Mast Climbing -- Best Practice

[Dockhead]

What an incredible compendium of useful knowledge!! I'm just overwhelmed. I'm going to print out this whole thread and study it carefully. Thanks to everyone for all the fantastic input.

[thinwater]

One of the keys to comfort is wide leg loops, such as used on a tower harness (they have to sit and work). A simple solution is too slip some wide, stiff foam in the loops, such as foam floor tiles, and duct tape them in place. It sounds hooky, but it really works. I take them out for rock and ice climbing, and store them with the mast ladder until next time. Standard climbing harnesses cut off the blood to the legs after a while. Not enough to be a suspention traumma risk, but not good.


BTW, suspension trauma is the result of bad harness design. Industrial harnesses are designed to catch you in a forward-leaning position so they you don't hit the back of your head. Unlike climbing harnesses, the leg loops press on the INSIDE of the thigh, right over the femoral artery. Sturdy and cheap to build, but NOT the sort of harness you should hang in.


Leg loops pull outwards


Leg loop pull forward. Less pressure on the femoral artery, more on the butt.

[Redboat]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Alternately, if you really need someone to go up the mast...you could hire someone.
Most sailboat riggers think nothing of shimmying up a mast.

The marina I work at quit doing that with their rigger. Unless he installed and knows the rigging on that particular boat well, our rigger (with 40 yrs experience) refused to climb customer masts. We pulled the boat into the hoist well and he went aloft with a bucket truck. Easy peasy and safe as can be.

I know most boat owners don't haul their own bucket truck around while cruising though.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Redboat

he went aloft with a bucket truck. [....] safe as can be.

I've used them. Be aware that they have their own risks. The bucket arm is light and will break if something heavy (like the mast) falls on it. There was just an accident here (downtown Minneapolis) like that a few months ago. I drove past the broken boom and the chalk outline of the guy who fell for a week or so until they hauled everything away and cleaned it up.


Bucket trucks are springy and if they are used to lift much of anything (which you aren't supposed to do, you use one with a separate gin pole if you're going to do that) you can get flung like a projectile out of a catapult if the load is suddenly dropped. That can also happen if the bucket gets stuck on something (spreader) and the operator doesn't let go of the button or lever or stick or whatever quite quickly enough.

[Redboat]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I've used them. Be aware that they have their own risks. The bucket arm is light and will break if something heavy (like the mast) falls on it. There was just an accident here (downtown Minneapolis) like that a few months ago. I drove past the broken boom and the chalk outline of the guy who fell for a week or so until they hauled everything away and cleaned it up.


Bucket trucks are springy and if they are used to lift much of anything (which you aren't supposed to do, you use one with a separate gin pole if you're going to do that) you can get flung like a projectile out of a catapult if the load is suddenly dropped. That can also happen if the bucket gets stuck on something (spreader) and the operator doesn't let go of the button or lever or stick or whatever quite quickly enough.

Oh, I understand. This is really a large boom truck, often hired out to lift trusses on construction site. It is deployed with legs on all sides and is also used in the yard to step masts on boats up to 60ft and was recently used to lift a 50 ft steel fishing boat from it's cradle onto a flatbed. The crew running it is the safest I have ever seen.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Redboat

The marina I work at quit doing that with their rigger. Unless he installed and knows the rigging on that particular boat well, our rigger (with 40 yrs experience) refused to climb customer masts. We pulled the boat into the hoist well and he went aloft with a bucket truck. Easy peasy and safe as can be.

I know most boat owners don't haul their own bucket truck around while cruising though.

I have taken MiCHughIV's advice and hired riggers to go up instead of me the last couple times, actually, including last year. That's one way to cut the Gordian knot, but I would like to get back to doing it myself, and I have a bunch of stuff to do up the mast this year.


I love the idea of a bucket truck and thought about that last year before I finally hired a rigger. I actually have a friend who owns one and offered the use of it.

[rls8r]

Lots of good information in these responses.

At 74, I still go up and down my masts unassisted (for the most part) - I'm pretty picky about who I let raise and lower me for mast work. I use the techniques described on the L-36.com web site. One of the techniques uses

two ascenders and an ATC

; the other uses an

ascender and a grigri

. Just a few comments to add to what has been said above:

1. I use both a bosun's chair and a climbing harness together. I don't trust the bosun's chair (but it's comfortable) and I trust the harness (but it's uncomfortable if it's all that's holding me up).

2. I use climbing ropes raised aloft by halyards. I use a static rope to go up and a dynamic rope as a safety line. The descending line depends on the technique used. Climbing a dynamic line is (at least, to me) like climbing a rubber band, so I go with static. I tie a prusik on the safety line and attach it to the loop on my climbing harness with a locking carabiner. If something goes wrong - the fall is limited to twice the distance from the prusik to the harness loop, and the dynamic line eases the shock.

3. I use climbing ropes instead of halyards because I'm not comfortable with the spiky teeth on the ascenders (depending on which ones you use) biting into the sheathing of the double-braid line. I'm not sure that it's something to worry about - but climbing lines were made to take those ascenders and halyards were not. So - rather than worrying or spending a lot of time researching rope features - for the small cost involved I just went with materials that were made for the task.

