First time up the mast

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brians

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Despite my years of cruising I have never yet been up the mast. Always been a younger, fitter 'volunteer' around.

Now having treated myself to a radar and not wanting to shell out £300 having it fitted, the time has come to venture up. Any advice? Can I stand on or hang on cross trees near the mast of course?

Any advice for SWMBO who will be tending the other end and winch?

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How big is the mast, how big are the spreader roots, how much do you weigh?

Seriously though, if this is an alongside job (and it sounds like it is), you might want to take a builder's ladder aboard and use that (well secured of course) in combination with a safety harness onto a halyard (knotted, not shackled). Generally easier than swinging about in a bosun's chair, or leaning backwards from the spreaders.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>
 
G'day Brians,

Yes you can stand on the spreaders as long your feet are also against the mast.

You will need a third person to control the safety line, (Spinnaker halyard is a good one) just in case SHMBO has a slip on the winch, or heaven forbid the main sail halyard fails. Form a loop under your arms and keep the knot at the front, not comfortable, but you will be able to breath and it won't drive your head into the mast.

This third person will also be available to assist with the winching, not an easy task, even for the reasonably fit sailor.

Adjust your position in the chair when just off the deck, make sure its not cutting off the flow to your legs.

Don't rely on clips, tie on with a bowline.

Take a light cord up with you so that a bucket can be pulled up with all the bits you will need and the bits you forgot on the first trip up.

Hug the mast going up and when coming down.

I'm sure there are some more points to remember, and no doubt the rest of the readers will fill in the blanks.

Hope this helps......



<hr width=100% size=1> Old Salt Oz /forums/images/icons/cool.gif Growing old is unavoidable. However, growing up is still optional.
 
Re: Go with Kens advice plus

If you can't use the ladder put two halyards to the harness. Winch a few metres with one then take the slack out of the spare.

It's a tough job winching a dead weight up the mast.
We got a 16st guy up the mast on our YM course. I'm 48 and pretty fit but I only got him halfway. It might be OK if you climb but the good lady is in for a workout.

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securing the radar strut to the outside of the mast is the easy bit. Even easier if you have an electric anchor windlass and can lead the main sheet/spinnaker halyard/topping lift to it. However, your real problem is the electric cable, which should really go on the inside of the mast to avoid damage. Some yards include the price of mast removal in their hauling out fee and it would make the D-I-Y job much easier if the mast was on the ground.

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It is possible to fall out of a bosuns chair! Consider wearing a climbing harness with the safety line attached while the main line is attached to the bosuns chair. Also when ascending/descending sit well back in the chair. Last of all you might want to quickly check with the mast manufacturer re the holes you are planning.

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Re: winching them up

yes as others say need two peeps winching, if just using the winch. I'd want to see the halyard before being dangled on it praps pull through a new line on a spare halyard?

One way is to use both winches, taking the line from one and then on to the next.

BUT much more engineery would be to rig some blocks handybillified and send them up first (provided that- as in this case- you don't want to get to the top) with excellent mechanical advantage plus no dependency on the winch, just on the line as it doesn't spring back. This would be very slick.

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Handy Billy

It would be very slick but would need gallons of string, and they have a propensity to twist over long lengths, upping the friction and making you worry about chafe.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>
 
i used climbing gear - ascenders - with a bosun's chair and, thinking back on it, they helped considerably to get the radar mount on because you could swing yourself into position more easily (i think) so that you could correctly apply the required force and angle to the rivet gun. a more "fixed" position would render this job difficult but not impossibly so, obviously.

buy the biggest and best rivet gun otherwise the force required is unmanageable ....

the other advantage is that you are independent and nobody is stooging about below when the odd tool plummets earthwards. you don't want to be on your own anyway because you're bound to have forgotten something ... and will need to retrieve the errant tool ...

you will need a halyard for the ascenders because a halyard does not stretch much and a halyard with a nylon rope attached for safety as it will stretch and absorb shock ... and it serves to lift the mount and then the radar set up ...

standing on the cross-trees isn't really necessary and, on principle, avoided doing so ..

hope this helps ..


