Going up the mast

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Dutch01527

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I need to get to the top of the mast to do a minor adjustment. My local rigger is busy until June/July and wants me to take the boat to him and use a crane to gain access. Seems a bit excessive for a 2 minute job on a < 10m mast and I am keen to get it done.

I am ok with heights but less so with asking someone I do not know and trust to winch me up and lower me down. Is the following plan safe?

- hoist a 1 ton capacity 10 metre chain block to the masthead on the main halyard which runs inside the mast.
- rig a safety line from a harness to second halyard also running inside the mast using a climbing ascender which I would slide up and down as I ascended / descended
- ensure both halyards are cleated off as well as rope clutch secured
- have my mate stand by watching in case something jammed and I got stuck
- lift and lower myself in a bosuns chair using the chain block moving the ascender/descender every metre or so

Not conventional method but I can not see any single point of failure or am I being reckless?
 
Dutch01527 said:
I need to get to the top of the mast to do a minor adjustment. My local rigger is busy until June/July and wants me to take the boat to him and use a crane to gain access. Seems a bit excessive for a 2 minute job on a < 10m mast and I am keen to get it done.

I am ok with heights but less so with asking someone I do not know and trust to winch me up and lower me down. Is the following plan safe?

- hoist a 1 ton capacity 10 metre chain block to the masthead on the main halyard which runs inside the mast.
- rig a safety line from a harness to second halyard also running inside the mast using a climbing ascender which I would slide up and down as I ascended / descended
- ensure both halyards are cleated off as well as rope clutch secured
- have my mate stand by watching in case something jammed and I got stuck
- lift and lower myself in a bosuns chair using the chain block moving the ascender/descender every metre or so

Not conventional method but I can not see any single point of failure or am I being reckless?
Click to expand...

If you have an ascender on a fixed line to your harness, you should be able to find enough trust to have someone hoist you.

There are other ways of course.:o
 
Do you have a one ton capacity 10 metre capacity chain block easily accessible? Presumably you do. I've only been up the mast once but getting the last few inches to the top so I could reach/see what I was doing was very tricky. If your chain block stops those last few inches I would not use it.
Depending how minor the job was I might be tempted to live with it or look for a more helpful rigger. Or find a competent winch person. Having also winched someone up I think you might be making the job more complex than it needs to be. However I am unqualified to give any "advice" beyond that.
 
FairweatherDave said:
Do you have a one ton capacity 10 metre capacity chain block easily accessible? Presumably you do. I've only been up the mast once but getting the last few inches to the top so I could reach/see what I was doing was very tricky. If your chain block stops those last few inches I would not use it.
Click to expand...

Very good point. The strop to the bosuns chair normally becomes chock a block when your head is still below the mast head. With a chain block interposed, it will be worse.

You need something to stand on.

Just sayin'!
 
While I am not that comfortable working at height, I go up our mast regularly, usually on the main halyard secured to a bosuns chair with a bowline, I wear a harness and when I get to the working positions,(usually go to the top to do the tranducers/windex first, then adjust the spreader angles on the way down) I secure the harness lanyard to the mast as back up. I rarely use two halyards because it is enough for my wife who does the winding to focus on controlling and securing one and I can climb better unencumbered. If there are a number of tasks I take a drop cord with me for fetching tools tape etc, that I may have forgotten. Once I am in place I insist that the halyard is cleated so that it does not depend on the clutch.
Things that make a difference ---- A decent bosuns chair that does not restrict blood flow, trusted deck party (2 if available) and nice weather, 15m. up is a lot nicer place on a good day, a secure but easily accessible bag for tools and bits that you can easily get your hands in to. A good lock in two handed winch handle makes it quicker and easier for the grinder
Our current boat, though it has a shorter mast, is more difficult, not having self tailing or powerful halyard winches so requires a second person to tail, tried leading the tail to a sheet winch but kept getting riding turns.
 
My club has a mast ladder which makes the ascent very easy. You clip on the mainsail halyard and raise it up the track in the mast.

I still get a mate to handle a 2nd halyard attached to my harness though.
 
Quandary said:
While I am not that comfortable working at height, I go up our mast regularly, usually on the main halyard secured to a bosuns chair with a bowline, I wear a harness and when I get to the working positions,(usually go to the top to do the tranducers/windex first, then adjust the spreader angles on the way down) I secure the harness lanyard to the mast as back up. I rarely use two halyards because it is enough for my wife who does the winding to focus on controlling and securing one and I can climb better unencumbered. If there are a number of tasks I take a drop cord with me for fetching tools tape etc, that I may have forgotten. Once I am in place I insist that the halyard is cleated so that it does not depend on the clutch.
Things that make a difference ---- A decent bosuns chair that does not restrict blood flow, trusted deck party (2 if available) and nice weather, 15m. up is a lot nicer place on a good day, a secure but easily accessible bag for tools and bits that you can easily get your hands in to. A good lock in two handed winch handle makes it quicker and easier for the grinder
Our current boat, though it has a shorter mast, is more difficult, not having self tailing or powerful halyard winches so requires a second person to tail, tried leading the tail to a sheet winch but kept getting riding turns.
Click to expand...

All very good points. You could lock the second halyard and use an ascender or similar tied to your harness for a safety back-up.

I too always used to tie to the chair with a bowline until someone on our exhibition stand shook one free as we chatted. I now use a fisherman's bend.
 
