One Dead in Bizarre Accident Aboard Yacht Off Gran Canaria

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Networker

I’d be too chicken to climb up there. Would rather cut sheets and halyards if I had to vs go up and untangle. They could have motored back given their location if they cut their sail away. I’m a chicken sailor.

I was thinking the exact same thing.

I don’t care how badly my rig or sails are damaged even if I’m going transatlantic or something.

There is no way I’m going up that mast. I will rig whatever I have to from the deck to get back. Even a bedsheet on a boot hook. Ha ha ha.

Definitely must have been an awful experience to be hung up there and not making it.

[gonesail]

then there is the story of the guy who went up the mast and had a fatal heart attack. his wife had to return to port with a dead body secured to the top of the mast

[wholybee]

Originally Posted by Networker

I’d be too chicken to climb up there. Would rather cut sheets and halyards if I had to vs go up and untangle. They could have motored back given their location if they cut their sail away. I’m a chicken sailor.

Most of the reasons to go up a mast cutting sheets and halyards will not fix. Problem with sail track, jammed sheeve, problem with furler top swivel.

I've done it in fair (not calm) seas, and it sucked but was manageable. I am also fit and have been up my mast about a hundred times.

I would definitely be looking at ways to clear the problem without going aloft. But sometimes, you just have to.

[dannc]

Believe it, or not, I am not getting paid to mention Morgan's Cloud.

Right now there are five articles on mast climbing on the website.

If you are going up you mast, I would HIGHLY suggest you pay to read the articles AND comments, then compare how you are going up the mast. I suspect you will find there is room for improvement and some surprising information in the articles.

Later,
Dan

[hpeer]

For all my pontificating above, that all assumed main sail down.

Main sail up is a COMPLETELY different animal. I have never done that and likely never will.

[Benz]

With climbing ascenders (jumars), you can go aloft with the mainsail up: I used to do it on the fall of the jib halyard, which was at the aft side of the mast (no internal halyards for me!). Having the mainsail to lean against while climbing, and a tightened-up line, was a very streadying thing, and I'd go up to spot for coral all the time.
Never did it in heavy seas, and having upgraded my boat to a gaff rig, I can now simply climb the mast hoops while underway, and often do.
Still, I'd hate to go aloft in any sort of big seaway, no matter what the system.

[nhschneider]

In Ellen MacArthur's book, Taking on the World, she recounts a harrowing trip up the mast on her 60' Kingfisher to replace a failing halyard while sailing at 20 knots in the Southern Ocean, placing second in that running of the Vendee Globe in 2001.

When we were in Trinidad, the 18-year old daughter of a couple who were active in the cruising fleet had taken a job aboard a megayacht and died from a fall from the rigging. The loss was devastating to the parents and the community.

The cruising lifestyle has its own unique set of risks. Some can be minimized with prudent safety precautions.

Fair winds and calm seas.

[wholybee]

The biggest danger is complacency. You go up the mast 50 times, spend hours up there, with no issues. Then, for quick jobs that are only a few minutes once up there, you start to skip the time-consuming safety stuff, over-confident in your own ability. Then the same for bigger jobs.

[RaymondR]

The one time I had problems with a mainsail refusing to come down I pulled the pin out of the goosneck fitting, hoisted the boom vertical using the topping lift, then lashed boom and sail to the mast (The affair turned out to be severely embarrassing when I discovered that I was attempting to lower it with the wrong halyard)

[wingssail]

Going aloft at sea is a very dangerous thing no matter how you do it, but I've done it.

One dark and wild night in 2000 going to Tonga from New Zealand we broke a diagonal rigging segment on our three spreader rod rig. It was the D-2 which goes from the end of the first spreader to the base of the second spreader. It happened at midnight in winds about 25 knots. The break was right at the spreader and the broken rod curled up a little after the load was off of it and was swinging wildly like a scythe, its end as sharp as a hardened steel knife. We felt lucky that the rig didn't come down when it broke now but that rod was cutting into the mast as it swung past.

I knew I had to go up and secure that loose rod. It was scary. I thought Judy would not allow me to do it, but she could see, as I could, that it had to be done. I just rigged the bosun's chair and shinned myself up as she tailed the halyard, no safety line, no real precautions. Boy was I dumb then.

The hard part was hanging on to the mast (sails were down) with one arm while working with the other. I knew that if I got lose it would be very serious. But I captured that shroud and the next day made a few more trips up to build a jury rig and we were able to sail to Tonga (400 miles) where we replaced all the rods.

I guess my guardian angel kept me alive.

Log Book Pages: New Zealand to Tonga

[Brioche]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The one time I had problems with a mainsail refusing to come down I pulled the pin out of the goosneck fitting, hoisted the boom vertical using the topping lift, then lashed boom and sail to the mast (The affair turned out to be severely embarrassing when I discovered that I was attempting to lower it with the wrong halyard)

Actually a really brilliant bit of thinking! Also yet another reason to keep a topping lift rather than a rigid vang.

[Sam Woodbridge]

Originally Posted by Brioche

Actually a really brilliant bit of thinking! Also yet another reason to keep a topping lift rather than a rigid vang.

I second that!

[edmundsteele]

I have regularly climbed my mast to inspect the rig, lubricate sheaves, make repairs etc. Usually this is done at anchor but I have twice had to climb the mast while under passage, fortunately only part way on those occasions. I have always used an ATN mast climber and I have used a second halliard as a safety line.

I have used an existing halliard to haul up my primary static line to the mast-top. My static line is a brand new, low stretch rope that I use only for mast climbing. I typically connect the halliard to the static line with two interlocking bowlines. I try to choose an internal mast halliard, rather than a halliard that simply goes over a sheave, such as a spinnaker halliard, in case the sheave pulley fails.

For the safety line, I use the existing independent halliard with either a Jumar type ascender or simply a "sling" (loop of rope) and a Prussik knot. If there is no second halliard available, I set the Prussik around the whole mast.

Yes, you do get knocked around when mast climbing under way. The key is to take it slow and careful without expending a lot of energy. On one occasion I wore a heavy jacket for protection against hitting the shrouds and on another, I wore a shorty neoprene wet-suit for the same purpose.

Finally, it's a good idea is to practice mast climbing in the marina before you take off!

[HuffinPuff]

Just realized you are talking about someone else. The person I know who died there was my boat captain... Captain Stephane. He did not have a wife or child and is survived by his brother. He absolutely loved sailing and sailed with some of the greats. He will be sorely missed. Taxi driver took a roundabout at a very high speed and lost control of his vehicle. Captain Stephane was walking back to my boat after a lovely evening with some of his closest friends when the cab hit him. He died instantely.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

The one time I had problems with a mainsail refusing to come down I pulled the pin out of the goosneck fitting, hoisted the boom vertical using the topping lift, then lashed boom and sail to the mast (The affair turned out to be severely embarrassing when I discovered that I was attempting to lower it with the wrong halyard)

SMART

Thanks for sharing.