Hey 4arch.
Afraid of heights? I know what you mean, that tingly feeling in my legs when I even think of heights.
But here’s something - I realised that I might HAVE to go up my mast. So, I put on my brown pants and tightest underwear, and had my wife, who also suffers from acrophobia, haul me up. I used a good bosun’s chair, on the main
halyard, and as a backup, fashioned a body harness from line, and attached that to the
spinnaker halyard. Two completely independent (other than the mast) systems.
I went up. It was bad until I got to the spreaders. And then, the anxiety slowly left me. Not that I could say it was enjoyable, but the tingling was gone. Since then we have both been up several times. Not fun, but sometimes almost fun.
Remember about maybe HAVING to go up?
We recently sailed from PR to Curaçao, and outside Spaanse
Water, the main wouldn’t drop. Long story short: I HAD to go up. At sea. It was NOT fun, but I did it, and survived.
You don’t want to let someone else do the easy job in a quiet harbour, while you forgo the practice, and then have to do it in less than ideal circumstances.
Get a system you KNOW you can depend on AND a backup. Have someone you trust, and who understands what it is like hoist you up. You might be glad you did one day.
Good luck! If I was closer, I would be happy to assist. But ....