Mouse lines

[jasavo]

I am about to remove and replace where necessary the running rigging on a 30ft cruiser/racer I have just acquired. I would be grateful to learn from the forum's experience of any potential pitfalls which might come my way, in what should be a straight forward procedure.

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[boatless]

Tie more knots (mouse to halyard) than you first think excessive. Tape over the join to smooth it, and do the pulling very slowly and smoothly, keeping tension on the mouse - to avoid the mouse jumping down twixt sheave and box. That covers the mistakes I've made - so far.

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[malcp]

Try to avoid a windy day as this can cause the mouse line to flap potentially leading to it derailing off the masthead sheave.

Keep the mouse to halyard knots and covering tape as smooth as possible and minimise overall thickness to avoid potential jamming.

Otherwise it's been said above.

<hr width=100% size=1><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by malcp on 10/03/2004 13:50 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[extravert]

This is the proper way to attach a mouse line to a halyard etc. It takes a bit more time than just tying them together, but it runs more easily, is more secure, and you can leave the mouse-loop in the end of your halyards for next time.

Make sure the end of your halyard is sealed.

Sew a multi-strand loop at the end of your halyard, going round 3 or four times with normal sail twine. The loop should pass through the rope 2.5cm from its end.

Whip the end of the rope, securing the loop you have just sewn in.

Join the mouse line to this loop and then cover with tape to make smooth.

Like this...

<hr width=100% size=1>One day, I want to be a real sailor. In the mean time I'll just keep trying.

 

[AndrewB]

I use whipping twine for mouse lines. Plenty strong enough, reasonably cheap (in large rolls), can be sewn direct to the rope for pulling through avoiding the snagging problems Extravert mentions. A little care is needed that it doesn't jump off sheaves.

One mouse is left permanently running up the mast, to simplify replacement should a halliard be lost.

 

[towlerg]

your advise to leave one mouse permanently running up the mast seems obvious but what do you do with the masthead end? You can't leave it over an in use sleeve?

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[AndrewB]

It is simply tied off at the very top and bottom of the mast, clear of other fittings. In fact I have a small exit hole at either end of the mast for this purpose. The mouse is kept taut in the mast but has some spare at the bottom to facilitate operations.

When it has had to be used, at the bottom end it is necessary to reach inside the appropriate exit hole for the halliard with a small hook (bent skewer) to catch and draw out a loop of the mouse. At the top end, the three halliards and topping lift all exit over sheaves beneath the cap, it's easy enough to hook the end of the mouse and pass it over the right sheave. For simplicity, I've normally already sewn a short piece of whipping twine onto the end of the halliard, which is then knotted onto the mouse. (This has the additional advantage that the new halliard is then attached before the mouse is released at the top end, with the risk of dropping it down the mast.)

Halliards are normally drawn down from the top end, as they have hard eyes spliced at the business end which won't pass through the mast. A replacement mouse is drawn down simultaneously. As it then will come out of a halliard exit possibly some way up the mast it is then used to draw the old mouse back up so that we still have a full length mouse.

Although this method does of course require a trip to the mast head it is sufficiently easy that we have done it while at sea. Of course you wouldn't want to do it in a blow but we, like many yachts, are set up so the spinnaker halliard can be used for the genoa/jib, and the topping lift as a main halliard, as an emergency measure.

 

[John_Clarke]

Thin flat tails on halyards

I have formed a thin flat tail on the ends of all my halyards by cutting 100 mm off the central core (slide back the outer sheath) which just leaves a flat braid tail which is whipped or melted at the end.

It is then a very quick and easy job to attach a thin line to the halyard. I poke the line through near the end of the tail using a Swedish fid and secure it to the tail with a rolling hitch. A few turns of PVC tape gives a smooth taper.

I have used this method for many years and it has never let me down. It passes very easily through the masthead sheave and down the mast.

For climbing the mast I keep a 9mm climbers’ low stretch rope solely for this purpose as I am reluctant to trust my life to an aging halyard. I have a thin line permanently attached to the climbing rope and it takes very little time to tie this to the tail of the main halyard and pull it through


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[Jules]

Re: Paperclips

I've use this method. (like the drawings BTW - how do you do that?). An American friend tells me a common way over there is to use a humble paperclip, piercing each rope with each end of the clip, re-bending it to original shape and securing with a couple of turns of tape. this means you can use more substantial old rope which will not jump the sheave.

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