Going up the mast - what knot?

[AlienP2]

Went up the mast on a sigma 33 once, as the smallest / lightest and seemingly agreeable person. Not all its cracked up to be, the view was good but the journey down was by far the worst bit.

Devise a signalling system that allows you to communicate with the brute on the other end of the rope. At least make sure he is watching you and not adjacent totty etc.

On the way down, I got my right leg on the wrong side of a spreader and despite shouting, no one noticed until I was upside down (not good in a bosuns chair).

Can't remember what knot we used.

 

[Vara]

Most of the knots are HERE Prussik loop,scroll down.Last time this was asked I found a better illustration but I've lost it!
Bit clearer HERE.

 

[KREW2]

Thats good advice my daughter went up the mast 3 months ago I used the main halyard shackled to the bosuns chair and the spinnaker halyard shackled to a saftey harness, which she was wearing. If there is a next time I will definately use a bowline on both. You generally only make 1 fatal mistake

 

[TigaWave]

Sorry I'm getting things away from the original question but this is a technique worth knowing as all the bits you need are on the boat already, and it means you can safely climb by yourself if you need to.

Prussock loop=Its simply a loop of rope a few mm thinner than the one you will attach it to. On a yacht you'll have enough spare bits of different sixes to experiment with and see which size and type grips best.

Try and find a book with diagrams or better a local who can show you, or you can try and understand this?

You take the loop (tied securely, could be with a double fig 8, ie take both free ends and tie a Fig8) pass the loop around the back of the fixed and pulled tight vertical rope that will take your weight, then keep going around so you pass it through itself, carry on one more time around and back through itself and pull this end tight. You should have a total of four wraps around the fixed rope two above the bit your holding and two below.

If you pull down on this loop it should hold your weight as it grips the larger rope, you can test it at deck level until your happy, then when you want to move it up it should slide easily if you push the coils from below or if your moving down once you take the weight off, the coils will loosen.

Using two you can either stand on a strop attached to one or sit in your harness as you slide the other one. Great as a safety as you just attach a spare rope to the deck and pull it tight then as long as your attached to one of these loops around the fixed rope you cant go up or down quickly, as you have to move the loop by hand.

 

[awyatybw]

Another rule we have, is that all those on deck wear hard hats - for when mast-climber drops that tool!

 

[landaftaf]

I remember being taught many years ago to use a double sheet bend to connect a bosuns chair to a manilla rope ....... and a special bosuns chair bend on the bosuns chair to enable a person to hoist and lower oneself whilst secured in the chair.
this was required as a part of the BOT EDH exam ....... anyone alse remember having to demonstrate it ?

 

[DanTribe]

I was once asked to help someone hoist his girlfriend up the mast. I noticed that her bosuns chair was attached to a spare halyard by a snap shackle. I said it was'nt safe but " no that'll be OK"
I asked why she needed to go up.
"Oh we lost the spinnaker halyard when the snap shackle came undone"
We used a bowline.

 

[kds]

"(as proven at the cost of several climbers' lives, I am told). "

Yes - in the days when we just tied the climbing rope round our waist with a bowline - I recall an exposed position, where I was taking a moment or two to think out next move - I happily watched the end of the rope unknot itself as it was gently pulled up by my lead man. It got up to about the level of my nose before my brain kicked in and I did something about it.
Bowlines are not great if not under strain.
Ken

 

[StephenSails]

What harness?

 

[bilbobaggins]

Climbers and most tree surgeons use a double figure of eight and a locking snaplink. Without the snaplink, you can form a D.F.O.8 by doing a single, loping through the harness attachment point, and back-threading. Yes, I bother with a safety line. It's there, I use it.

 

[fireball]

I use the safety line - spare halyard - attached with the method the dinghy main sail gets attached - shuv a loop through the metal eye and put the end through that.

But to get up and down I use a 2:1 purchase with a pulley securely shackled to the bosuns chair (pliers to pinch the thread) and another tied to the main halyard - hoist the assembly up and then pull yourself up in the chair - the crew the just pull the safety line with minimum slack until I'm at the top - then the line I'm pulling is tied off (a couple of half hitches round itself) and the safety line gets cleated and tied off at the bottom ... do the job ... then slacken off my line, then the safety line and I lower myself down.

Easily effected by 2 people (one if you forget the safety line ! unless someone can tell me how to get a safety line to self tighten then self loosen!) and don't have to rely on anyone else to hoist you aloft ... quicker than the prussock loop method IMO

 

[Jeremy_W]

the above only applies to cruising yachts. If you're racijng go up the mast hand over hand. You know it doesn't make sense but you are racing. Grant Dalton raced people to the masthead of the big Flyer.

 

[bbg]

On the big race boats that I have been on, we didn't go up hand over hand - we had at least one, sometimes two people who wore climbing harnesses all the time, even when ocean racing. And with two 250 lb mastmen sweating the halyard (hoisting a 160 lb bowman) you could get someone aloft v quick. In fact it was a rule on one of the boats I raced on that you were not allowed to use a winch handle to hoist someone up the mast - it was too slow.

 

[snooks]

Knots

A lot of climbers use figure of 8 knots because it has been known for the back of the bowline to snap under shock loading, so it's prolly not the best knot for the safety line.

 

[Ruffles]

Re: Knots

I always avoid using a figure 8 in ice though. Trying to get it undone with frozen fingers is a nightmare!

I tend to do all boat maintenance on my own. So I bought a pair of jumars to climb my mast. I tie a halyard to the foot of the mast and give it some tension. I also put a prussik on a second halyard for backup.

I haven't got stuck yet!

Rob.