Frayed halyard advice - how much life is left?

[conehead]

Hi,

I noticed yesterday that the halyard on my mainsail has frayed on one particular part. I think it might have been rubbing on the spreader as it's at the right height when the halyard is attached to the end of the boom, although I'm not sure how as I've been tying the line away from the mast when the boat isn't in use.

Anyway, I'm wondering how much life is left in the halyard at this point. Should I stop using it immediately and get a replacement, or will it be serviceable for a while to come and I should just keep an eye on it? I've not been sailing very long and I'm new to boat ownership too, so I don't really have any experience on this and would welcome (friendly) advice.

Cheers

[S/V Illusion]

Why postpone the inevitable? You need to replace it, if not now in the near term, and it’s not going to get cheaper in the future. Simple decision!

[conehead]

Originally Posted by S/V Illusion

Why postpone the inevitable? You need to replace it, if not now in the near term, and it’s not going to get cheaper in the future. Simple decision!

I've just bought the boat and am in the middle of taking her to her new mooring, and I'd rather wait until she's nice and safe at her home berth before I start dealing with these problems as I'm both cash- and tie-strapped currently.

Question was whether there's any life left in it, not whether it needs to be replaced 'at some point in the future'. I know it does. I want to know if I need to cut my journey short immediately because the halyard's about to snap, and I don't have enough experience to make that judgement without advice.

Thanks

[TheOffice]

The line looks old in addition to the chafe.
Can you cut the halyard and use the remainder without it being too short? There is very little life left in it, and if it breaks it will require a trip up the mast to replace. I'd cut it or replace it now.

[Jammer]

It's shot.

Samson has a guide with photos that shows their recommendations for replacement, if you're interested:

https://www.samsonrope.com/catalog/rope-users-manual

Samson recommends replacement of double-braided rope when 3 or more strands in proximity are cut.

[Jammer]

Dealing with initial delivery on a newly acquired boat where there has been no opportunity to catch up on back maintenance is always a judgment call. Some questions to consider:


- Do you have some rope you can use as a spare halyard? Do you have a friend or a rigger who might be willing to give you or sell you an older halyard that you could install temporarily?
- Is there rope locally available that can be used to make an acceptable halyard for now, and cut up for other purposes after you purchase and install a more permanent halyard?
- Do you need the halyard to move the boat? Can you just motor to wherever you have to take it?


etc.

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by conehead

I've just bought the boat and am in the middle of taking her to her new mooring, and I'd rather wait until she's nice and safe at her home berth before I start dealing with these problems as I'm both cash- and tie-strapped currently.

Question was whether there's any life left in it, not whether it needs to be replaced 'at some point in the future'. I know it does. I want to know if I need to cut my journey short immediately because the halyard's about to snap, and I don't have enough experience to make that judgement without advice.

Thanks

What you are asking is for us to look into our crystal balls to determine when it will fail. Might be a year; might be this afternoon. We all understand frugality but the point I tried to make is sailing isn’t a game of “do you feel lucky?”.

[marcjsmith]

You're going to hoist your sail and it will be fine. It will be a beautiful day, wonderful sail. You'll be grinning form ear to ear. Time will come to turnback and drop the sails.

Unbeknownst to you, the cover will now decide that its time to separate from core.

However, its not going to separate form the core outside the mast on the deck where you can see it. No, that's not how sailboats work. Its going separate inside the mast.

As you are lowering the sail, the cover will start to bunch up around the top most sheave. your sail will be halfway down and it will stop dropping. You'll decide to raise the sail back up to try to figure it out. now the cover on the line that outside of the mast will start bunching up at the sheave and you won't be able to fully raise your sail.

you've got a couple options

1 raise the sail as much as you can and try to figure out a way to strip the cover off the core at the bottom of the mast while still keeping tension on the halyard.

