Pulling Halyard Through Mast

[Palarran]

I'm not sure this is the right terminology but I have two halyards that I would like to remove from my mast and leave a 1/4" tracer line instead. I just don't see why I need these hanging on my mast wearing out for the next year. My question is how do you make the splice from one rope to the other so that it for sure will pull through the mast and over the pully?

Thanks.

[capngeo]

Go buy cheap polypro... It works like a Chinese finger cuff! Word of warning.... the sun will eat the poly pro, so only use it as a messenger and pull cheap nylon for the long haul

[sloop6312]

you'll definately want to stitch the two ends together with sail repair twine, and tightly wrap some electical tape around the splice and up an inch or so one each line. otherwise, it can be tough rounding a sheave at the top of the mast, or going through internal guides along the insides of most masts. i took a shortcut one time, and spent hours running a new messenger line. take the time to do it right.

[Charlie]

YOu don't need to take the halyard all the way out. Just run a messenger up the mast so that the halyard is inside the mast and the messenger is outside the mast. That way all you need to do to get started again is pull the messenger down.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Palarran

I'm not sure this is the right terminology but I have two halyards that I would like to remove from my mast and leave a 1/4" tracer line instead. I just don't see why I need these hanging on my mast wearing out for the next year. My question is how do you make the splice from one rope to the other so that it for sure will pull through the mast and over the pully?

The term is "messenger." I'm thinking that 1/4" might be overkill. Most riggers use an extremely light line for messengers. You might want to check with your local chandlery about what they recommend.

When I do this operation I don't splice. I sew the messenger into the halyard, and then use tape.

[Palarran]

What I've been imagining, since I haven't done this before, is that I could use some shrink tube. First I'd cut out 2" of the core of the existing rope and leave the outside cover. Then I'd stick the 1/4" rope inside the cover, stitch it up, slide the shrink tube over it, heat it up and that would be it.

I've also though about melting both the cores together then shrink tubing it.

Maybe I'm over-thinking it?

[capngeo]

Good googly woogly! The poly line works fine, slide it over the halyard about 6-12" and securely tape the end of the poly to the halyard for an inch or so. No need to sew or splice, runs through the sheaves fine... I've done it literally 100 times and never had a failure!

[Palarran]

Capngeo, Thanks for the advise. When you reference poly line I'm thinking of the cheap plastic braided line. Is that what your talking about?

The problem I would have with this is two fold. First, I want a smaller line in the mast to replace my existing halyards. The second would be adding the dimension of the other line onto my existing halyard. I don't think it would go through the guide slot in my mast.

[Joli]

You can have a rigger add a mousing or reeving splice to the tail or, what I usually do, is add a mousing loop when whipping the tail. Use a good braid like Samson Lashing Braid for your messenger. A word of caution, the messenger being of small diameter can get pinched between the spreader bars and the mast wall, problems might ensue that may require pulling the rig down to clear.