy]

There used to be 1 standard knot for attaching line to boatswain's chair, and that was a double sheet bend. This was with natural fibre ropes, usually grade 1 manila.

 

[jwilson]

I too have always used a bowline, but my son who was a rockclimbing as well as a sailing instructor for a while insists on the doubled figure of 8s. I don't quite see what's wrong with a bowline though in normal yacht ropes, though in some springy climbing ropes it does seem reluctant to stay tight. I'm using some old climbing rope now to tie stuff on the car roofrack.