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Re: Go with Kens advice plus

If you're going to climb, use a climbing harness. A bosuns chair is for sitting in. Maybe I'm a paranoid but I used to climb and usually use a climbing harness for going up the mast but had to use a bosuns chair once. Tried to help out by climbing some of the way and felt decidedly unsafe and uncomfortable!

You can get good deals on climbing harnesses if you shop around. A quick search found one for £20 at http://www.rockrun.com.

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I looked into this mid way through last season when I had to take my roller reef down. I do a lot of single handed sailing so I decided to rig up something I could use on my own - not recommended but may be required.

Advice at the local climbing shop and this is what I ended up with: 1 x ascender, 1 x descender ( a Pretzel Stop). The idea is that you use a strop for the feet linked to the ascender. You attached the descender to the bosuns chair.

Stand in the strop and pull in the decender. Move the acender up & stand in the strop again - etc etc. Once you get to where you want, a simple loop of halyard ties off the decender and work away.

You can always use a secon halyard for safety as above.

Decents are a doddle - unclip the acender so you take it with you. Untie the safety from the decender and sqeeze its hendle. You make a controlled absail down the mast.

If I get someone to winch me, then I attach the acender to the spare halyard as a safety during winch up and use the decender to absail down it once finished. It's more controlled and safer than relying on the winch alone.

Good luck,
Dave

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Re: Go with Kens advice plus

buy the compass bosun's chair - it is more of a harness than what you've got in mind and, for comfort, a chair is essential ..

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Is the Petzl stop the shunt?
If so its almost identical to what I do. Attach shunt firmly to chest so that it runs up rope as one ascends. Ascend with foot in loop with ascendeur and descend by reverse .. need to release shunt by standing in loop and holding open shunt .. harder work than going up and requires a wee bit of practise.

<hr width=100% size=1>.. when's that again, but ..
 
Re: Handy Billy

Some of us have boats that are rigged that way anyway!

Quickest way to the spreaders on mine is the jib halyard - 3:1 purchase.

If rigging a handy billy, DO NOT use a snatchblock, DO NOT use a snap shackle anywhere in the system and DO NOT use a swivel block or it will twist and frap up, so you cannot get down.

Having said that, it is in other respects the safest way and the climber can assist the hauler on deck effectively.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?
 
Re: Handy Billy

Check with Adm. Manual of Seamanship and you will see that the HB should be rigged with line going outer, outer, inner ..this way it stops it twisting up. If you just do, outer, inner then next outer ...... it will twist and possibly jam.



<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I came - cos they said was FREE Guinness !
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Would it not make it far easier to have the mast down to fit the radar? It is not that simple doing a job such as this aloft. Good luck though.

<hr width=100% size=1>Sail the Se7en seas...
 
Re: In case your desperate

The quickest and easiest way to climb to the masthead unaided is up the forestay. If you've got a rolled foresail that is. What you do when you get to the top is up to you.

I sailed with a guy who would walk up the mast to the first spreader, with the boat well heeled. I've tried it and can say it's not for the faint hearted.

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The voice of reason

I agree on this one
1 Going up for the first time is quite an undertaking
2 Fitting a radar thingy is quite an undertaking
3 Combined task puts this beyond a reasonable undertaking. Why not have the mast taken off then you could check it all out at the same time as making a decent job of fitting the radar - its a complete ball-ache sat in a harness, bucket of bits dangling down somewhere, bit of breeze perhaps, balancing an increasingly heavy, fairly delicate and not inexpensive piece of technical equipment with your gob full of rivets whilst someone works out how to get the rivet gun back up to you that has just knocked a nice lump out of the deck where it fell and about 3 hands less than you need. Drop the mast.

<hr width=100% size=1>regards
Claymore
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