[bbush]

Hello,

I'm a new sailboat owner with a boat already in the water, and I need to replace the deck light. Are there any neat sailboat tricks to getting 14' up the mast to replace the bulb?

Thanks!

 

[saildork]

Bosun's chair is probably the simplest and safest. I've seen people use an extension ladder with a loose strap wrapped around the mast and one side of the ladder, but this wouldn't be my first choice.

 

[Stiche]

1- Use the Force
2- Trampoline
3- Sink the boat, fix the light, float the boat (I hear pingpong balls work)
4- Bosun's Chair

Bosun's chair is probably the most likely to suit your needs

 

[bbush]

OK, perfect. I think I will try #2 with a Velcro suit, if that does not work I will try a Bosun's chair and if that does not work I will sink the boat and replace the bulb from the dock.

 

[DwayneSpeer]

Bosun's chair

Unless you want your buns squeezed together so tight that you'll be constipated for a week, get (or make) a chair with a solid seat, not one of those that are all fabric.

 

[bbush]

Thanks for the suggestion and the visual. I weigh 165 lbs is that too much weight for the rigging?

 

[sailingdog]

Depends on the boat.... for a 14' O'Day Javelin, yeah, it is... for a Gunboat 62 catamaran... three or four of you could go aloft and it wouldn't matter... for boats in-between....it depends.

Thanks for the suggestion and the visual. I weigh 165 lbs is that too much weight for the rigging?

 

[scottyt]

165 weight is nothing to sailboat rigging.

if you only need to get up 14 feet how about tying it to the pier and using a halyard to pull the boat over so the mast is over the pier. then you can use a normal step ladder on the pier, by the time its over far enough you might only need an 8 foot ladder

 

[sailingdog]

This depends on the sailboat...

165 weight is nothing to sailboat rigging.

if you only need to get up 14 feet how about tying it to the pier and using a halyard to pull the boat over so the mast is over the pier. then you can use a normal step ladder on the pier, by the time its over far enough you might only need an 8 foot ladder

 

[bbush]

The boat is a Catalina 25, it sounds like hoisting me up there shouldn't be a problem then.

I like the idea of leaning the boat over the pier too, my dock is well suited for that, thank you.

 

[scottyt]

yes dog i know it depends on the boat, but if the light is 14 feet up i figured it was not a 14 foot boat.

bbush just keep an eye out for life line stantions hitting the dock when you pull it over