replacing main Halyard

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outdoorhanz

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Hi

I' going to change the main halyard on my seamaster sailor 23 tomorrow was thinking to tape the new and old rope together with duck tape.

Havent tried this before wonder if any has some handy tips.

Peter
 
I would stitch the two ends together with whipping twine.

Alternatively make it a two stage process. Make a loop of whipping twine at the free end of the old halyard. Attach a suitable length of thin cord which you pull through as a messenger, then use that to pull your new halyard through. It is worth having a loop on the end of halyards so that you can remove them easily in the winter.
 
If you find stitching a fag, just get a short length of mousing line, say 1m long. Tape it to youR halyard for 10cm, then fold the mousing line back and tape over again. Do the same on the new halyard.

It won't slip that way at all.
 
Heat seal the ends of both old and new and stitch them butted together.

Tape on its own is not secure enough .

Tape over stitching can get caught up in the sheave.
 
I take my halyards down several times a year: I put three half hitches of a light line (4 mm) on the halyard about an inch and half apart and tape them over with insulating tape. Then I pull very hard on each side to make sure everything is secure and then lower the halyard leaving the light line in place.

If this works for you then all you have to do is lower the halyard you want to change as above and then attach the new halyard in the same way to the light line and pull it back through the system.
 
replacing a halyard

I remove all standing and running rigging at the end of every season.

I stitched a loop (5-6 strands) of sail twine into the end of each halyard.

Before removing halyard, I tie a suitable thinner line to the loop (called a mouse or messenger line). For security and to prevent jamming of the knot inside mast I tape up the messenger line knot. Pull out halyard, remove tape, untie knot leaving messenger line inside mast, tie off each end of messenger line to outside of mast.

If they need it I wash the halyards at home in the washing machine.
I store the halyards and standing rigging in a dry shed at home over winter.

Before mast goes up at the beginning of the season I re-install the halyards. Reverse of above.

Takes me about half an hour to strip mast of all standing and running rigging, plus light and wind instruments.
Gives me the chance to inspect everything before the season and hopefully the (expensive) rigging + halyards should last a bit longer.
 
Stitching the two ends with whipping twine is my preferred method. Just remember to pull gently on the line when hauling so as not to undo any stitching or get stuck in a sheave.
 
Agree that stitching is the way to go. Rather than sewing the old and new together, it is much better to sew a mousing loop (4 stands of twine) on all halyards so that, when you remove the halyards at the end of the season (assuming you don't sail all year round), you can easily remove them and leave a mouse line for winter. This extends the life of your halyards by a factor of at least two and also makes it possible to take them home and put them in the washer when SWMBO is out for the day. Use only non-bio. And no no fabric conditioner!
 
I have done all of my running rigging by butt stitching and no problems so far.I cover the join with self amalgamating tape which can be pulled really tight so it is no fatter than the rope and bends easily over the sheaves.I also give it a spray with dry PTFE to make it slide easily.The dry PTFE spays are much cheaper from bicycle shops.
 
Something I picked up on my mast climbing course.
If you have braid halyards, push back the outer cut the core back, and then stitch, whip the loose braid to give you a permanent loop.

Did it on my halyards took about ten mins each, and it makes it really quick to attach mouse line and pull through.
 
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