Mast climbing when singlehanded on the sea - is that heard off?

[slawosz]

Hi,
I recently sort of got in touch with someone who wants to prepare for singlehanded mast climbing while at sea. Did you ever heard about such experience? I presume its extremly rare.

PS.
I am not asking how. Just asking if anyone heard about such event

 

[Boathook]

I've heard of people doing it. Ellen MacArthur I believe did it, on a single handed round the world race once.

 

[KevinV]

I've heard of people doing it. Ellen MacArthur I believe did it, on a single handed round the world race once.

I seem to recall she got distinctly battered and bruised doing it

 

[Roberto]

I did it once, the mainsail halyard had tangled up the mast and I still had several hundred miles to go.

 

[Ed Sned]

Definitely not unheard of. If you sail solo a reasonable amount, you need to accept that you may have to do it one day, and if you sail longer distances when chafe becomes a problem, the chances increase significantly. I had to go up the mast at 3am in the Solent a couple of years ago when at the end of a solo race back from France, it emerged that my main halyard had come off the sheave and jammed down the side. I toyed with idea of heading into Hamble with the main up but decided it was simpler to go up quickly and cut the halyard. Technique is basically the same as in harbour, although I add a climbing helmet, and the other essential for peace of mind is a remote for the autopilot

 

[Fr J Hackett]

It would be a case of needs must. The nearest I came to it was on a mooring with boats passing very close with their wash causing considerable sway of the boat and mast. I had mast steps and a fixed line with a climbing friction brake running up it which I adjusted every couple of meters.

 

[LittleSister]

I seem to recall she got distinctly battered and bruised doing it

I would imagine that is typically the least worst outcome. There are far worse ones.

Losing the contents of one's stomach, one way or another, might be on the more benign end of the scale!

I may be unduly influenced by a very vague recollection of an incident (or perhaps it was a myth) some years ago that was actually a two-hander. If If I remember correctly, elderly (American?) couple nearing end of an ocean crossing, husband climbed the mast, but while up there slipped or passed out, leg trapped in rope leaving him hanging upside down and dying near the top of the mast, the woman unable to get him down, and managing to sail the boat to land with him still hanging there.

Being a scaredy cat, afraid of heights, and getting on a bit, I am not sure I would, or even could, do it unless my life depended on it, and perhaps not even then.

. . . my main halyard had come off the sheave and jammed down the side. I toyed with idea of heading into Hamble with the main up but decided it was simpler to go up quickly and cut the halyard. . . .

That's one way to skin that particular cat. Another would be to scandalise the main, though more difficult if gas-strut kicker, and perhaps impossible if full length battens or whatever.

 

[Ed Sned]

Scandalise the main?

 

[johnalison]

Did not Francis Chichester go up his mast somewhere in the south Seas, or am I imagining it?

 

[johnalison]

Scandalise the main?

Use the topping lift to raise the boom and effectively put the sail out of action.

 

[Ed Sned]

I'm open to the idea that there may have been alternative solutions - exhaustion may have played a part in my decision making process!
The key is to get used to going up solo in benign conditions in harbour - then at sea, it's the same process, just a bit bumpier.
I'm also an ex-climber, and so going up the mast solo isn't a big issue. I'm much more scared of the engine not starting....

 

[Refueler]

Use the topping lift to raise the boom and effectively put the sail out of action.

An old trick used by barges and variuos when coming to moorings etc ...

You can actually do it in stages as a speed control ...

 

[Roberto]

husband climbed the mast, but while up there slipped or passed out, leg trapped in rope leaving him hanging upside down and dying near the top of the mast, the woman unable to get him down, and managing to sail the boat to land with him still hanging there.

One case in the Canaries, three persons onboard, one stuck up the mast banging for 17 hours; some newspaper showed horrific pictures of the boat deck

Tratan de socorrer a un hombre colgado de un mástil entre Gran Canaria y Fuerteventura

IIRC one accident with some elderly couple was he falling overboard, the wife was unable to recover him and towed the body for days until the Caribbean.

 

[zoidberg]

It would be a case of needs must. The nearest I came to it was on a mooring with boats passing very close with their wash causing considerable sway of the boat and mast. I had mast steps and a fixed line with a climbing friction brake running up it which I adjusted every couple of meters.

Indeed.

The accepted generic name for such is 'Jumars' ( aka 'ascendeurs' ) and arguably the best-known make - with multiple variants - is Petzl.
I've owned and used a pair of these for decades, for clearing leaf debris/moss from my roof and occasionally for boaty tasks. IMO it is prudent to practice how to come back down again 'in a dignified manner' and a visit to one's local climbing wall for a wee bit of instruction would not go amiss.

And, on a slightly different tack, I'll just pop this pic on here. Just to initiate some comment, informed or not:

 

[Ed Sned]

Use the topping lift to raise the boom and effectively put the sail out of action.

ah okay, have never heard of that but makes a lot of sense, thanks.
I was fully battened so perhaps more challenging.

 

[Refueler]

I went up ships masts changing nav light lamps ... helping service radar scanners etc etc .... and HATED every inch I climbed.

Strange - as a kid - I would be up trees and didn't think anything of it .. but once I came on ship as cadet and sent up in bosuns chairs ... climbed masts - for some strange reason I was afraid of the heights.

I recently played with a Cherry Picker lift and I have to say that once I went above about 10m - I started to feel that old fear coming on ...

I cannot see myself ever climbing a mast ...

 

[Sea Change]

Highly recommend Ellen MacArthur's book 'Taking on the World'. She gives a vivid account of solo mast climbing on a Vendée boat, desperately trying to avoid a crash gybe whilst up there.

 

[Sea Change]

I went up ships masts changing nav light lamps ... helping service radar scanners etc etc .... and HATED every inch I climbed.

Strange - as a kid - I would be up trees and didn't think anything of it .. but once I came on ship as cadet and sent up in bosuns chairs ... climbed masts - for some strange reason I was afraid of the heights.

I recently played with a Cherry Picker lift and I have to say that once I went above about 10m - I started to feel that old fear coming on ...

I cannot see myself ever climbing a mast ...

Kids are fearless. My son insists on being hauled up the mast most days. We're common to see him sat in the second spreaders reading a book.

 

[Lightwave395]

I've done it twice some years ago, thanks to my ATN topclimber

 

[johnalison]

Kids are fearless. My son insists on being hauled up the mast most days. We're common to see him sat in the second spreaders reading a book.

Ours were happy enough but the grandchildren seem to stop an the lower spreaders. Gen z & all that I suppose, with their ridiculous protective parents.