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Question about my rigging

3K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  equitiman 
#1 ·
I am new to sailing, and have been reading "The Handbook of sailing" by Bob Bond. It has proven to be very useful, but of course it's not for my boat specifically. I have the directions for my boat, and they are crap.
Chrysler 22 Owner's Manual
I have been pouring ver pictures of my model other owners have submitted:
Chrysler Photos
I still can not find my answer.

the issue is... My main halyard and the jib halyard are stainless steel cables with rope backing and the backing for the two halyads are the SAME rope. So I guess the series of the rope is Jib halyard--->rope--->main halyard.. all in one continuous line. It is really hard to work with as when I pull both halyards down at the same time, the rope is WAY too high to reach and pull back down. Also, it's hard to cleat them down like this. Moreover, I have no leverage on them other than body weight. The pictures I see online, appear to be seperate lines going through pullies and such. Not sure and want to know before I cut the rope and replace with two ropes. When I bought the boat it was stripped of all hardware and it was all in a giant box with a ton of other junk.
 
#2 ·
So, what you're saying is that the mainsail halyard is a wire-to-rope halyard. The rope part of the mainsail halyard then continues and becomes the rope portion of the jib halyard, which is also a wire-to-rope halyard.

Is this a correct description of what you have going on? I believe this is probably something one of the previous owners did...and really whacked. Are you sure that you put the right pieces in the right places. Generally, halyards are separate...this sounds like a really bizarre setup.
 
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#3 ·
This does not sound logical at all - are you sure that these are your halyards ? I just looked at the owner's manual, and this is not the original design of the rigging. Could it be the split section of your backstay ???

I'd suggest starting from Step One and putting everything, except this one line, where it should be. If it is indeed some strange amalgamation of halyards, I'd replace it. It's not safe.
 
#5 · (Edited)
You say all the hardware was stripped and in a box when you bought the boat?

The only thing I can guess is that the previous owner bought a length of rope long enough for both halyards, took it to a rigger and had wire spliced into it on both ends and then had the intention to cut it apart later before installing but never got around to installing it. Why the PO wouldn't have the rigger cut it and whip the ends is beyond me, but maybe he was a real cheapskate. Or maybe he wasn't sure of the lengths (why not measure the old ones?) and wanted to get it on the mast to measure it first. Do the halyard(s) look new? did you install them? If this isn't the case I have no idea.

Edit: I see that you said they weren't long enough. I guess my cool explaination is not plausible then.
 
#7 ·
KK thanks guys. It is definateley a blue rope, well white with blue dots on it. The mast was mostly rigged when I bought it from the guy. It's seeming like the guy I bought it from raped me on this deal. He knew I was buying a new hobby and took advantage. Anyways, the mast was just about completely rigged, but all the standing rigging had to be replaced. I never touched the halyards. I don't belive the rope is spliced onto them either. It just looks like a knot and some electrical tape for each. So now we have established the fact that it is not right... what is?

The rope backing should come down the mast and into a pully at the mast base? Are they located forwars and aft of the mast, or starbord and port? where do they go after that?
 
#8 ·
Generally from there they go back to the cockpit or somewhere close to the cockpit on the cabin top. There should be a winch there to help when raising the sails. Than, after the sails are raised, the halyards are cleated until its time to lower the sails.
 
#9 ·
Lokeman-

Post some photos of what you've got... the mast base and such... that would really make it alot easier to discuss... you've got some serious weirdness in your setup...and I think the guy rooked you... but... if you post photos, maybe we can get this straightened out properly.

BTW, the wire-to-rope join should be a splice, not a knot and electrical tape.
 
#11 ·
Dog,
I looked at his manual last night and it showed the wire halyrd terminated around a thimble with an eye splice and than the rope portion was shown tied to the thimble. My guess is the electrical tape was done just to............. not sure why the electrical tape was added??
 
#12 ·
Sailortjk1-

I should have said a proper wire-to-rope join should be spliced..not a knot and electrical tape. ;)
 
#13 ·
fig 17

on the web page for the chrysler 22 fig 17 shows the halyard comming down to the cleat on the mast . To get a better purchase go around the cleat back up to the loop in the rope where it attaches to the cable portion of the halyard & back down to the cleat (poor man block & tackle) This actually works pretty well on these boats. The rope for the halyards needs to be seprate from each other the main should be cleated off on one side mast & the jib cleated off on the other side of the mast. This is the boat I learned to sail on , a lot of fun & fast for such a small boat , you will know when you are in the grove when the keel cable starts to hum. :)
 
#14 ·
lokeman, we're going to have to make you drop and do fifty if you keep talking about "rope" on your boat.<G>

Rope is what comes on spools in the store, once it hits the boat it becomes "line" "halyard" "sheet" "rode" or many other things, but it isn't "rope" any longer. Like the DI must have told you in Basic "This is your weapon, this is your gun" and you may remember what happens when you mix the two up?<G>