2 you'll have to send someone up the stick to un hook the shackle on the end of the halyard while tying a mousing line to the halyard so you have a way to feed a new halyard through the mast. once you get back to the dock.

if you are lucky it will only be blowing 3-5kts and calm waters, and the person you have to hoist up the mast weights 100lbs. Again, sailboats rarely work that way. when stuff goes pear shaped, its usually ugly and getting Dark, Rainy, cold, windy etc.


You know you've got the spend the money, might as well spend it before its becomes more expensive, troublesome and time consuming. after you replace the halyard cut the old line whip the ends and use it for something else. vang, fender lines, dinghy painter, reefing lines, spare dock lines for when at the fuel dock.

BTW Welcome to sailboat ownership...

[rognvald]

KISS! Replace.
Rognvald

[ChrisJHC]

Can’t really see it properly, but it looks like the Dyneema core is okay while the polyester cover is not.
It is unlikely that the core will snap but there is a non-zero chance that the cover will come apart. Due to Murphy’s Law, this will be in the worst possible place!

In an emergency you could make a temporary repair to the cover, (and hope for the best) however you’re not in an emergency situation.

Like everyone else, I’d be replacing the halyard.

One way of looking at it is: replacing the halyard now is a 10-15 minute job by yourself. If the halyard snaps (albeit low probability), it is a much larger job and likely to require external assistance.

[JPA Cate]

Hi, conehead. If the chafed portion is at spreader level when the halyard is attached to the boom end, you can consider end for ending the halyard, which would put the weakened part of the line somewhere on the tail. This might get you home to your mooring.

However, in general, when the outer core is that chafed, the inner core will have had some damage. As Illusion stated, none of us has a magic crystal ball that would tell us when and under what conditions the line will part. How bad would that be? The sail would fall down, it might obscure your vision, and you will lose its run up and down through the mast.

Well, as it is, you can still use the existing halyard as a mouse line. What would you use if it parts? [Yes, there are threads here about recovering from the situation, it IS doable. If you don't already have a long enough electrician's fish, you'll want one, so waiting can incur more costs.]

In general, when halyards chafe it is often at the masthead block, which has frozen, in which case, end for ending it doesn't do any good, with the chafe in the middle, it would stay there. If it is about 1/4 of the way to the end, end for ending it could get you home to your mooring, especially if you only raise the main to the #2 reef, so there will not be stress on the chafed tail of the halyard.

The halyard needs to be replaced. And, you can safely use it if you can work out a way to not load the chafed place. Other potential fixes, like whipping the line won't work. It has lost x part of its diameter; it has some UV damage, and it's old rope. But don't bin it. Over the period of ownership of the boat, you may find some good use for the rope, once it is cut and whipped, etc. [One use for old rope for us has been to tie up someone else's boat when it has come agley; another was to make a hoisting bridle; another for spring lines.]

*****

If you tell us how tall the mast is, and how long the halyard is, that would give us more to work with. Same about the boat, what is its make? length overall? displacement?

Best wishes for getting home safely.

Ann

[Don C L]

How big is your boat? I know my halyards are considerably larger than the loads on them require. It is possible you have enough left to last you a while if you have a 25' boat or so. But best to replace it. Not hard and not too expensive if you stick with polyester. (Dyneema core would be better) Take the new halyard and lash it to the old one with needle and thread end to end to pull it through the sheaves at the mast head.

[cram]

As others mentioned, you have 3 choices:

- replace the hallyard before using the sail again, having it break could insure someone or damage the sail
- stop using the sail and motor
- sell the boat. If you can't afford a halyard, just wait till the next 6 months of unplanned expenses shows up. Welcome to boating!

[Tin Tin]

Does you boat have a topping lift of the around same diameter?, if it is not chafed use it as your main halyard for the time being. Look at other subsitutes like spinnaker halyard or sheets too.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Jammer

It's shot.

Samson has a guide with photos that shows their recommendations for replacement, if you're interested:

https://www.samsonrope.com/catalog/rope-users-manual

Samson recommends replacement of double-braided rope when 3 or more strands in proximity are cut.

Samson also says: "If in doubt, replace it"
And, always remember: Safety is a terrible lover.
Safety always comes first.