DO YOU ALL GO UP THE MAST TO CHECK OUT THE HIGH RIGGING ???

NOPE !
I can lower mine.

Hearing about one guy hitting the deck after having his foot stick in a rung whilst tryna dive is not helping my confidence.
Next time I will pack a lunch box and a drink in a bag tied to a long rope attached to my belt, so I can have a few spells on the way up and definitely would like a bosuns chair of some sort..

At the moment I would not trust my main sheet halyard till I replace it < my bosun's chair is on lend Mangrove when I comes back if you want a lend let me know

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HG02 said...
At the moment I would not trust my main sheet halyard till I replace it < my bosun's chair is on lend Mangrove when I comes back if you want a lend let me know

Yeah, a bosuns would be sweet. I pretty much have no choice but to trust my halyard. It was the damned process of fumbling with so many lifelines that had me the jitters! Id best just climb straight up and be done with it.

You can buy a bosuns chair at with worthy for $69.00

Thanks, I have good halyards and bosuns chair but lack the *alls

time for a selfie

A second halyard tied into the harness / bosuns chair is a must. Have your mate taking up the slack on it every meter or so. Relying on a single halyard is not a great idea, you want options if it fails or jams up or some other nasty.

no, not yet, but my rigging is just about to be replaced.

I'd like to be independent,anyone used one of the mast climbing systems?.

It's not the being winched up, it's the control needed on the way down that takes some practice with using winches and 2 halyards.

hi guys
the pic i put up is of my son up the mast i am a big piker and scared of heights
i agree with u guys a safety halyard is a non negotiable
we have recently borrowed a self climber a good safe system but you need to be really fit to use one they are slow and tedious and a good workout for the climber as you are continually doing sqats to progress

I have steps all the way up and check the rigging everytime before going offshore.

I don't use a Bosuns Chair and halyards (2) unless I am planning a long spell at the top or swinging out to the forestay.

I replaced all the rigging on my boat last year by removing half of the rigging, sending it off to be replicated twice and re-installing. the mast was a bit wobbly at the top with only half the rigging though!

Luckily I have twin backstays, two forestays, a staysyl stay and fore and aft lowers. saved a lot of $$ doing it myself. - over 160m of rigging replaced...

Yeah, got a steP climber. Here a picky of Lady Musgrave Island I took and repairing my VHF Aerial

My mast as steps as far as the spreaders, I'm trying to figure out how to get up the rest of the way when I have to??

When mast comes down soon I'm putting folding glass nylon steps to the top. Then I'll use a climbing harness and two straps around the mast so I'm connected at all times.. Will still be scary but at least i will be self reliant.

I have never been up my mast, I have a superb bosuns chair but after doing some rock wall climbing I am now a fan of climbing harnesses. To ascend one of these on a separate halyard. And descend on one of the propriety descenders.
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I'm open to suggestions. Mate does his mast climbing singlehanded [while I watch] with normal climbing gear.

When I was younger I did a lot of rock climbing & worked as an arborist for a while, & climb the mast single handed most of the time, I find the easiest way is to hoist one end of a block & tackle attached to a halyard to the mast head (lower end to your harness), double blocks are sufficient, the halyard is secured then I simply pull myself up, using a walk/thrusting up the mast motion, you tie a prussic knot from your harness to the tail of the block & tackle, so when you let go of the line you don't fall.
As a safety back you secure a second halyard (internal or external of the mast doesn't matter), you tie a second prussic knot from your harness to the second line & take in the slack as you climb.
If the first rope becomes tangled (as you obviously need a long line four times the height of your mast or there abouts), you descend on the second line, just have to make sure your prussic line is of less diameter than the main climbing line/halyard/block & tackle line ie, halyard 10mm = prussic knot line is 8mm.
You descend by slowly twisting the prussic knot.

I've got a "TopClimber" & it works well for single handed use.

It would be great if I was younger, or even a bit fitter, but I do get there eventually.

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Bundeenaboy said...
You can buy a bosuns chair at with worthy for $69.00

Make sure it has a board in it. The soft ones will squeeze your gonads to the point of agony in a very short time.

This is actually a WPH&Safety issue. Be aware of what you are doing when going up the mast. Superman is only in the comic books.

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BlueMoon said...
When I was younger I did a lot of rock climbing & worked as an arborist for a while, & climb the mast single handed most of the time, I find the easiest way is to hoist one end of a block & tackle attached to a halyard to the mast head (lower end to your harness), double blocks are sufficient, the halyard is secured then I simply pull myself up, using a walk/thrusting up the mast motion, you tie a prussic knot from your harness to the tail of the block & tackle, so when you let go of the line you don't fall.
As a safety back you secure a second halyard (internal or external of the mast doesn't matter), you tie a second prussic knot from your harness to the second line & take in the slack as you climb.
If the first rope becomes tangled (as you obviously need a long line four times the height of your mast or there abouts), you descend on the second line, just have to make sure your prussic line is of less diameter than the main climbing line/halyard/block & tackle line ie, halyard 10mm = prussic knot line is 8mm.
You descend by slowly twisting the prussic knot.

Next time I see you I'll get you to demonstrate that for me. It sounds good but I need to SEE it.

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Lazzarae said...
I've got a "TopClimber" & it works well for single handed use.

It would be great if I was younger, or even a bit fitter, but I do get there eventually.

I will bear witness to that. Larry went up the mast on Second Wind for me. You are a Champ Larry. I insisted we use a halliard as a safety line. That therefore means a second person on deck.

One person up the mast I believe is a two person operation. Superman is only in the comic books.

The person on deck needs to have "up the mast" experience so that he knows exactly what the person he is aiding is doing.

Lowering a person from the mast top smoothly is an art in itself.

Call me conservative, but I go up my mast solo using both a climbing harness AND a bosun's chair and TWO halyards.
NEVER go up with just one halyard. If you do that and your halyard fails, you probably DIE!

The primary halyard is attached to to the bosun’s chair’s as shown in the picture.


This arrangement requires two ascenders, a regular climbing ascender for the foot straps and a micocender for the bosun's chair. To ascend, sitting in the bosun's chair you grab the line above you as high as you can with one hand near but above the other. Then you stand up against the foot straps and hold onto the line.

I tie my climbing harness to the secondary (backup) halyard using a Prusik knot, which can slide easily up and down.

This setup works well when single handed and does not require any great strength to ascend the mast.

Yes. Being a gaff rigged boat, my mast is only about 6m high off the deck.
I simply grab the two topping lifts and the gaff halyard (3 10mm lines in total) with my hands, wrap my legs around the mast and start hauling myself up. I pull myself up with two hands, clamp my legs around the mast, move my hands up another couple of feet, un clamp my legs, haul away again. Towards the top I stand on mast steps and walk up the last meter from there. At the top I wrap my safety line around the mast a couple of times and clip on.
To descend I grab the three lines again, place my feet against each side of the mast and slide down hand over hand.

Mast climbing was a topic on the PBO forums a couple of days ago. One member described how a crewman for a yacht hire company climbed the mast of each of the yachts in quick succession by climbing up the furled headsails. I guess if the furled headsail was an ideal thickness it would not be that hard.

Attach my main halyard and topping lift to a dynamic climbing rope. Using mechanical ascending devices; a single foot loop on the left ascender and a loop to the harness on the right ascender. left ascender is also linked to harness for additional safety. Can carry a chair up there and hook it on to an ascender when I get up. Then rappel down using a rappelling device or reverse the climbing process. There are youtube videos on this single line climbing technique.

Ah well, I've been up there several times.
In this photo I spent 3 hours up there putting on four steps so that I can reach the top of the mast and work!