Sometimes the hardest thing is figuring out just what the PO did and how to unravel it. If he wore a big red fright wig, huge floppy sneakers, and answered to the name "Bozo"....yeah, that guy has owned an awful lot of boats.<G>
 
#15 ·
Sounds just like the guy I bought it from! Okay... I had a hard day last friday and was not able to get the pictures I wanted... To make a long story short: I dropped the boat in and went sailing for about 30 minutes when the bay got really shallow and kicked the rudder up blowing me into even shallower water... after an hour and a half of trying myself a small aluminum fishing boat tried to pull me out deeper to no avail. I called the Department of Marine resources for help.. I actually got stuck RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BUILDING and the person on the phone actually had visual contact with me... anyways... 3 hours later they finally made it the 200 yards out to me and pulled me into deeper water and I used the motor to run back home and get on the road 2 1/2 hours behind schedule. LMAO! I am never going out again and forgetting my depth finder. I was on this tiny island named goat island. The bottom of the bay is like 4' deep of silt and was like glue. I will get pictures on my lunch break. When I was putting up the boat Friday myline backing on the halyard pulled the halyard shackle up to the top of the mast and I can't figure out how to get it back without taking the mast down or buying a trained monkey.
 
#16 ·
I have been searching and find a couple hints that the rigging is supposed to be color coded but cannot find this information anywhere. My halyard lines and main sheet white with blue spots and the line I use to torque the sail onto the boom is blue with white spots. Is coloring just a self choice or is there a standard for each type of line? I can definately see where telling someone to pull the red line is much easier to explain in a hurry than saying pull that one.... crap! the other one....MY BEER! *sobbing*
 
#17 ·
There are no standards for coloring lines aboard a boat. Many owners will try to buy whatever different color combos are in stock or available, in order to make it easier to tell a guest "pull the blue line!" instead of using words with no meaning to the guest.

"the other one....MY BEER! " Kinda like saying, don't drink the yellow stuff?<G>
 
#18 ·
Hellosailor, thanks for the info.... I was implying my beer spilt. I got the pictures on my lunch break and here they are:
this is to show what hard ware is attached to the boat. I need to get a pully for each side as part of the rigging for the jib. I believe in the photos i've been seeing, the pully is attached to the railing on the boat... is that rigt? I have seen a couple pics with a track there that has an eye for the pully and I have a set in the box of stuff the PO gave me.

more to see harware installed. I have to install the pullies that go starboard and port where the boat comes up on the sides to the roof.


here is one of the mast base (mast foot?) you can see the pullies on it and the cleats:

another

here's one I found of the mast top..what is the little pullie on the back for?
 
#23 ·
Damn what a mess :p
I'm learning all this stuff too, so you have my sympathy.

Your cable with rope added sounds like some sort of DIY adjustable backstay. I would ask the previous owner if possible.
He/she may also have kept the actual halyards (and other hardware) if recently spent the $$$ to run all lines to the cockpit.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I'd say first to print out the online manual you found. Then, take some white gaffer's tape (doesn't leave residue) or other wide tape and start putting labels on things. Lines, pulleys, hardware, the mast fittings...lay them out on the ground and try to get a name matched up on everything, with everything matched up to the instruction manual.

I know there's a lot there, most folks learn to sail "with" a boat, not by building one from a kit.<G>

Once you get things matched up, you will have a better idea of what doesn't match. The owner additions (like that little pulley at the top) or changes that probably you should just ignore for now.

If you want to splurge...buy 100' of clothes line at a dollar store, use that to rig the two halyards and see how long each one actually needs to be. That will give you some safe numbers before you cut that monster line that has steel spliced in at both ends. The halyards need to be long enough to run all the way UP the mast, and all the way back down again, as if they were attached and the sails were lowered. Then you need enough extra line to be able to get to the correct winches or cleats as well. WIth any luck, what you've got will add up to that much.

Even if you've been sailing for years, and you get on a fully assembled <G> boat for the first time, you have to play "What's that?" for a while before you get the hang of it all. So, don't feel discouraged by the confusion. Think of it as a giant jigsaw puzzle, take your time, match things up, eventually what's left over will only be able to fit into so many other places.

The boat looks nice and clean, in good shape overall. I'd bet you that for the price of a pizza and beer, you could get some experienced local help to come out and put it together with you. Sailors are like that--the quality of the journey counts, and the help you give comes back to you.

On getting the halyard down: Now you know why it's a good thing you don't have a bigger boat.<G> You can careen the boat over sideways to try reaching it, or put a ball of sticky duct tape at the end of a long stick (bamboo, fishing pole, "crappy pole" from the local WalMart) and try to gum onto it. Or find a local high school kid who's good at skinnying up poles.<G>
 
#26 ·
I thought about maybe using the jib halyard to raise a rope ladder, but I am not sure if the mast would hold and the boat would stay upright. I definatley see the halyard holding 190 pounds plus a few pounds of rope ladder. It's just that that weight at the top of the mast would be a LOT of levrage. I guess I gotta lower the mast to run the electrical through it and put a mast head light on it anyways.
 
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