halyard replacement-rolling furler

[QuickMick]

Im getting ready to replace the halyard on my rolling furler. Im guessing the best way to do this is unfurl slowly flaking the sail as i lower it. when lowered, attach new line to old, pull it all the way through from mast, attach to sail...raise and refurl...
does this sound like a reasonable plan?

thanks
Quinn

[Vasco]

You will have to cut the shackle off the old halyard and sew the new line onto the old.

[chs1517]

Buy some strong small line and definitely sew it to the bitter end of the halyard. By sewing the line to your halyard you have a positive connection that won't fail. You can't be too careful when pulling line through your mast!

Pull the halyard pulling the line through your mast system. Once you have the halyard down you can take the halyard to the rope shop and get an exact match.

Just do the opposite when replacing the new halyard. You might want to have the rigging shop put a small splice on the bitter end. It makes for an easier rerig. Tie a knot rather than sewing the line to the halyard...

[sailingdog]

No real need to flake the sail, if all you're doing is replacing the halyard and putting it back on the furling unit. I would point out that you really should stitch and tape the old halyard to the new one for when you're pulling the line through the mast. To do this, butt the two lines up against each other and then sew through both with whipping twine and a sail needle in at least two directions, then tape over the join to smooth it and protect the stitches. This will minimize the chance of the two separating during the pull.