How Do You Climb the Mast ??

[Alecadi]

Originally Posted by zeehag

how do i climb my mast. i clean up gooood i put on a dress and look fiiine.. i go to a place where strong healthy males hang out i find the one who would look better in my dress than i would and approach him about some extra work as my boat could use it. he perks up and says he loves working on boats and i have me a slave boy for the next elebenty seben minuets or however long it takes to fix the problem.

Love that!
+1 zee

[charliehows]

i replaced my mizzen shrouds recently by tying ropes between mast and main shroud on one side as a temporary ladder. Used ropes to tension opposite side for replacing shroud. Used climbing harness with 2 clips on the rope ladder for safety. Worked.

[jkindredpdx]

Good advice all... but when I get to the top I really need to get a foot or so higher, any good tips for tying off and getting your head and arms above the masthead?

[poiu]

Originally Posted by jkindredpdx

Good advice all... but when I get to the top I really need to get a foot or so higher, any good tips for tying off and getting your head and arms above the masthead?

You can get a step fitted. I have seen them browsing the web. Not very expensive. I have two and find them very useful. See one at the bottom of the hairy leg. I work for a couple of hours max before my legs say enough. Necessary to put something around the back to take some of the weight off and allow both arms to be free. I use a webbing loop with two caribiners.

[dandkg]

please check out our mast steps, thanks dandkg

[Nicholson58]

Sometimes, the Admiral prefers to do it herself (rather than crank my heavy ass up there) Sometimes I go up. See my post #29 for the HOW TO. It involves power stuff. At the yard, we hire a man lift platform. This is always an option for very long aloft work.

Photos: Lynn on the mizzen 48 ft. Me on the main - 80 ft.

[SVStargazer]

Is it a hindrance for both my halyards to be in mast?

[rjdives]

When I am by myself I use a top climber and a safety line. It's slow and can be a real workout but very safe. Otherwise I use a 28 volt Milwaukee cordless right angle 1/2" drill with a winch bit. It has more then enough power to pull my 200+ lb fat ass up using the main sail winch. The wife has no problem using the drill. We also use it on our windless to pull up the hook. I have 18 volt one we use on the sheet winches. It was my way of not spending $ thousands on electric winches and windless.

[Chasing Summer]

I've read some, scanned many of the posts here. I just watched the ATN Mast Climber video from Sailrite on Youtube. I don't think so. I'm not climbing a 48 ft mast with one of those. Thanks all :-) you convinced me that I'm doing the right thing with mast steps. I saw a great design idea on google images and I'm fabricating about 20 of them. I'll post a picture when I get one built.

[Ukeluthier]

Why, by simply hoisting the throat halyard and climbing the mast hoops, of course. Doesn't everybody? ;-)

With a Gunter rig the masthead isn't that far up there anyway.

[roland stockham]

Preferably on a new halyard or nice rope kept below deck - halyards deteriorate in the sun.

[deluxe68]

Check out this web site.

L-36.com

[cruisingdog]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

I have been using a relatively standard rock climbing system - explained here

But this spring I am going to try a new approach with two 'foot ascenders' and a double rope. The pro tree trimmers have suggested it is much faster - you just 'walk up' the two lines (alternating). I have seen some videos that make it look good/better, but will not know for sure until I actually try it.

There are a load of good videos showing SRT (Single Rope Technique) and DRT(Double Rope Technique) on youtube. A lot of these guys are professional Arborists and really know their stuff. From a climbing perspective, these guys have really dialed in the process to be efficient and safe since they do this day-in and day-out.

The techniques basically rely on a Jumar (ascender/mecahnical prussik) device that allows one to ratchet up the rope. There are also belay devices (used for lowering or catching a falling climber) that have been specifically honed in for arborists. I've yet to try any of the new arborist devices since I have all my climbing gear and don't need this specialised equipment (but it's a toy and I would like to buy it anyway!! - we know how that goes with boats right ??? ).

#1 priority with rope work is SAFETY. Always have a backup and an out.

[Kenatsea]

Great information, thanks.[emoji106]

[daletournier]

I use a topclimber, have done for years. Changed all my rigging by myself this year (except forestay, had assistance) just using the topclimber.