Up, up aloft

[Grehan]

Blinking radar reflector blipper thingy's come off one of its brackets and is dangling and bangling the mast.
I'm going to have to go aloft and I intend to use a long ladder attached to a spare halyard.

But . .
boat's now out of the water and chocked up in the 'car park'.

She's very heavy down below, and stable, but is it ok to ascend the mast out of the water?

Your thoughts and advice would be appreciated. Sorry if this is a naive query.

I'm in the phonebooth. It's the one across the Hall

 

[bedouin]

In a word - Yes (provided it is a still day).

If there is no wind blowing and the boat is upright, then the boat is more likely to topple over with you standing on the side deck than up the mast.

 

[Strathglass]

This is ok as long as the ladder is not puting sideway pressure on the mast. The base of the mast should be on the centreline of the boat.

Iain

 

[jimi]

would it be possible to attach another halyard to a fixed point on the ground as an additional safety measure?

 

[ccscott49]

Safety is NEVER a naive question. You should be OK if the ladder is on the centreline of the boat, tie the base of the ladder to the boat, to ensure it doesn't move. Good luck.

 

[vyv_cox]

Now might be the time to invest in a more suitable mast climbing system, on the grounds that you are unlikely to have a long ladder with you if something needs attention away from home port. ;~)

I like the Mastclimb, http://www.whittall-marine.co.uk/Mast climb.htm although it is ridiculously overpriced for what it is. Also, I don't use it the way it is shown on the website, I have the unit and bosun's chair on separate halyards. Its great advantage is that all the climbing power comes from your legs and the assistant does nothing except tail the halyard through a clutch. Ideal for husband and wife crews. No concerns about weight off centre line, either. I have used it several times when ashore.

 

[jimi]

Coming from a climbing background I use:
1) an ascendeur
2) a shunt
3) Climbing harness
4) sticht plate

Total cost I gues £150? (mine are about 10 years old now!)

attach the shunt to harness and a halyard tied of both ends.
attach ascendeur to footloop and same halyard
ascend by standing in footloop and shunt runs up rope, lean back and shunt locks and takes your weight allowing you to raise ascendeur with footloop. SAme process repeated until at top of pole.

Another halyard or the topping lift can be used for safety although I also tie that off and use sticht plate on that for safety and descent.

 

[richardandtracy]

Just remember when the boat's out - if you fall off, you've got that much further to fall and there won't be any soft, wet bits to land on (unless you can aim at the neighbour's kids running about...).

Regards

Richard.

 

[vyv_cox]

Really? What are the chances, if falling off the masthead, of projecting yourself nearly 2 metres sideways and landing in the water? I'd be hard pressed to make a standing jump of 2 metres if standing on the ground, let alone falling through the air.

 

[jimi]

When I had radar installed recently the first thing I was asked was whether the boat was in the water or not (its a 34 foot cruiser). I asked why they wanted to know and was told that they would not go up the mast if it was out the water on Health & safety grounds.

 

[Celena]

Dave Aldridge, Aladdins Cave Riggers, won't go up the mast if the boat's out of the water. (Possibility of shaking the shores loose by vibration) He should know! (I guess if the boat's in a cradle you'd probably be OK)

 

[norseman]

My thoughts are How high is this mast! At our marina they will not put any boats chocked up on the hardstand with the mast up. The problem as I see it not that you cant make it safe ie use halyard as safety line attached to a harness etc. But what are you going to do when you get up, have you seen some the rivets and attachments on some these things. You need to think your game plan out here. Keep safe its only a boat.

Regards

 

[LORDNELSON]

I have used a ladder several times to attend to my radar and steaming light. I had the ladder aligned fore and aft with the bottom of the ladder just outside and tied to the baby stay anchorage. The height at which I was having to use my hands was about 20 feetwith the ladder terminating at that level. When I got to the top of the ladder I lashed it to the mast and had a separate loop round my waist and round the mast. Because I was doing this by myself it was difficult to use a halyard going up but it would probably have been safer to have a mate down below keeping a strain on a halyard attached to me.

 

[WayneS]

Check with your boatyard. lot of them will not allow one to ascend a mast if the boat is on the hard.

Wayne

 

[bedouin]

That sounds like a pretty good reason not to check with the boatyard to me!

 

[chriscallender]

Well, I suppose you've got longer to move the 2 meters sideways if you start from the top of the mast rather than ground level. But it seems rather unprobable that anyone could pull this off unplanned...

Getting back to the point, I did once try to use this ladder method and managed to climb about 10 feet before I was shaking uncontrollably and had to come down. But then going up the (safely installed) loft ladder has exactly the same effect on me, I'm not scared of heights but I'm scared of heights when on ladders!!! So don't ask me for help!!!

 

[Anchorite]

In contrast to WW1 modern industrial safety practice is based on
the principle that the bloke doing it is worth more than what he has
to do. A ladder is now classified as a means of access and not a
work platform. This has produced the mushrooming nacelle industry:
a nacelle is the only way a safety officer would let you go near your
radar thingy.
Can't you get a line onto it (giant fishing rod, chimney sweep rods)
and tie it away from the mast;;;until the nacelle comes trundling
into the yard next spring.
And while you're fishing up there don't forget your hard hat.

 

[vyv_cox]

Industrial safety practice

5 minutes ago our whole organisation (3000 people) was circulated with a "near-miss" report of a flip chart falling over. The world has gone mad.

 

[Kathryn]

Think of it this way.... What is the cost of the Radar Blipper compared to the cost to you and your boat if something goes wrong? I would rather wait until the boat was safely in the water and risk losing the blipper. Failing that could you use a "Cherry Picker" to reach it.

 

[vyv_cox]

I'm afraid that if we "thought of it that way" we would sit in a chair all day. Of course there are risks in going up a mast, just as there are in sailing the boat, in taking a tender out to it, in driving the car to the slipway, etc., etc. But sensible precautions can minimise these risks and turn a job into some sense of achievement. In the end, most of us have deliberately chosen to participate in an activity that has a higher factor of risk than say, gardening, playing golf or throwing darts. Going up the mast is part of the activity of boat ownership.