khayyam 68 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 hi all our 727 only has half of the masthead windex remaining, which isn't very useful. it seems like the easiest thing is to haul someone up, but we haven't actually got any experience doing so. we have got a proper climbing harness. any tips? for instance, how light a person do we need at the top with only 400kg in the keel? there's only the one halyard all the way up -- is it worth using one of the fractional halyards as a safety backup? Link to post Share on other sites
Murky 1 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Morning khayyam, Having a person up the mast won't test the stability of the boat under normal circumstances i.e. while they are directly aloft and on the centreline. Personally I would not bother with a second halyard as a safety unless I had concerns about the primary halyard (in which case I wouldn't go up on it). However some people prefer to make a bowline in the halyard rather than go up on the existing shackle or clip if they are of an easy-release design. I just googled "climbing mast tips" and there are some quite good resources around. The only ones I'd throw in are that the competency of the person handling the halyard is critical to the exercise, and that getting all tools and parts that could possibly be needed - even if they are just in a bucket on deck that can be pulled up separately - will save a lot of angst. Personally I find that a climbing harness does not lend itself to spending a long time up there - after 15 minutes or so it starts to cut off the circulation and you can arrive back on deck with a couple of "dead legs". And finally, the cost of a professional rigger may start to look appealing once you have had a crack at it! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Dont do it on a windy day, make sure you stay on the centreline of the boat and the crew dont move around too much while you are up there. As soon as you swing out from the c/l it will have a lot of influence on the heel which can make it quite exciting. You should have a bosuns chair for cat3 so get one and they usually have pouches for tools etc. I always use another halyard as a backup. Link to post Share on other sites
wal 27 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 We used to pull the Zap over on it's side ... but make sure your battery is sealed or remove it first Mind yew we had nothing in our boat to send everywhere Link to post Share on other sites
Clipper 343 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 I find its very hard to climb in a bosuns chair, very easy in a climbing harness. I'm guessing you dont have big winches or crew to haul you up there, so the climber will in fact be climbing. Go with the harness, unless you will be hanging around too long up there. And take another piece of rope/string up with you to haul up the tool you forgot. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Any clips or shackles used I'd tape them up just to make sure there wasn't an accidental release. If you are riveting a fitting on use the plyer type riveters rather than the expandable ones. I riveting on a new windex to Ants mast using those and nearly lost 2 fingers. Mind you the pricks at deck level did hoist the main and started sailing 1/2 way thru as we were late for the start, hanging a few metres out from the gunwale probably didn't help me Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Rocket Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 never use the halyard clip or the shackle - bowline of a carabine clip (threaded) into the splice - otherwise one day you will fall... Link to post Share on other sites
Crocket 12 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Was at the top replacing the wand on a Y88 1 morning before a race when some crew wandered down the marina and climbed aboard. I was looking up with both hands attaching the new wand and no body warned them that I was up there. Don't know how far I went sideways in the next 1/2 second, but I was ready for a fight when I got back down. The flex in the top of the mast is really good at making the return trip back towards the centreline really exciting also. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Yip KM - the concertina type rivet guns are just lethal on fingers and folds of skin! Be very careful. Surely they have been outlawed by OSH by now? Link to post Share on other sites
khayyam 68 Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 We used to pull the Zap over on it's side... but make sure your battery is sealed or remove it first Mind yew we had nothing in our boat to send everywhere i think this is exactly what we're trying to avoid! Link to post Share on other sites
khayyam 68 Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 never use the halyard clip or the shackle - bowline of a carabine clip (threaded) into the splice - otherwise one day you will fall... yeah we'll stay away from the shackle. the main halyard is cable, so the thinking is putting climbing rope through the cable "eye" (not really a splice, is it?) and tying that off to the harness. that kinda what you had in mind? Link to post Share on other sites
rigger 47 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 never use the halyard clip or the shackle - bowline of a carabine clip (threaded) into the splice - otherwise one day you will fall... yeah we'll stay away from the shackle. the main halyard is cable, so the thinking is putting climbing rope through the cable "eye" (not really a splice, is it?) and tying that off to the harness. that kinda what you had in mind? You can use the shackle (conventional screw pin) but seize / mouse it so that it cannot come undone. Agree with never using the snap shackle type. Check the state of the 'cable eye' if it is a talurit splice then check it very carefully, if it is worn, bent, damaged in any way use a backup line as well. I have climbed in a bosuns chair but then again you have to have the type of bosuns chair that can be climbed in, working in a regular climbing harness can become painful in very short order unless it is well padded, your choice but I go for comfort as a little job can suddenly turn into a longer job. Have a line attached to the halyard that you can use to lift / lower the tools and gear on. Link to post Share on other sites
wal 27 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Of course it you're near a mast gantry go up on that . Easy Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 under normal berthed or moored conditions going up the rig is easy enough. dont do it while sailing though we had our 60kg bowman up the rig fetching the kite halyard while running downind in last years piedy nationals 20 - 25 knots of breeze with just the main up we got hit with a good gust the the boat just fell over top third of the rig in the piss and our keel weighs over 550 kg Link to post Share on other sites
col j 0 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 which boat and where? been up quarter pints rig a couple too many times (85kg) no real dramas just dont let anyone on the boat move side to side or get on or off. would advise against doing it on a swing mooring at a place like orakie. waves can make it exciting/impossible to do the job. personally i dont like wire halyards so id be running a back up line (fractional kite or genoa halyard) and possibly throw a strop over the top of the mast when your up there so that if the halyard fails you dont crash down 3 or 4m and cain it into the spreaders. would advise against doing it on the hard. chair or harness is your call. with a harness make sure you double back the adjustment straps and sit in it when up there instead of having your body straight...thats when the blood stops flowing Link to post Share on other sites
col j 0 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 by the way we have tried pulling the boat over before...was too hard for us 4 guys. if your parked next to a bigger boat go up their rig and pull yours over. dont this before. works well untill the little boat starts moving and pulling your arms off Link to post Share on other sites
khayyam 68 Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 which boat and where? been up quarter pints rig a couple too many times (85kg) no real dramas just dont let anyone on the boat move side to side or get on or off. would advise against doing it on a swing mooring at a place like orakie. hrm. she's at a swing off devonport -- ferry wake certainly could make it more interesting. Link to post Share on other sites
khayyam 68 Posted June 22, 2010 Author Share Posted June 22, 2010 wal -- what sort of gantry do you have in mind? are there options just for taking you up, rather than pulling the mast? Link to post Share on other sites
wal 27 Posted June 22, 2010 Share Posted June 22, 2010 Gantry in Westhaven between A and B Marinas. Go see the girls in the marina office down by the bridge, pay yer bond and away you go. Haven't done it myself but I see guys pulling their own rigs out now n then Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted June 23, 2010 Share Posted June 23, 2010 Went up the mast on Urban Cowboy during a coastal one year to attach another masthead kite halyard after the first broke. Went up on the fractional halyard and free climbed the rest. One of the scariest things I've ever done, especially when you have to hold on with one hand and thread the halyard with the other.... Don't know if I would do it again. Got to steer for quite a few hours after that, so a bit of a bonus... Link to post Share on other sites
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