Mast Climbing

[Daydream believer]

as its fin keeled, .

There is your answer then. Run it aground the wrong way on a hard sand bank or steep shore on a calm day & use a ladder from the ground. You can start off with the ladder near the bow & bounce it along the forestay & the mast moving the foot as you go

 

[ashtead]

Can he not just lower a small Westerly mast manually if all else fails?

 

[FulmarJeddo]

Last time I needed one, a man with a cherry picker charged me under £100. The job was done in a few minutes, I wouldn't mind that hourly rate, but it saved me money and got the job done.
Look for firms who use them to clean windows etc.

I know other members at our club have looked into Cherry Pickers, and the problem has been the reach. To get to the mast top of a Fulmar with a mast of about 40ft on a deck about 10 or 11ft off the ground the Cherry Picker would need a reach of at least 50ft, which I believe is a little more than the average machine. The club is at the top of a drying creek and the boat in question with a draft of 5ft can only be launched and recovered from our slip at the biggest of tides. We have a wall, but there is rarely enough water to get close enough, I doubt there would be sufficient time to get the job done before the tide disappeared.

 

[Daverw]

Easy to get a cherry picker for that size, but not one that window cleaners or tree surgeons would normally have, I’ve just had one for work , 65ft 4wheel drive, most of the hire cost unfortunately is transport cost and minimum weeks hire. Re cost, it depends how important the job is to the boat owner. Option also share cost with others who need mast head jobs done

 

[Concerto]

David

Thinking further overnight, I think this could easily be done using your 2 Fulmars. Moor them together on a calm day with masts almost alongside, then heel them together until the mastheads almost touch. Using Jeddo's main halyard, go to the top of the mast and then reach over and feed the lines back into the mast. Job done. Should be easy at the top of Stangate and at no cost and with little effort.

 

[chrishscorp]

Thanks Roger. I will suggest that to the owner. He may have his own ideas. He is quite a practical guy, but when I had to break the news to him last night he was in shock and didn't really know what to do. He currently has the engine out, I'm not sure why, I didn't get to talk to him about that, so won't be back in the water for a few weeks at least. I guess Chatham wouldn't want him in the lock for too long once the season picks up. The boat is a bit of project from what I have seen, he only bought it this year. An ex sailing school boat. We were a little sceptical when we heard he had bought it as its fin keeled, but the keel sinks into our soft mud perfectly upright. It makes 11 Westerlys at Lower Halstow now.

I think you have answered your own question, If the boat is a bit of a project, like mine was, the first thing i did was renew the standing, running rigging, cabling, lights and VHF ariel and carefully inspect the mast and all its fittings.

If the rig is of uncertain age or has not been checked periodically I would not be going up the mast on the halyards let alone one without and trying to prusik up a smooth mast.

 

[FulmarJeddo]

David

Thinking further overnight, I think this could easily be done using your 2 Fulmars. Moor them together on a calm day with masts almost alongside, then heel them together until the mastheads almost touch. Using Jeddo's main halyard, go to the top of the mast and then reach over and feed the lines back into the mast. Job done. Should be easy at the top of Stangate and at no cost and with little effort.

Yes Roger, I had already thought of that, post #19. I suspect he will be keen to sort it out if possible before going back in the water. It's definitely a possibility though.

 

[lw395]

Easy to get a cherry picker for that size, but not one that window cleaners or tree surgeons would normally have, I’ve just had one for work , 65ft 4wheel drive, most of the hire cost unfortunately is transport cost and minimum weeks hire. Re cost, it depends how important the job is to the boat owner. Option also share cost with others who need mast head jobs done

If there is a bit of convenient public quayside and it's not high tide, the requirement is a lot more modest. You just need to get the job done before too many people take an interest. I don't know the OP's area so can't suggest locations, but I suspect they are around.

It might be worth asking pro riggers, they've seen it all before, got the toys, know the local options....
When I had a furler fitted, ISTR the rigger being quite rude about the concept of relying on other people's halyards.
There is a difference between what I will/can do now and 10 years ago when I was lighter, fitter, healthier.

 

[ora.davide]

hy, this video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd9l_gztks )

shows how i climb the mast, in my safety way;
improved after years..; solo climbing, no helps required.
The ladder is selfmade and fitted when needs.
All this way is intended both to prevent accident, and to have an alternative safety gear in case of needs.

sorry for my english
greetings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd9l_gztks

 

[jiris]

After experimenting with a few methods (most described in this thread already) I ended up with a bosum chair on halyard run over a electric anchor winch. After a few minor adjustment to the setup, I could't stop wondering why it took me so long to work this out ;-). Easy as! Normally I do need a assistant to operate the winch and tail the halyard, but I actually managed to do it alone with a remote control. While I've done it a few times just to prove myself it is possible, I don't think I would adopt it as a common practice for safety reasons. The 2 person version of this method however appears safe enough - I used it just yesterday to fix a top-mast wind-vane.

 

[FulmarJeddo]

Yes, both methods will get you to the top of the mast. I'm not sure I would go up single handed using an electric winch and remote control though. The biggest snag though for both methods is the whole point of the post was that the boat in question has lost both its main halyard and topping lift.
The owner is currently considering getting a hiab in to take the mast down. He will still have the problem of re-threading the ropes. I have offered to assist once afloat by mooring the two boats alongside each other to attempt to work from my mast as already discussed.

