Mast-steps: Good idea/bad idea?

[Graham_Wright]

On the other hand...

On my previous boat I installed closed steps, home made. which were very useful and could be used from both sides of the mast, fore and aft. Being closed - like a stirrup - meant that my feet could not slip out. I never had any problems with halyards getting snagged; on the contrary, the halyards could be intentionally snaked around the steps while at anchor or at the pontoon so as to prevent the annoying rattling against the mast. 'Un-snaking' them was a simple matter of shaking the halyards loose while standing near the mast. I really wish I had them on my present boat but, being close to 72 in four weeks time, mast-climbing is now beyond me.

This is what they looked like (the boat was a Centaur).

A word of caution. One terrible story related to us on our stand concerned a gentleman who fell backwards while using steps like these. His feet locked into the top support and he hung there until his ankles snapped and he fell to the deck. He died.

Obviously down to unsafe practice but perhaps better to have the strut underneath, A small up stand at the end would prevent the feet sliding off.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I have always used fabric ladders but recently bought a set of these:

https://kinlevenmarine.com/

This was the Deffee originally.
Excellent. Good people to deal with, very nicely presented, the finished thing is tailor made to your boat witht the name on the bag, works very well. Only disadvantage seems to be that they are bulkier to stow than fabric steps

That seems to tick most or even all of the boxes.
What sort of price do they charge? Say for 8 to 9 metres of mast-above-deck?

 

[doug748]

That seems to tick most or even all of the boxes.
What sort of price do they charge? Say for 8 to 9 metres of mast-above-deck?

If you look at "Shop" on the website it shows the range of prices; 7.6 to 9.1 is given as £214 + VAT for the basic ladder. there are a range of other options. There is also a PDF with details of how to measure everything.
Worth ringing them up to check the costs though.

 

[Robert Wilson]

Thanks.
I missed the "Shop" item. A very good web-site, and not too hi-tech for me to understand!

 

[Robert Wilson]

Having examined (on screen) the MastMate and KinlevenMarine ladders, I wondered if a bolt-rope sewn in would be more stable than mast slides?
Obviously there would be a little more drag and it might perhaps be more fiddly to feed it into the slot, but it should hold the material tighter all the way up and therefore reduce "slogger".

Just a thought.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Having examined (on screen) the MastMate and KinlevenMarine ladders, I wondered if a bolt-rope sewn in would be more stable than mast slides?
Obviously there would be a little more drag and it might perhaps be more fiddly to feed it into the slot, but it should hold the material tighter all the way up and therefore reduce "slogger".

Just a thought.

Good idea - put it to them.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

A word of caution. One terrible story related to us on our stand concerned a gentleman who fell backwards while using steps like these. His feet locked into the top support and he hung there until his ankles snapped and he fell to the deck. He died.

Obviously down to unsafe practice but perhaps better to have the strut underneath, A small up stand at the end would prevent the feet sliding off.

I am familiar with that story. Notice the length of the slanting part of the ones that I made; they were purposely made in that length with that story in mind and it is impossible for the shoes to jam. Most 'stirrup-type' commercial mast steps that I have seen are so short that they are almost like the real stirrups that are used for horse-riding, hence there is no provision for possible jamming.
Note that when climbing the steps on alternate sides one uses the standard rock-climbing 'three-point' method ('two hands and one foot' or 'two feet and one hand'). The top pair of steps are level with each other and are placed at 1.5 metres below the mast head and this allows work there. Once there the harness or seat that you are - or should be - wearing is tethered to the top of the mast for safety.