Removing Halyards?

[Little Rascal]

I need to remove my halyards to inspect/wash/replace them. Any tips on would be helpful please! anything I shouldn't do?

The mast is down, approx 8 metres...

Thank you!

 

[PabloPicasso]

mouse

Stitch a mousing line onto the end (bite) of each halyard before pulling through. Then detach them and take halyards home etc. Tie off mousing line to stop it being pulled through be mistake. To replace halyard re-stich the mousing line to the bite and pull through.

All much easier than trying to reeve the halyards again. B elieve me the cost of some durable string to 'mouse' the halyards will be well worth it in the long run!!

 

[BAtoo]

Stitch a mousing line onto the end (bite) of each halyard before pulling through. Then detach them and take halyards home etc. Tie off mousing line to stop it being pulled through be mistake. To replace halyard re-stich the mousing line to the bite and pull through.

All much easier than trying to reeve the halyards again. B elieve me the cost of some durable string to 'mouse' the halyards will be well worth it in the long run!!

As Pablo says but dont use too small a mouse line as it can jump off the sheeve and be difficult to get back onto it.......

 

[trapezeartist]

As Pablo and Batoo say, but tie off the free end of the mousing line before pulling it through, just to make sure it doesn't get tangled and then lost inside the mast. (Voice of experience )

 

[Skysail]

Make an eye at each end of the halliard by stitching with a few loops of twine, these will then be permanently available for the future.

 

[alan_d]

As Pablo and Batoo say, but tie off the free end of the mousing line before pulling it through, just to make sure it doesn't get tangled and then lost inside the mast. (Voice of experience )

Very important. Once the free end of the halyard is part-way up the mast the weight of the rest of the halyard will pull it through - it is wise to be expecting this.

 

[pvb]

Very important. Once the free end of the halyard is part-way up the mast the weight of the rest of the halyard will pull it through - it is wise to be expecting this.

"The mast is down...."

 

[aquaplane]

And if you have 6 lines up yer mast, you don't need 6 messangers. Only get enough line for two. Then you can only put two lines in your washer at once (in a pillow case) and you have to make 3 trips to the boat to sort stuff out/ twiddle.

 

[Little Rascal]

Thanks for the tips...

Fortunately the mast is down... ...and in my back garden.

Getting it home on my roof rack this evening was interesting...

 

[aquaplane]

Just realised, 8m mast must be a small ish boat.

Same rules apply, I lost a line in my First 18 mast and it was a bugger to thread another shaking the mast and looking for it at the bottom.

 

[alan_d]

"The mast is down...."

Oh well, never mind, perhaps the advice will help someone else.

 

[Little Rascal]

haha thanks anyway alan - it was a good point.

Yep she's pretty teeny - just measured the mast and it's actually 6.4m!

 

[Little Rascal]

Done it...

In the end I hedged my bets:
1. Tied a stopper knot in the very end of the halyard tail
2. Pulled halyard through to extent of slack
3. Attached a piece of string to halyard at mast head with a rolling hitch
4. Pulled halyard and string through (to 'sail up' position)
5. Et voila! string appears through bottom sheave.
6. Tie off the string and remove halyard.

That way I got the messenger line through at the same time as the halyard so that I didn't have the risk of breaking the string and loosing the whole lot.

Needs the mast down though obviously...
Thanks for all the tips!

 

[Pitterpatter]

Plan D, possibly E

Just realised, 8m mast must be a small ish boat.

Same rules apply, I lost a line in my First 18 mast and it was a bugger to thread another shaking the mast and looking for it at the bottom.

My mast is 11m and heavy, so the whole shaking it thing was not really happening. Final solution after all the good advice had been followed and gone horribly wrong was to buy a fish tape. Made an impossible job relatively simple (I say relatively as not as easy as getting it right first time). If you do loose the mousing line, makes putting a new one in fairly easy although getting the line around the sheaves can be time consuming.

Also came in useful after some helpful person undid the knot in the end of the reefing line and it came out the boom when the sail was first hoisted. It now lives on the boat as it seems to be the only place I ever need it.