So the local birds chose my masthead to roost on, as opposed to the yachts in front of me.

As a result my Windex has snapped and needs replacing.

The problem is that my halyard winches are tiny and are not capable of winching myself up, and I tried winching my 65kg female friend up and it was pretty tough, and they are not self tailing either. It's a no go.

My masthead is 35 feet off the water, and 30 feet off the deck.

Are there any bridges in the Brisbane area with handrails that are exactly 35 feet above the water at slack tide?

Any other ideas to get up there in a cost realistic fashion? I've looked at the MastMate ladder but it's over $500 delivered to Australia; for $100 at Bunnings I could build a 30 foot ladder out of wood that I assemble at the jetty and hoist up using a halyard.

I'll send you up my Mastclmber if you send it back with a $50.00 note inside. Thatll cover my post and effort:)
www.adventuresafety.com.au/marine-hardware/atn-mastclimber/

Is it possible to fit one on the bow? I have had this Tack tick for about 15 years on the bow and can detach it when leaving the yacht which is very handy.

A mate of mine tied a couple of extension ladders together to get to the top of his mast on his 27 footer

Probably not recommended but it worked for him

Or this way

Take your 65kg female friend out for a sail, show her the video and tell her up she goes while you steer

The skipper on the boat i race on said he has seen a well know Australian racer do this years ago

Regards Don

Select to expand quote

AshleyM said..
So the local birds chose my masthead to roost on, as opposed to the yachts in front of me.

As a result my Windex has snapped and needs replacing.

The problem is that my halyard winches are tiny and are not capable of winching myself up, and I tried winching my 65kg female friend up and it was pretty tough, and they are not self tailing either. It's a no go.

My masthead is 35 feet off the water, and 30 feet off the deck.

Are there any bridges in the Brisbane area with handrails that are exactly 35 feet above the water at slack tide?

Any other ideas to get up there in a cost realistic fashion? I've looked at the MastMate ladder but it's over $500 delivered to Australia; for $100 at Bunnings I could build a 30 foot ladder out of wood that I assemble at the jetty and hoist up using a halyard.

Depends on how agile and comfortable she is get her to pull her weight up by climbing. Use the stays , spreaders plus any other thing you can help on. That's how the riggers do it me my shoulders are to far gone to pull me up and my wife I am just happy she will agree to go up the last there is not many who will.

Also might want to look at changing it to a stainless steel one I got sick of replacing the plastic . They are available at whitworths.

I've used the boom on a fishing boat [steel with steps]. Eased the boom out and climbed out to roughly the mast height and pulled the mast top towards me with the halyard. Yachts are not that hard to pull over a few degrees.

I've used one of these before: www.winchbit.com/ . Not a bad idea....cheaper than one of these: www.winchrite.co.uk/ .

There is also a simpler square version: www.kong.it/en/2-products/items/f27-winches/p127-drill-adapter . Anyone with access to a lathe and a suitable piece of square stock could knock one up in a few minutes....

when doing mast work on small boats i raft along side mine or some larger vessel go up my mast and swing across this way your above the mast your working on instead of trying to see over the top

As buying things this days is in vouge compared to use one's brains and creativity like in the old days, the simple method of using one's halyards, sheets, an old knife and a marline hitch with a few lengths of timber might seem orthodox.
It is easy to make, very safe in calm waters and doesn't cost much.
Tried it a few occasions and it works a treat.

Maybe mast steps?

Bloody birds

I have a nice new drum of double braid that I use with the main sheet blocks to hoist myself up the mast. I use one halyard attached to the block and take it to the top of the mast , other block on bosons chair ,3to 1 purchase then your helper only has to take the slack on your safety line which they can do while still surfing the net on their phone apparently . You will need some stirrups attached to the bosons chair so you can reach over the top of the mast. I set them up so the cleat for the main sheet is on the bosons chair that way it won't lock when your trying to come down ,tie it off when your up there so you don't accidentally uncleat it . winding the rope back on the drum when you have finished is a pain and best left to your helper as you mumble something and walk off pretending to have trouble installing the blocks back on the boom

prusik hitch climbing Google it and use it one on your foot and one on your harness and I take no responsibility or liability for what happens

Prusik loops are easy I climb with them all the time arborist easy to make cheap and safe, use an extra one on a spare line for safety

Thanks for all the advice guys, especially Bushdog for your kind offer.

I figured that I would like a mast mounted VHF aerial at some stage so I really need my own equipment, and I can't afford a fancy off-the-shelf climbing system, so I went to Bunnings and did this:

I built a 30 foot ladder in 2 sections out of 70 x 35 mm pine which I bolted together at the pontoon and hoisted using the spinnaker halyard. My friend kept the tension on my harness(using the genoa halyard) as I climbed and she locked the halyard when I was at the masthead and cleated it around the genoa sheet cleats as a safety measure. We used to main halyard and her designer handbag to hoist up and down the tools as required.

It was really safe and easy and cost me about $80. I'll store the ladder sections under the house for the next time I go aloft.

Well done Ashley.......but it still looks scary to me.