 

[savageseadog]

Never ever use powered winches for hoisting people

 

[Sean Carter]

I recently had to go up a mast to repair a broken main halyard and did not have a lot of confidence in the others. So I used a section ladder with a fairly shallow angle. tied very securely at the bottom and three other places around the Mast at stages on the way up. Two people holding guys then climb always holding mast and/or shrouds. This was done on a calm day in a marina with the boat in the water. It is useful to have someone confident at climbing and working at height. You could use the jib halyard to secure the ladder at that height. It did not take too long when well prepared but lesson learnt make sure all halyards are in good condition and repair/replace if doubtful.

 

[Daydream believer]

Never ever use powered winches for hoisting people

why on earth not?
If the person on the winch is tailing it rather than leaving it in the self tailer then if there is any problem with switching he can just slip the halyard. When the rigger gets to the cross trees keep the winch running & just slip the halyard gently as the rigger goes past them.

Possibly if the winch man was experienced, having a halyard held in the hand , whether hand winding or electric powered, is probably safer than in the tailer because if it jumped the self tailer it may take a while to grab. Should have a back up man as well on a manual winch just drawing on the slack.
Tie off the halyards properly when at the top do not just leave in the self tailer
Both winch men just let the halyards slide on the winches as the rigger comes down

 

[Norman_E]

why on earth not?
If the person on the winch is tailing it rather than leaving it in the self tailer then if there is any problem with switching he can just slip the halyard. When the rigger gets to the cross trees keep the winch running & just slip the halyard gently as the rigger goes past them.

Possibly if the winch man was experienced, having a halyard held in the hand , whether hand winding or electric powered, is probably safer than in the tailer because if it jumped the self tailer it may take a while to grab.

Perfectly correct. I regularly go up with an electric winch pulling me up, but insist on the halyard being tailed by hand. The awful accident a few years back happened because the halyard was in the self tailer and for some reason that never became clear the winch would not stop. I have the main halyard on the electric winch hauling me up in the bosuns chair with a second halyard attached to my harness, and just gently pulled up through a rope clutch to take out any slack by a second helper. My feet are in my mast step which slides up the tensioned topping lift so that I can stand on it at the top.

 

[ColinR]

I've tried it, also rope clutches which are the same idea but a bit more technical (and expensive) It was seriously hard work and about as hard getting down. If you do it don't forget anything when you go up. I decided it not really viable so I got a Hurst Mast Ladder, miles better. https://sites.google.com/site/gerryhurstmarine/mast-ladder

 

[ora.davide]

good morning

i keep on reading about mast climbing all over the world. i've climbed the mast several times, always by myself, then i attended a rocky climber course (to improved my mast climbing technique)

Climbing the mast is a mountain climber AFFAIR, i believe, so may be safer and better use only metods used by professional climber.
Not improvising sailor climber.
the knots and techniques used are different from the common used ones in sailing.

i understand everybody wants to try his metod and follow his own tought ( like me), but may be safer look at the mast like a mountain. and keep into account every possible accident , prevent it, and already have the solution.

In one word.. rocky climbing. the ropes are differents, other knots, other competences.

what you woud say reading forum of climber.. if they were talking about.. going on the water surface.... .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd9l_gztks

 

[TLouth7]

what you woud say reading forum of climber.. if they were talking about.. going on the water surface.... .

Well actually I commented on a sailing thread on a climbing forum only this morning*, but yes I am sure many climbers would be horrified by some ideas sailors have.

Personally I think that any system in which an incapacitated climber cannot be lowered to deck level by someone else is fundamentally unsafe (prussic on the mast, jugging up a fixed rope without enough tail, clipping to rungs of a fixed ladder), which is not to say that I would not do it myself.

Hopefully this is all irrelevant as the OP's friend may well have already found a workable solution (and I for one would be interested to know how he did it if this is the case).

*I am extremely bored at work

 

[maby]

I'm afraid that I have not had the time to read through this entire thread, so apologies if the question has already been answered. If not, try to track down Duncan Ross (Ross Yacht Services) - he's nuts and has the agility of a chimp. When something similar happened to a friend of ours, Duncan simply shinned up the mast - no special gear and no safety line. I haven't seen him for a few years - given how blaze he was about aerial work, he may have killed himself by now!

 

[FulmarJeddo]

Hopefully this is all irrelevant as the OP's friend may well have already found a workable solution (and I for one would be interested to know how he did it if this is the case).
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?494131-Mast-Climbing/page6#L6Y3j0koDrJUMzdE.99

He hadn't solved it the weekend before last when I last saw him. He was talking about a hiab to take the mast down. However he is booked to lift back in this coming Sunday. I'm not sure how the current weather is affecting his preparations. The village where the club is was effectively cut off by snow today. There was no engine in the boat at the time. I have offered if hasn't sorted by the time he goes back in, once I'm back in we can try by mooring the two boats next to each other and try working from the top of my mast. I still have a month before I go back in. I will update this when there's some news.