how to change halyard

[eggman2001]

I need to change one of my halyards. I understand that there is a way to replace it with a tempory string and then replacing the string with a new halyard. Can someone tell me how to tie the string to the halyard so that it slides through the top of the mast?

[bestfriend]

Considering how much of a pain in the butt it will be if you lose the halyard, I would go the safe route. Use a line bigger than a piece of string. String can get dislodged and stuck in a sheave. I would stitch the two pieces end to end with whipping. And if you hit a tight spot and it gets hard to pull, don't force it. Thats just me, others may not be so careful. Also, if you know the length already, just buy new line that is longer and skip the intermediate part, stitch the new line to the old line.

[Tom Miller]

The way I've done it several times in the past is to make a clean non-frayed cut on both the old and new halyard. Then butt the ends together and sew the ends to each other with needle and thread about five laces and then put a one layer piece of tape over the ends and carefully pull 'er thru. Has worked well every time I've done it.

Tom

[morganmike]

I use duct tape. EB green, actually, but regular duct tape works just fine. Butt the new halyard up to the end of the old, tape together, then make sure you have a nice flat lay of tape at least 6" on either side of the butt. It's low profile, slides right over the sheave, and no stitching required. And it's usually no problem to get offf the line, which is part of why I say use 6" on either side of the butt. It's much faster than stitching, and whipping doesn't work over my sheaves. Never lost a halyard with this method, "wrong" though it may be.

[mpraca]

I tried both previous methods combined, although I used masking tape - I admit - and I pulled the old halyard until I felt a little resistance at the sheeve, at which point I was compelled to yank carefully on the line. As expected it started running freely again, in fact, too freely and it picked up speed as it fell trough the mast quicker than I could collect. Then to complete the process I hiked up the mast with the new line (which I neglected to mention, also fell down) and I fed it through the sheeve until it was carefully balanced. Then I came down and fished the end out of the slot in the mast (it runs inside the mast).
This may seem more complicated but it would also work had I skipped the first part.

[SailorMitch]

Duct tape works great. Use something larger than string for the messenger line though. Butt the 2 ends together as others have said and lay them on at least a 9-12 inch length of duct tape. Then roll it all up like a cigar nice and tight. Tug on it a few times to make sure it holds, and then go at it. I've done it this way for years without a problem. The tape rolls right through the sheaves without a problem.

[sailingdog]

One sneaky way to do it is to remove a bit of the core of the old line, and then feed the new line into the outer braid of the old line. Then whip the overlap and through stitch... Should be fairly difficult to screw up, thin enough to fit through the sheaves and really tough to separate.

[theArchitect]

Hey Eggman, I just did this today. I duct taped abour 6" of thin nylon line to the halyard and pulled the old halyard down. I have a wire to rope splice that I need replicated. When I get the new halyard back from the rigger, I'll send it back up on the nylon line. Good luck!

[pbwdance]

I have to say the suggestion to remove a portion of the center of one line, feed a slightly smaller diameter line into it and lash it properly together with a bit of sewing worked great for me.

[arf145]

I just used the method Tom Miller describes yesterday in replacing both my halyards. I sewed the back side of the new halyard to the former shackle end of the old, then reinforced with one layer of duct tape. My jib halyard balked a bit with more than one layer of duct tape, but went through fine with one layer. No messenger line and your new halyard is in place.