How To Run Halyard Inside Mast

[scarlet]

So, file this under "Scarlet is an idiot"...

I had Halloween party on Saturday, and since it was a pirate themed party, I had the bright idea to run a pirate flag up the mast. I tied it on to the spinacker halyard... well, half way up the mast, the grommet that it was attached to, ripped out of the flag... the flag fell, and left the halyard dangling half way up my mast. So, since it was already late, I decided to just leave it, and when I got a chance, I'd get hoisted up the mast to retrieve it.

Well... we have a gale in Delaware today.. (the wind actually blew the water out of the marina and during low tide, over 1/2 the marina was nothing more than mud). needless to say, the wind has literally pulled the halyard up into the mast....

How the HECK do I run the halyard through the mast?!

(I have a Lagoon 450 catamaran)...

[Rucksta]

I think you are right.
One solution would be to pay a rigger.
Another would be to sell the boat.

[jstevens]

i assume the tail of the halyard has been pulled into the mast. Most likely someone will have to go up the mast to feed the halyard back into the mast so that you can use a hook (e.g., a coat hanger) to hook the tail of the halyard and pull it out of the mast. Sometimes a small weight on the end of the halyard is necessary to allow the halyard to fee down through what ever wire and rope clutter there is inside the mast. Next time put a stop knot on the end of the halyard.

Good luck,
John

[Calif.Ted]

Small weight or nuts on the end of a fishing line feed into the top of mast, fish it out of the exit slot with a hooked dental pick or one of those claw crabber tools. Finding it and getting it out the exit is usually most time consuming part.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Flex...2&gclsrc=3p.ds

[Tsuru]

Originally Posted by jstevens

i assume the tail of the halyard has been pulled into the mast. Most likely someone will have to go up the mast to feed the halyard back into the mast so that you can use a hook (e.g., a coat hanger) to hook the tail of the halyard and pull it out of the mast. Sometimes a small weight on the end of the halyard is necessary to allow the halyard to fee down through what ever wire and rope clutter there is inside the mast. Next time put a stop knot on the end of the halyard.

Good luck,
John

Yep....I use a short section of clean bike chain and a extendable magnet. The bike chain goes on the end of a messenger line passed over the masthead sheave. The extendable magnet picks up the chain at the bottom. As long as there is a semi clear path thru the spar it's not that hard. Ditto on the stopper knot or a spiffy halyard stopper.
Or hire a rigger...but again it's not that hard.
Good luck,
Ray

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Tsuru

Yep....I use a short section of clean bike chain and a extendable magnet. The bike chain goes on the end of a messenger line passed over the masthead sheave. The extendable magnet picks up the chain at the bottom. As long as there is a semi clear path thru the spar it's not that hard. Ditto on the stopper knot or a spiffy halyard stopper.
Or hire a rigger...but again it's not that hard.
Good luck,
Ray

Second that. I also have used a section of bicycle chain as a weight.
It is both heavy and flexible.
At the bottom I have fished it out by a wire hook made out of coat hanger.
But of course you neef to go up the 20m or so to the spinnaker exit on top😁

[Greg Mason]

I used a marlin spike. You can hear it when it hits bottom.

[brucebach]

There are some really inexpensive scopes that can make the last step much easier: https://www.amazon.com/Inspection-Fa...PND/ref=sr_1_5

[Pillroller]

Beware of using too small a line, they can jam over the sides of the mast-head pulley wheels.
My best method to fish out the weighted end at the bottom, is to feed a metal measuring tape into the mast through the appropriate exit hole. Feed it in doubled up, until it has spread out to the sides of the mast, drop the weighted mouse line until reaches the bottom or is seen to have passed the hole, pull out the tape with the line trapped inside it!!! Job Done.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Pillroller

Beware of using too small a line, they can jam over the sides of the mast-head pulley wheels.
My best method to fish out the weighted end at the bottom, is to feed a metal measuring tape into the mast through the appropriate exit hole. Feed it in doubled up, until it has spread out to the sides of the mast, drop the weighted mouse line until reaches the bottom or is seen to have passed the hole, pull out the tape with the line trapped inside it!!! Job Done.

Good trick. I like it.

[DefinitelyMe]

The tricky part is to make sure the mousing line doesn't take a turn around anything else that's inside the mast. A fairly heavy weight helps. If it is still a problem though, try weighing down the side of the boat that the halyard needs to run down on (eg. Use the water from your port tank only) or use a magnet as the weight and draw it down the mast with a piece of (not stainless) steel or iron.

[Paul Howard]

The most often problem, as DefinitelyME suggests, is that the feeder line might tangle around other internal halyards or electric cables or bolts at the spreaders.
The main halyard on a boat I bought a few years ago was really difficult to pull the last few feet when raising the mainsail.
I took the mast down, took off the mast truck at the top (bolted on) and could see there was a wrap around the spinnaker halyard that got tighter and increased friction as the mainsail reached the top.

[BobFord]

I stupidly lost a Ghoster halyard , it was internal. Using the weighted mouse system , it was easy to re-rig. What I missed was the curvature in the mast . The new halyard was straight up and down, taking it's own path and probably chaffed other lines. A while later the damage became apparent and I re-rigged the halyard externally. Real ugly ,especially with the mast curvature ! Barring mast removal I have not thought of anyway to re-rig the halyard correctly. Any ideas , please? Curvature is about 3 feet in 100ft.

[Minggat]

I tie my spin and spare halyards into continuous loops to never suffer that problem again. Very workable and great peace of mind.

[thunderhoof]

I suggest you first tighten the other halyards inside the mast so that the weighted messenger line does not wrap around one or more. After the halyard is rigged tighten the rerun halyard and make sure none of the others is binding up.