Bosun's chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

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LeonF

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Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Need to buy one.....does anyone have the £25 Compass marine chair ?? Or should I spend £50 on the Baseline version which I remember got a good rating in some sailing magazine a while back ???
Thanks...
and by the way.... I have a warp with a block at each end ....I hoist the block on the main halyard, rig a borrowed chair on the other one and can haul myself up. Great if your crew is not very strong, as all they have to do is tail the rope and make fast. The guy who gave me the idea actually makes fast , rope on rope at the top, but it's much safer to make fast on deck..
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I use an early (around 25 yrs old) musto and hyde chair to sit in. This is connected to a halyard for someone to tale around a winch. My feet go into a wood frame with cam cleats fitted that is on another halyard. This means that I do all the work getting up using my legs. All very easy for all involved.
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Have a spare Tufnol fairlead and cam cleat unit kicking around; now I know what to do with it. Thanks.

Re making fast aloft, let me tell a tale against myself ; many years ago I had hauled myself aloft (singlehanded, as I was alone on board). Having done what was doing I took a firm grip of the standing part and cast off...

...luckily the mainsail furled on the boom broke my fall; I came round on the side deck in a pool of blood where the shroud had cut into my upper arm and spent several minutes summoning up the courage to wiggle a toe!
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I have a softbottom seat with a bag attached - cost about $50 US a few years ago. I used to haul myself aloft with a block and tackle. But alone, the problem is tailing the excess on deck - it's too easy to faul it and then you're stuck. I was at a boat show and I saw a guy using mountaineers climbers. You use two - one for your feet, one for your bosuns chair. Your feet have a nylon loop attached to the climber. You stand , raise the climber for the seat, then sit and raise the climber for your feet. By repeating the process you get to the masthead in no time w/o loosing all strength in your arms. He recommended using braided low-strech line to attach the climbers. He wanted $400 for everything. Instead, I went to a camping supply store and got a pair of climbers for $100, I had the chair, and I got the nylon straps for $10. Maybe I should pay him royalties. Anyway, I'll see if it works. Cliff Moore, S/V PELORUS, USA
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Thanks for all the climbing info guys.....but I am perfectly happy with the system I use.....just want to know which chair I should buy, and from the choice available on the market now, in Britain...
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I`m intrigued by your system LeonF.Can you explain it a bit more clearly ,Please?
Mind you, hauling myself and my 16 stone bulk (big bones,really!) up the mast of my boat fills my mind with the vision of everyone in the marine getting a very quick demonstration of the angle of vanishing stability of a MacWester 27 !
Pete.
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I have a long warp that is run through a triple block and a double block. The triple is attached to the main halyard and rises to the top of the mast. The long warp has exited from the third sheave of the triple block, and the end is now at deck level. I attach the chair to the double block and haul myself up. Someone on here could no doubt work out the pulley ratios or some such thing, but it is very easy to do, and the person on deck needs do no more than tail the rope.Making fast when you are at the height needed. Lowering yourself is a moments work.. Of course if the person below helps with the hoisting it makes the job even easier. I used to borrow the chum at the sailing clubs apparatus, then had my own made up at the boatshow, one of the stands doing all the splicing of blocks for free. The system really works a treat !! Now all I need is my own bosuns chair.......
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

4:1, however the effect is probably nearer 8:1 (just not the distance travelled) as you are lessening the weight (you) at the same time as pulling the line.
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I bought a Compass chair - the base broke in two the first time I used it and that was hauling up my 12 year old daughter! I guess you get what you pay for.
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

That really isn't a nice punishment .... what did she do to deserve that?!
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

The Compass Marine chair suffers from a dangerous fault in that the attachment is via a "D" ring. This capsizes and puts a concentrated load on the webbing instead of a distributed one. I have complained, Compass have agreed (and advised that others had complained) and have promised to do something about it.
That promise was made over 18 months ago but the chair remains the same.
The substitution of a triangular attachment would solve the problem.
I worry every time I go aloft in one and always use a safety harness as well.
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Talking to a professional rigger about this, he told me he runs the halyard through a turning block at the foot of the mast, round the anchor winch drum and back up the mast (for tailing).
He controls the winch via a radio link and doesn't use a safety line!.
Not for me!
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

[ QUOTE ]
He controls the winch via a radio link and doesn't use a safety line!.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey - that sounds cool ... now I just need to upgrade my winch!!
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Thanks LeonF. I`ve figured it out now that you`ve explained it. ( I know,the wheels turn slowly these days!)
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

I heard a ( probably apocryphal ) story about hauling aloft when sailing solo. The guy attached a couple of buckets to the bitter end and threw them overboard, but , cleverly , had realised that if he could trip the buckets when aloft he could also come down with the reversed buckets causing enough drag to slow his descent.

Unfortunately his calculations were a bit out.

He ascended the mast at a great rate of knots whereupon the buckets tripped and he shot down again just as fast, at which point the trip tension eased and the buckets reversed again hauling him up again and then , etc , etc , etc ...
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Thanks.....I wondered about that from the pics.....even the model looks as if he is about to tip forward should the ring slide. Guess I will buy the chair from Baseline... looked at my old copies of YM eventually and saw that this was the one Simon Jinks recommended...
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

It amazes me that you rufty-tufty, cat o' nine tails nautical types don't seem to have heard of Prussik or Klemheist "one way" knots, which allow one to ascend / descend a rope in safety using just a couple of loops of cord. Far safer than being hauled up IMHO. If you're really keen / masochistic, you could use a bowline on a bight to create a chair.

Andy
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Ouch .. I used to use a triple bowline ... but then I got a bit heavy for it ...
 
Re: Bosun\'s chair??? and hauling aloft single-handed.....

Oh I have and talked to lighting riggers who use these things all the time, but never had anyone demonstrate how to use them safely. The system I use is so much simpler and easier....I never believed it would be till I tried it.....
 
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