Adding halyards?

[wildcard]

Right now the boat has two, Jib and Mainsail halyards. When we next haul I was thinking of adding two? Having never flown a chute Im assuming It needs it's own? and Id like the ability to lift the dink to the foredeck with out having to drop sail. Also had the jib halyard break and jam once and it was a slow ridhome with out it. Am I thinkinng about this right and what is the best way to do it? I guess one would do also. Your thoughts? 35 foot center cockpit S&S design

[Idiens]

How many sheaves do you have at the masthead and mast foot? It might be easy to thread new halyards, (or not). Most have two forward and two aft at the head, with the aft facing occupied by main halyard and topping lift and the forward with genoa and spare. The spi-halyard on mine is lead differently, to aid rapid raising, and to have the spi head further forward on a block and bridle.

[wildcard]

I have two. I was wondering if i could through bolt the top of the mastand put one on each side? I know there has to be some way?

[Valiente]

Many masts have top plates made from 1/4" or so aluminum which are welded into place. Frequently they are shaped like a Y and from the end of each arm of the Y are padeyes or other eyelets upon which a block can be clipped. You can make a continuous loop or rig whatever you want to hoist a spinnaker on either side, and it should stay clear from your forestay. I am sure you can see examples of this in your boating neighbourhood.

[Idiens]

This shows my 30 year old mast.
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...fitting013.jpg
You can see the red and white spi-halyard with its block and bridle, the halyard exits the mast through a slot. The block swivels and transmits the loads directly into the mast. The black and white halyard belongs to the genoa. It comes through one of the two forward masthead sheaves. The blue halyard is for the baby stay, exiting through a sheave mounted into the mast, which is suitable for stay rigged sails.

[wildcard]

This a new to me boat and I was only up there once breifly so Im not even sure of what it looks like excatly. I guess Im asking if ther is a way to add a halyard if there is no spot for one?

[blt2ski]

If you have a "loop" for lack of better term on the top front of the mast, you could put a pulley on there, then run a rope thru it and outside teh mast down to the base. From there, you could put another pulley and run it to the cockpit. I did this when I lost my spin halyard. Works no worst or better than when it was going inside the mast.

So yes, there is a way to add another halyard without running it inside the mast.

Marty

[sailingdog]

On many older boats, the halyards were run up the outside of the mast. There is no reason you can't add external halyard blocks to the exterior of the mast if you require a couple more halyards. They will cause a bit more windage and if you aren't careful about securing them properly, will make a hell of a lot of noise at anchor or while docked. (We reserve the right to cut any halyards that are slapping all-night long.)

You might need to add a padeye or two to rig the new halyard blocks from though.

[wildcard]

Now we are getting somewhere. My do currently run outside the mast as will the new ones and no I do not allow mine to slap and have no problem silencing those that do not have the consideration to keep there boats quiet.
Are there premade pad eyes for this or do I need to make one? Better to screw to teh mast or through bolt?
Thanks for teh help guys.

[sailaway21]

Wildcard,
Not having done this project myself, but seeing it's desirability, a couple of thoughts. Regardless of the type of block used, a cheek block or a tail block, I would think that through bolting would be essential. Reinforcement via backing internal to the mast would, in my opinion, be essential as well. I would probably be looking at a caged block as well since you're probably considering the sheave being outboard of the mast. That would keep the halyard fairled to the block even when slack. Proper sizing of block to line will be essential to prevent fouling as well.

A padeye could be attached for use with a tail block and would allow a wider use of the halyard at different angles of strain. Padeyes are readily available, but I would not advise their use without proper backing of the mast interior. Screwing is contra-indicated. It will eventually result in the block descending to deck level, at speed, with attendant damage to deck or yourself.(g)

I would think that a custom fabricated plug of aluminum or Delran (sp) would be the best way to provide internal mast head support. Either could be thru-drilled and padeyes or sheaves mounted externally. One advantage to using cheek blocks, perhaps negating the advantage of a tail block on a padeye, would be that it would be just as easy to mount a double sheaved block to either side as it would single sheaves.

For more on cargo derricks I'd refer you to the Merchant Marine Officers Handbook.(g)