I have a1987 F 36/38. Wondering what happens if the main halyard breaks. Presently it appears that I’d have to take the mast down to run the new line. Only one halyard to the mast head. Don’t see an extra sheave for a tag line. What have other owners done to prepare for the inevitable.
I believe the flag halyard line can be used to run an emergency halyard to the mast head - though it would be pulling off-center and wouldn’t be able to fully hoist the main. To run a new line I would think either take down the mast or find a yard with a cherry picker tall enough. Or rent one - it’s shocking what heavy equipment you can rent.
Coincidentally. We have lot of tall palm trees where I live, yesterday there was a cherry picker next door taking a guy up about 45 feet to do trimming.
I have an antenna problem at the masthead. I was thinking of hiring the guy for an hour or two so I could get to the masthead and troubleshoot. I have a very hard time getting anything productive accomplished when I climb up there.
If you had a lift it would be fairly trivial to run a new halyard.
At sea it’s going to be pretty challenging. It would be great to have a more robust backup halyard or at least a more robust flag halyard like Stephan mentioned.
Mary
Years ago when my halyard broke I tied up along a sailboat with a taller mast and a line wrapped around the two masts. Up on a boson chair The two masts tilted enough to reach safely while cinching the line around the masts every so often.
Anthony Marsibilio
1989 F 36/38
That is a good suggestion. Ill keep it in mind.
I have had a boatyard replace mine more than once. They go up on a lift with a chain attached to the new halyard and drop it down inside the mast the fish it out with a hook or wire coat hanger. I have a 65’ mast but most boat yards are equipped. I try to replace mine proactively by taping the new one to the old one and pulling it thru.
There are two mastheads that Freedom used for the 36/38, and the newer one has sheaves for an emergency halyard. The idea is that you leave a messenger line rigged through the two tiny sheaves on the forward and aft ends of the masthead. If you lose your main halyard, you can tie the messenger to a larger diameter line with a block at the end, and hoist it with a new halyard running through the block. The tiny sheaves are NOT intended to run the halyard themselves.
If you have the older style “top hat” masthead, I suggest you replace it with the new version if you can. Not just for the emergency halyard, but also the issue of aluminum corrosion of the old style masthead causing it to “burst” inside the mast. There was a picture of a really bad case of this somewhere else on the forum where the top couple of feet of a mast looked like they were peeled like a banana. I know that Paul Dennis has a few of the new style mastheads at his shop.
Good information. Disturbing though. I’m fairly sure I have the old style top that you mentioned. I did see a picture of a mast top section that was split open. I guess you’re suggesting that it was caused by the corrosion of the mast top insert . Also you have confirmed that I have no way to run a spare halyard or even a tracer line. Thanks for the response.
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Of course, you could go up the mast using a bosun’s chair and just the jib halyard and a prusik knot tied around the mast. You wouldn’t fall if the jib halyard broke, but you’d have fun loosening the prusik enough to get it to slide. Shimmy up the mast a bit, slide the knot down, repeat until safely on deck.
How would you get to the top of the mast?
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Yea, that is the issue I run into whenever I think about getting up there to deal with a lost, failed or jammed halyard/sheave.
I suppose one could do the rock climber thing and use two prusscks to work your way up the mast. Push the unloaded one up. step on it then pull the unloaded one up. That would not be easy. However I use a prusick as a safety because, guess what, there is no backup halyard!
I take my cell phone so I can call for help if the halyard fails. I also take a paper bag so I can cover my head and avoid the shame when the fire department shows up.
I have considered installing some lightweight steps like these
But with our round mast section one would need a conforming pad for each step.
I have about 42 feet of mast above the deck, given 15 inch spacing (maybe a bitt more) and taking into account the boom step and the fact you don’t have to go all the way to the tippy top, I would need about 25 steps…which is a lot.
Heres another interesting option. I have looked at these many times
When you are not busy on the boat you can trim your own palm trees 
450 Euros - I looked so you don’t have to. They have a set for plastic poles.
https://www.pole-climbing.eu/concrete-and-metal-pole-climbers/uni-met-450/
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My boat came with a bosuns chair. Basically a pair of straps you sit into a buckle yourself into. The straps come together at your hips with a ring. You hook your halyards (jib and mains’l) into it, and your two friends (did I mention you need two friends?) haul you up, redundancy for safety. But your main halyard is busted, so you’d need something else for safety. That’s what the prusik is for – preventing bad things from happening to good people.
BTW, Mike is correct saying that you could use two prusik knots tied around the mast. Then you would be climbing on your own.
But the question remains, how do you reach the masthead if you’re being hoisted by the jib halyard?
So the two sliding prussiks would be tied above the forestay once you are hoisted all the way up on the jib halyard.
Then you slide them up one at a time along the mast working up.
This video shows it done on a climbing line. In our case it would be setup around the mast. Using the foot sling allows pushing up with your leg.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E6Mbl1QiQ_E
If there was a yard that was available with a bucket truck I would choise that option.
My thought was to find a marina with a seawall. We had one at the Stockton sailing club - see photo - which was outfitted with a crane for smaller boats. This provides a solid, flat space for a bucket truck. It would have to reach out beyond the dock finger below but that should not be a problem. Then you get someone with a bucket truck and share cost with colleagues who want to get to the masthead for various maintenance. Most everyone has something they would like to take a close look at up there.
