Mast steps - fixed or folding?

[KP44]

I installed 4 folding steps with SS 1/4" rivets. (And Tefgel.) They allow me to cover/uncover the sail and connect the main halyard.
I have about 20 fixed steps but have not installed them. We usually hire someone to do any mast work.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by waterman46

...I got a MastMate ladder and love it. Sure its a minor pain to remove the mainsail slides and replace them after use, but it makes trips up and down the mast easy without the disadvantages of a full set of mast steps....

You can climb it free-flying IF you tension the halyard hard. Done it many times, never took the slides out.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by MartinR

I actually only put 5 steps from the deck up to the boom, as it makes it easier to remove the halyard and fit the sail cover. If I need to climb the mast I climb up a halyard. I want to fit 2 steps at the top, though for easier working there. Will happen one day, until then I just lash a strong boathook in between the shrouds to stand on.

That's a good compromise.

[MartinR]

If you have double lower shrouds, you can rig ratlines. That will bring you up to the spreaders. The place to be if you are sailing in coral water.

[SVTatia]

Originally Posted by waterman46

...I am not sure why anyone needs to climb the mast so often that it can justify the cost and weight aloft, of full set of permanent mast steps, to say nothing of the windage in the case of non-folding types. I also worry about reliability of these steps after many years - I can image rivets and/or screws or the step itself corroding....

Some reasons that I use steps very often: Rig inspection, Bulb/electrical work, reef watch, halyard retrieval, etc, etc.

If they are properly installed reliability over time should not be an issue- just like averything else attached to the mast. Windage and the other inconviniences are the price you pay for full access to the only place on your boat that could be unaccessible.

For me it would be fixed steps just like Untie the Lines shown by Grantmc.
I once lost the main and the staysail halyards up to the top - I know, it does not happen often but when murphy is around you never know.

With fixed mast steps you are free to inspect the rig or do anything at any time, even singlehanded.

This is a very subjective option, only experience will enable a definite choice.

[Discovery 15797]

Like pdxsailbordiver, I also thought about this a long time, and finally decided to go with aluminum fixed steps. I installed my steps by tapping out the holes and using machine screws.

I went this way for a couple reasons....
1. I single-hand quite a bit. If I am alone and need to up the stick I can go up by myself (self-sufficiency is important to me)
2. I wanted secure footing if I have to go up the stick at sea
3. I use a climbing harness (NOT a bosun's chair) & safety lines

Other notes...
1. Halyard don't get wrapped round fixed steps if they are installed properly with a small line/wire rope running town the outside of the steps.
2. Fixed steps do not have a single point of failure.
3. I don't have to worry about my foot slipping off/out of a fixed step..more secure feeling
4. Any additional windage is insignificant on a cruising boat.
5. I would not recommend steps on a tapered mast
6. There is also no appreciable noise...when the winds are blowing there is more noise from neighboring boat halyards slamming against their masts than wind blowing through my mast steps.
7. Folding steps sometimes clatter in high wind or rolling anchorages
8. Also, size of boat and mast must be a strong consideration.

Overall, just like a radar arch it is a matter of personal preference.

I go up the stick once a year to inspect rigging. Rarely more than that. But, when I go up I am secure.

[Cheechako]

Fixed are really noisy in wind... sailing and at anchor. They also grab lines readily! Folding.
But I just put a couple up high to work at the masthead last time I had them.

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by MartinR

If you have double lower shrouds, you can rig ratlines. That will bring you up to the spreaders. The place to be if you are sailing in coral water.

After our first trip to the Bahamas weaving thru coral heads in places we probably should not have gone, we installed ratlines made from SS tubing on the shrouds up to the spreaders to better see the bottom. The next year we installed a teak tread on the fourth ratline down from the top to make is more comfortable to stand on for long periods of time. A few years later we added two folding steps near the top of the mast to make it easier to stay put when working up there. This year we added folding steps from the top of the rat lines to the mast top as age has made it harder for my wife to winch me up. All the folding steps are installed with 1/4"-20 aluminum flat head screws into holes tapped in the mast and set in Tefgel. They are on 17" spacing.

Bill

[JPA Cate]

A trick for stopping the rattle of the folding mast steps: slide shrink tubing over the foot part, down to the hinge area, then shrink it on. Worked on our previous mast.

On this mast, Jim installed 2 strap type steps high enough so that he can work down onto the mast crane. I take him up in the chair, then he stands to do the work, and finds it much more comfortable that the climbing harness. He also put two folding steps to get up to attach the main halyard to the head of the sail.

Ann