Here's a problem I can't solve...

[El Pinguino]

Back up to a low bridge, very large motor yacht, or something similar.
Pay smally boy and send him up in bosuns chair.
Fill another 70 plus with jungle juice and wager them $5 they can't get it down.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

Back up to a low bridge, very large motor yacht, or something similar.
Pay smally boy and send him up in bosuns chair.
Fill another 70 plus with jungle juice and wager them $5 they can't get it down.

I reckon option 3 is the go!

[El Pinguino]

Invite Boatman61 over for morning tea and ask him to show you how to do it..

[Jim Cate]

Hey, I'm 77 and I go up our mast whenever it is needed. However, I'd be a bit leery of doing it on such a small boat as a Grampian 26. Lighter halyards, smaller winches, less stability... not such a brilliant prospect for anyone over about 100 lbs or so IMO. So, I'll cut the OP a lot of slack... do it from deck level, use a small boy (or girl), get the boat near to a higher structure and heel her over enough to reach the snarl... lots of options with fewer serious downsides are available.

Jim

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by astokel

During a big wind storm, the shackle attaching my main halyard to the sail came loose. The wind was gusting to 100 km/hr (about 55 knots) and the line and the shackle was flying out at almost 90 degrees, wrapping itself around my neighbours' shrouds. I shortened the halyard to prevent it hitting the other boat and went below.

In the morning it was wrapped around my back stay about 7 metres (20 feet) up. My marina charges $150 to take down a mast. Any ideas about how I can retrieve the shackle myself?

Nothing involving bosun's chairs please, I'm 70 and have issues with heights.

In the same circumstances I would take the jib halyard and tie it firmly at a point 1/3rd of the way down from the hook end of our boat hook and attach a second--down haul--line to the handle end. With this arrangement, one could hoist the boat hook aloft and, using the down-haul line, maneuver the hook end over the main halyard. With that, and keeping the fall of the main halyard slack (but the bitter end fastened to a hard point so not to loose it aloft) one could work the halyard down the backstay to a point where it could be reached. If the main halyard isn't long enough for that, sew a messenger line to the bitter end of the halyard so it can be run aloft to provide the necessary extra length and the fall later retrieved with the messenger.

FWIW...

[bsurvey]

I am your age and have a top climber, its a seat and all the effort is in your legs I go up and down all the time

[a64pilot]

3/4" sch 40 PVC pipe is light and cheap, although I do like the monkey fist thrown into the gap idea too, cheap and easy, don't even have to go to the store.

[Trim50]

Open a cock, get in dinghy, wait for halyard to reach the surface of the water and grab it before it goes down with the boat. EPPZ.

[goat]

Originally Posted by Wotname

I reckon Boatie must be pushing 70

Might even be pulling it a bit.

[seasick]

I have had good luck retrieving halyards by using any other available halyard. Tie a line to the end of a spare halyard. Tie several treble hooks from your tackle box near this juncture of halyard end and spare line. Hoist these meat hooks up to your wayward halyard and attempt to hook your lost halyard. Pull it down with the spare line. This is a simple and affective method. Be careful not to lose your spare halyard or get the hooks stuck on anything other than your lost halyard or you will really have a problem. Easier to do than to describe.

[sailjumanji]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

3/4" sch 40 PVC pipe is light and cheap, although I do like the monkey fist thrown into the gap idea too, cheap and easy, don't even have to go to the store.

I vote for this as well. Cheap. And if you don't glue the pipe joints to the coupling, you can probably return it all when finished.

Another option is one of those three-piece extension poles for changing out flood lights in ceiling fixtures.

[anacapaisland42]

Well, in her younger days my wife went up
BUT
I read a great tip about securely fixing a potato masher (one with prongs) to your topping lift and using that to hook the errant fixture.
I'll be trying that next spring because I have one gone astray also.... and the Admiral has decided no more mast ascents!
Bill

Nothing involving bosun's chairs please, I'm 70 and have issues with heights.[/QUOTE]

[jheldatksuedu]

Use the boat hook idea or long stick, or sticks connected so you can twist them, long enough to reach the halyard/shroud mess, tape or tie it to the shroud 6 inches below the top of the stick, and a few other places to hold it near the shroud and support the length, when it gets up the shroud to the halyard mess, you should be able to spin the hook or stick around the shroud and it should catch the end of the halyard and be able to spin it around and unwind the halyard. The ladder idea with the top tied to the shroud and the bottom well secured to the deck would reduce the length of stick needed. Wear a harness and clip yourself off with a short safety line to reduce the distance you could fall.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Guy

He is 70+. No kid no wuss.

Last year we had to go up our 20m mast several times in close succession.
One of the trips up was done by a guy 76 years old who insisted to make the trip up.
There is no much strength needed on the part of the person that goes up. But, it may be frightening at any age...

[hamburking]

At my local marina (POH, Kingston), when something like this happens, or even just a halyard has gone up to the top of the mast, they make use of the tall ship St Lawrence II. You come alongside (after getting permission from the captain of course) and tie up securely. Then a couple strategically placed people (the fatter the better) heel your boat over a bit. Then a crewman from the tall ship goes up their ratlines and grabs, fixes, or whatever.

However, this only works if you have a friendly tall ship near by.

Otherwise, I use a 3 part extending boat hook.
Or offer a local kid $20...only if they fix it though!

And if you are really stuck, just sell the boat. Thats what I did when the main halyard jumped the shiv at the masthead on my Cal 25.