Going Up the mast

[sailingdog]

Umm... gotta agree with that...one reason I use two line ascenders and a climbing harness.

Originally Posted by SEMIJim

Of course

So do I, but the thought of de-reeving my mainsheet, reeving the line to ascend the mast, de-reeving that and re-reeving my mainsheet... *shudder*

Figuring out the reeving of the mainsheet in the first place gave me a headache!

Jim

[brak]

Would these work: http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|103371|311571|311611&id=2558
The price is good Two of these would only run $105.

Knothead, could you elaborate on what you use for locking the line?

I considered the mast mate ladder - not a problem in terms of inserting slides, since I have to remove mainsail slides every time I drop it anyway. But I am not sure how much more secure I'd feel on a ladder vs. hanging on a rope (though subjectively ladder feels more "normal")

[sailingdog]

Brak-

At least one of the blocks would have to have a becket, which is much more expensive. The two blocks, a triple and a triple with becket, would cost about $150 or so.

[brak]

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Brak-

At least one of the blocks would have to have a becket, which is much more expensive. The two blocks, a triple and a triple with becket, would cost about $150 or so.

I think that can be worked around (with another block on the side perhaps, I have quite a few of single blocks laying around). I have to think about this for a bit.

[knothead]

Originally Posted by brak

Knothead, could you elaborate on what you use for locking the line?

I just grab a loop in the line, bring it under the d-ring and snap in in my spring hook. Bring it back under the d-ring and tie it off with a couple of hitches.

There isn't much load on it.

You can grab the 6 parts of the tackle in your hand and hold yourself.

You will have to figure out a way to tie off that you are comfortable with and do it that same way every time.

Steve

[SEMIJim]

Originally Posted by brak

I think that can be worked around (with another block on the side perhaps, I have quite a few of single blocks laying around). I have to think about this for a bit.

6:1 (two triples) has to be reeved a certain way--done in such a manner that the two blocks end-up 90 degrees to one another. Otherwise it won't run cleanly, I'm told. One of the two blocks must have a becket.

Look at the 6:1 reeved right angle here, on Harken's site. (Somewhere I think they have a bigger, more detailed, image, but I can't find it, right off.)

Jim

[grahama]

I sail single handed so I just use the composite folding steps I had fitted to the mast for that very purpose. For convenience they are hard to beat, are always available, are lightweight, don't rattle or catch lines, and have effectively already paid for themselves.

If you need to hang around for a while - take your bosuns chair with a short clip line. Loop the line around the mast, over a higher step and clip back to the chair. Sit down and relax...

[Bacchanal]

Similar to the idea of using the REI Ascenders, ATN created a device that allows you to go up alone. The Topclimber comes with a seat that you wear and can't fall out of that has one ascender attached and a pair of foot loops that has another ascender. A 9/16 line is run through the ascenders, tied to the main halyard and cranked up. The loose end is taken through a block on deck back to the main winch and tightened up. To go aloft you stand up on the foot straps, advance the seat up, sit down and advance the foot straps, repeat. It's not as easy as having your crew crank you up, but it's secure, safe and you can go up when you have no crew around. To get down, you just reverse the process.

[RAGTIMEDON]

These 8 pages of discussion about mast climbing makes me think of a thread I read here last week --- Seems the guy (Sorry I don't recall his name) had a winch pull loose, and was looking for advice on re-attaching it. He found out his winches were attached with 4 screws. No backing plate, no fender washers, - that works well with bolts. This was only 4 screws!!!! How would you like to be winched up a 50 foot mast with that? Better wax the deck - it makes blood easier to clean up!

[brak]

I just received and tried Mastmate. It was fairly easy to finish (with own slides) and set up (pull up the mast). I tried to climb once without anything connecting me to the mast - and that was pretty unpleasant So I furnished a kind of chest level loop/shoulder harness, clipped it around the mast and things went much better. Easily got to the spreaders and was able to finally fix lose tape on a spreader boot. It is actually possible to get to spreader ends (with one hand at least) from the ladder, if the chest loop around the mast is sized right. Going up from the spreaders required two loops (to connect one above, then disconnect the lower one). In any case, when my feet were just above spreaders - I figured I don't like it that high just yet So I went down for the day. I'll try again next week.

Bottom line - the device is easy to use and got me much higher than anything else did, just as long as I feel comfortable with it. So, a plus for mastmate.