Replacing halyards etc

M

Mrstarskydean

Active Member
Joined
21 Aug 2018
Messages
59
Visit site
Very new to this business....

Just bought our first sailing boat. Maxi 84

Want to replace halyards, sheets, etc, but this will be piecemeal as we cannot afford to rock up to a chandlery... we will be looking for bargains, and to this end want to make a list of types; sizes; lengths etc, so we are able to buy when we see a bargain.

Question - without removing every rope & measuring it - where / how do we find out this info? Owners manual? Where to find one?

More dumb questions to follow.
 
I think if you have a boat new to you and you consider the running rigging needs replacement then it would be most unwise not to remove it piece by piece to examine the bits you can't examine from deck level. It's only a matter of buying a 25m spool of 5mm blue polypropylene "rope" from ebay and using it as a mouse line to bring your cordage to deck, it doesn't even have to be detatched if the cordage is OK, just rehoist it after inspection and go on to the next. It'll take a short afternoon.
If you mark the blue stuff at deck level when the tied-on end just appears at the masthead you have an accurate measurement of masthead to deck height, just add the length of haliyard you've got lying on deck and voilá! Sheets can be measured on board if you fold them in half first.
Same principle applies to in boom reefing lines. Pull the blue through until it reappears at the other end to see how much resides in the boom and add the rest.
Easy peasy.
And you'll know which to replace first, as well as having the peace of mind of knowing your cordage isn't going to part in the first blow.
Personally I'd also want (need) to inspect the masthead and fittings on a new boat before I used it. Ut is the most neglected part of the vessel as well as the most critical. Don't risk previous owner's (owners') laziness and assuming they checked it! Many mastheads aren't even checked once in a decade. Don't take the risk!
If necessary pay a rigger to go up and check it, it is a damn sight cheaper in the long run than some of the possible alternatives.
 
Last edited:
To add to the above, get all of the lines off and put them through a wash cycle with fabric conditioner - they may not be as horrible as you think. It is often suggested that they get tied into a pillowcase, my experience says they'll get just as tangled in that as they do without.
 
You probably have only 2 or maybe 3 sizes of rope, so buying 100m lengths makes sense and make up your own. No need to splice if you use a halyard knot for attachment to shackles. Not difficult to work out lengths required simply by measuring - halyards and topping lift are twice mast height plus length back to clutches - usually around 30-35m for your size boat. So 3 halyards to 100m.

As suggested remove all the current cordage using mousing line, wash them, measure and decide once they are clean which are priority for replacement.
 
Mrstarskydean said:
Question - without removing every rope & measuring it - where / how do we find out this info? Owners manual? Where to find one?
Click to expand...

Not difficult to get an old line and use it as a mouse to remove each line in turn and measure it. Much better than attempting to estimate and find you have bought 15m too much, or even worse a line 1m too short.

You've probably heard the term mouse before but if not a mouse is a temporary replacement line to allow you to run a new one or the old one back in again. Often a piece of string, but I'm more inclined to use old lines as a mouse myself.

I don't subscriber to the buy 100m of the same colour line and use it for everything approach. It can really confuse your crew and can lead to issues when people are trying to do things quickly under stress. Far better to have each line easily identifiable even by novice crew.
 
lpdsn said:
I don't subscriber to the buy 100m of the same colour line and use it for everything approach. It can really confuse your crew and can lead to issues when people are trying to do things quickly under stress. Far better to have each line easily identifiable even by novice crew.
Click to expand...

You are just assuming that he has a novice crew who rush around getting in a tizz. Never had any problem with the same colour for halyards - you can always label the clutches and even for other controls, they are invariably controlled from the same point so no reason to be confused.

Of course using different colours may cost more and increase the rope maker's profit if that is what you want!
 
I think it depends on how many and where. At the mast it will be easy, main on the right, jib on the left perhaps, but if there is a mass of lines coming to clutches aft it can be harder. We have four lines each side and colour coding, which is what came with the boat, makes life much easier.
 