I thought of the chain block because I happened to have one. Good point about reaching the masthead when sitting in the bosun’s chair, I will have to check the measurements. Thanks
 
Graham_Wright said:
All very good points. You could lock the second halyard and use an ascender or similar tied to your harness for a safety back-up.

I too always used to tie to the chair with a bowline until someone on our exhibition stand shook one free as we chatted. I now use a fisherman's bend.
Click to expand...

Must get a bit busy up there to shake a bowline free - more likely on a genoa maybe? But I think the more standard knot these days is a figure of eight knot tied back through itself? That's what I use.
 
I've been up my mast plenty of times. My tips:

1-If you can, go and find somewhere you can sit in the mud and dry out. It's a lot more pleasant being aloft on a rock solid boat.
2-If you're short on people, don't expect to be winched up the mast, climb it. Get some grippy shoes or wellies and shimmy up it, with your assistant taking up the slack. Personally, I feel more secure this way too as I'm actively climbing and supporting my own weight rather than just being a dead weight. If your mast is <10m, by the time you've stood on the boom you're a fair way there already!
3-Take a safety tether and use this in some way to support your weight at the top. Personally, I tend to just go up on one halyard and lock myself off at the top on the tether.
4-If you are taking any tools up (and even if you are not) get people to clear the deck, you do not want to be dropping a screwdriver point down on someone's cranium from 10 metres. Very messy and lots of paperwork.
5-Be 100% sure you can trust your equipment. Not sure what boat you have but those crappy tufnol winches often found at the mast base cannot be trusted.
 
Iain C said:
3-Take a safety tether and use this in some way to support your weight at the top. Personally, I tend to just go up on one halyard and lock myself off at the top on the tether.
Click to expand...
There was a case a few years ago when a husband locked himself at the top of the most, I think while under way, and had a heart attack there. The wife had to make port before they could get his body down.

If it is your first time, I would make a practice run just up to the crosstrees, then come down, just to check that it all went well. You can then just talk it through and correct any errors. An import error to avoid is a riding turn on the winch.
 
Worth having dedicated kit for this job just in case you have to do it again in a hurry
I use a climbing foot board which you will find diagrams for on line. I use a climbing harness with an advertisement attached.
One fixed line has he foot board attached and this is where the main climbing effort takes place, the ascender is also on this line. Push ascender up to maximum extent, with weight on harness bend knees raising the foot board, stand up on foot board, raise ascender to maximum reach and repeat till you get to the top.
Sounds complicated but quick and not hard work.
You still should have lifeline of course but that crew has no lifting to do.
Coming down I use a figure of 8 descender but if you trust your crew they could lower you.
Good at sometime to get two folding steps at good working hight near the top
Enjoy
 
I've just recieve a Hurst mast ladder today, cost about £160 but it was a birthday present. I'm a bit like the op, I like to have my feet on something and I don't want to have to rely on someone having to winch me up and I don't really like the thought of it, especially with non ST winches (not that I wouldn't want it tailed as well). It looks a great bit of kit if I'm honest but I'll try it out at the weekend (to fit the wind instrument). My plan is to have a decender on a bosuns chair locked off on a spare halyard every couple of steps if I'm on my own or a person on tailing it on a winch if there's someone about.
 
Climbing masts doesn't need to be as difficult or complicated as people make out. Some good suggestions on this thread.

My own method is to use an external halyard, i.e. one that does not go inside the mast, as the primary means of ascent. One end is attached to my harness, and I pull on the other end to haul myself up. A second halyard, which can be an internal one, acts as a slack backup and SWMBO will take this up every so often and cleat it off, allowing me to have a rest. I generally have three stops before reaching the top.

To come down, the two halyards take the opposite role: the external one is given a few feet of slack and cleated off, and then SWMBO eases me down on the other halyard, stopping every time the first halyard pulls tight.

If one halyard were to fail, the furthest I would ever fall would be about six feet, which would be unpleasant but probably not fatal.

As others have said, do not trust bowlines or snap shackles. Use a figure 8 knot and/or spliced eyes and carabiners. Always use two separate halyards and eliminate single points of failure wherever possible.
 
johnalison said:
There was a case a few years ago when a husband locked himself at the top of the most, I think while under way, and had a heart attack there. The wife had to make port before they could get his body down.
Click to expand...

This is an important consideration. During the risk assessment required for our exhibition demonstrations, one question involved this situation. We have one assistant on the chair halyard taking up the slack and one on a safety halyard attached to a harness. The MastaClimba is on a static line. The scenario of concern is when the climber cannot disengage his feet prior to being lowered on the chair halyard at the end of the ascent or he is taken unwell and unable to help himself. (Neither situation has happened - yet). The solution is to lower the static line which is arranged to be possible. This has satisfied the (rather "conscientious") safety officer at the shows.

A similar possibility arises with a locked safety line. If this is attached to the mast or fixed rigging the tragic death recounted above is a possibility. If, however, it is attached to a halyard, it can be lowered if necessary together with the climber attached. When I ascend, I have a short line attached to my (fall arrest) harness with an Ascender on the end. This I slide up the static line as I climb. Should I be unable to detach it if it jams (it never has) or I become unconscious (not yet!), lowering the static line and the chair halyard together will bring me down still in the chair, still with feet on the MastaClimba and still attached to the safety line.

If I am working above mast head height, I find that tightening a belt around me and the mast provides a solid comfortable working position. It would, however, prevent me from being "rescued" as above.

On my boat, the chair halyard passes through a closed clutch, round a self-tailing winch and I have a loving wife (who wears a hard hat). We also have a voice activated comms link which goes some way to counter my deafness.
 
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