mast climbing solo under way

Boat handling, ideas, questions...
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phildowney
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Re: mast climbing solo under way

Post by phildowney »

hi i meant you put the masts level abeam, put a strop round your mast then use the other boats halyard to winch you up
phil
Owner of Kusi, UK F35 Cat ketch
Southampton UK

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THATBOATGUY
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Location: F40 CC CK Maryland
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Re: mast climbing solo under way

Post by THATBOATGUY »

Ah, Gotcha Phil,

Well, my way worked today finally. I had a calm 15 minutes this evening and was able to perform the nautical version of pin the tail on the donkey.

Sorry to take the thread so far afield. I am still very interested in the original question and possible solutions.


Redneck Mast Steps.jpg
Redneck Mast Steps.jpg (43.56 KiB) Viewed 5673 times
George
George and Kerri Huffman S/V Marquesa Freedom 40 CC CK Sail MarquesaImage

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phildowney
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Re: mast climbing solo under way

Post by phildowney »

update,
i have bought a petzl grigri and a left handed ascender i have a spinlock harness and will make up some webbing foot loops
more when i try it out
no wories about going slightly off track, the main thing is you got your halyards back and next time someone does a search on the archives theyl have one more thing to try
phil
Owner of Kusi, UK F35 Cat ketch
Southampton UK

lfreeman
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Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 7:42 pm
Location: Fairbanks, AK

Re: mast climbing solo under way

Post by lfreeman »

Phil and George,

I used two ascenders and a grigri as back up when I went aloft on my boat. The grigri makes descending easier and safer. The ascenders and grigri have some pretty specific rope diameter requirements, so I had a piece of 11mm static kernmantle rope that I would haul aloft. But that only works if you have a halyard at the mast head. I remembered the following post from my lurking days and stored macks' idea of using prusik hitches around the mast in the back of my mental toolkit: http://www.freedomyachts.org/viewtopic. ... ole#p40058
Prussik http://www.animatedknots.com/prusik/index.php
Klemhiest http://www.animatedknots.com/klemheist/ ... dknots.com

George, it's too bad that you didn't get some action photos of the successful halyard retrieval!
Phil, you might try finding 2" webbing for the foot loops and some bungie around the loops and ankles to keep your feet in the loops.
Larry
boatless, for now

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Castaway
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Re: mast climbing solo under way

Post by Castaway »

Larry said "Phil, you might try finding 2" webbing for the foot loops and some bungie around the loops and ankles to keep your feet in the loops."

Wear boots or heavy shoes, too, or else your feet will be pinched very painfully, particularly problematic when you are descending and want to feel where to put your feet. Voice of (unpleasant) experience!
Gerald Freshwater,
s/y 'Castaway', (UK F35 cat ketch, centreboard, 1987)
Lerwick Boating Club
Shetland Isles, Scotland

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