If I asked the Admiral to "ease the main halyard", I would just get "that look" and the comment "what colour?".


We passed a French boat in the marina that had a bright assortment of primary coloured halyards and, to be fair, it looked quite good.
 
On our school boats I often used same coloured lines so that people could actually learn where it goes and what its purpose is. Far better for me and them than saying pull the blue one. :encouragement:
 
anoccasionalyachtsman said:
To add to the above, get all of the lines off and put them through a wash cycle with fabric conditioner - they may not be as horrible as you think. .
Click to expand...
Accordng to my rigger it is certanly nowhere as horrible as you think. it is VASTLY worse.
I am told there are two typess of modern woven rope, continuous fibre and non continuous fibre.

He assures me putting washing continuous fibre through a washing machine distresses the fibres so much they break up and become non-continuous.
I can certainly confirm his other assertion that washing (cheap) non-continuous rope turns it into a big ball of fluff.

I am therefore inclined to believe his advice to only wash rope by hand in a bucket or bath, never a washing machine.
 
Last edited:
Old Bumbulum said:
Accordng to my rigger it is certanly nowhere as horrible as you think. it is VASTLY worse.
I am told there are two typess of modern woven rope, continuous fibre and non continuous fibre.

He assures me putting washing continuous fibre through a washing machine distresses the fibres so much they break up and become non-continuous.
I can certainly confirm his other assertion that washing (cheap) non-continuous rope turns it into a big ball of fluff.

I am therefore inclined to believe his advice to only wash rope by hand in a bucket or bath, never a washing machine.
Click to expand...

I think that it also depends on the colour of the fibres.
I never had any problems with machine washing braid on braid. That is until I bought the present boat. She had been unused for some fourteen years and the halyards were filthy with traffic film and fine dust. The worst one was the spinnaker halyard that was the one that was exposed to the elements being totally outside of the mast. When I washed it in the machine, as I was used to doing, it came out clean alright... except that the exposed flecks had turned to fluff!
Funnily enough it was only the BLUE flecks that were affected; the rest of the rope, the white fibres, were unscathed. Needless to say I replaced that halyard... but it made a lovely mat! ;)
 
Old Bumbulum said:
Accordng to my rigger it is certanly nowhere as horrible as you think. it is VASTLY worse.
I am told there are two typess of modern woven rope, continuous fibre and non continuous fibre.

He assures me putting washing continuous fibre through a washing machine distresses the fibres so much they break up and become non-continuous.
I can certainly confirm his other assertion that washing (cheap) non-continuous rope turns it into a big ball of fluff.

I am therefore inclined to believe his advice to only wash rope by hand in a bucket or bath, never a washing machine.
Click to expand...

Lets hope the ropes your rigger refers to survive a few years' rain, saltwater, dirt, flogging, being trampled on, twisted, crushed, stretched and abraded in use rather better than they survive half an hour sloshing around in a washing machine.:rolleyes:
 
LittleSister said:
Lets hope the ropes your rigger refers to survive a few years' rain, saltwater, dirt, flogging, being trampled on, twisted, crushed, stretched and abraded in use rather better than they survive half an hour sloshing around in a washing machine.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Quite right. I forgot that a lot of people don't know that washing machines have different types of cycle. Probably not allowed to use them.
 
LittleSister said:
Lets hope the ropes your rigger refers to survive a few years' rain, saltwater, dirt, flogging, being trampled on, twisted, crushed, stretched and abraded in use rather better than they survive half an hour sloshing around in a washing machine.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It is so easy to be so dismissive of people passing on advice garnered from experts.

Think for a minute, if you can, of the diference between flogging ropes, treading on them and sloshing them around unloaded in detergent for hours so the fibres can loosen, twist and unravel. Do try.

Was Puff imagining this too ? Apparently we are both delusional/stupid/wrong according to your expert judgement.

Are you claiming to have superior knowledge to a respected Professional rigger? Not me, not Puff, but a respected Professional rigger?

It would seem unlikely to say the least. Especially as both of us seem to have corroborated his explanation.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top