4. If you decide to use a grigri - note that there are two models. The "GriGri" has a handle that, as has been described in a previous comment, you pull back to descend. If you let go of the handle the GriGri will stop. There is also a "GriGri+". The "plus" model is a bit larger (and heavier) - and it has a handle that stops the descent if you let go AND if you pull back more. I think that it anticipates a novice that may panic if the GriGri starts to slip and pulls back farther on the handle. NOTE: when descending with a GriGri always keep some tension on the "down" portion of the line - if not, the GriGri will/can let the rope slip through - allowing a short free fall.

5. I carry tools aloft in a canvas bag that has individual pockets sewn on the inside to keep them from sticking out and hanging up on the rigging. Each tool has a lanyard.

6. If you construct the foot loops properly - using the ascenders or grigri technique will allow you to stand up and work on things above the mast head. When doing so, I'll often attach a line tied around the mast to my harness loop to keep me tethered to the mast and free up both my hands to work.

7. Some people use a single foot loop. I use double foot loops and they are sewn close together so I can put both feet together and against the mast (as I get older my adductor muscles are pooping out, but my quadriceps are hanging in there). I find it helps in going up and in working above the mast head.

Of course these techniques are often not Plan A; they are as far down as Plan D (depending on the resources at hand). Otherwise:

Plan A: Get someone else to do it.
Plan B: Hire a cherry picker truck
Plan C: Use the current technique you are used to, are comfortable with, and have faith in (but use a safety line/prusik to beat the odds).

[MicHughV]

I can say that I've been up and down a mast several times over my cruising career.
How many times ?...I'm guessing around 20-30 or so...maybe more....???
But that's enough, though I consider myself to be above average fitness and strength, that's plenty enough, and now some young feller can do it for me with the expectation that an experienced hand (mine) will be on the halyard winch.

This to me, is win-win situation, and I see no need to modify my thinking on this.
Off course, if some old salt wishes to perform this duty in lieu of a youngster, I will gladly haul him up too, with the caveat, that his weight does not exceed my capacity to get him up...and back down again.

I will have the obligatory cold beverage on hand to pass along the minute his feet hit the deck again.

[aberglas]

One halyard for being pulled up on.


Prusik loop on a second fixed halyard, which I move up and down as needed. If first halyard ever let go (very unlikely) I would end up hanging on the prusik loop.


https://www.animatedknots.com/prusik-knot

[hjohnson]

On our boat, the person going aloft always goes up in the bosun’s chair using a self climber. This is on dynamic line, tied to the main halyard, which in turn is run through its clutch, wrapped thrice around a jib winch, and cleated off.

The safety line is generally the spin halyard and is handled through its clutch, and thrice around the main winch.

When descending, the clutch is released, but the three wraps around the winch are maintained.

This is probably as safe as we can realistically make it.

[hpeer]

When you’re are away from local sources hiring someone who o go up is not so easy. I Grenada Marine I watched a guy drink beer and bitch for 4 days awaiting someone to half way up the mast for a simple job. But also when traveling I am often in places with no bucket truck or even dock.

I understand these are not issues for most but something to consider if leaving home waters.

[MicHughV]

In my younger days, knowing that I'd be threading reefs and getting into some dubious anchorage spots, mast steps was the solution for me. I'd often climb to the spreaders for a look around. Mast steps made this very easy. I never wore a harness or anything, just shimmied up.
For a singlehander or one that might themselves in out of the way places, I can certainly recommend them.

[Mark D]

Last year we had Windindicator issues and had to go up and down 6 times in a couple days. My girlfriend is not physically strong enough and has not enough trust to secure me.

I can put her up but she is not comfortable on heights. As I know my climbing skills from years ago I always go up by myself and secure myself.

It is physically demanding but I take my time. I had recently put a new halyard in so I know that the line is in perfect condition. The secure line that I use is a dyncamic line used for Via ferrata and has a build in 'safety stretch' that kicks in if I would fall.

Next time I should try to film and explain it as for some sailors when you are in need of a urgent repair this would be a technique everybody could use.

The video here is a good description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJf2_I6S0Pw

in short: I pull the halyard with 2 meters of overlenght on the deck.
I use a climbers 8 to connect for ascending on my waist and use a loop with a prusik that is long enough so I can push myself up on the halyard.

From here it is push with your foot heigher and then you reset the climbers 8 on your waist. You rise 40 cm at a time and with every spreader or possible connection I fix the security line.

[MicHughV]

The thing about halyards, is the condition they are in. Back in the day, when I still had hank on sails, I had a halyard break as I was hoisting the jib...1/2" line.....pow....the line was your typical braided line with inner core.
That certainly put a new spin on my mast climbing endeavors'
The line had frayed near the shackle end, presumably from rolling around on the upper masthead sheaves when the sail was up.
Off course, these days, halyards are made from a variety of exotic materials, likely much stronger and hardier than my original halyards, but still.....
For the same reason, I don't trust the line splice containing the shackle and will tie a bowline to the chair instead, even hauling someone else up.
Paranoid ???..me ????

[Benz]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

The thing about halyards, is the condition they are in. Back in the day, when I still had hank on sails, I had a halyard break as I was hoisting the jib...1/2" line.....pow....the line was your typical braided line with inner core.
That certainly put a new spin on my mast climbing endeavors'
The line had frayed near the shackle end, presumably from rolling around on the upper masthead sheaves when the sail was up.
Off course, these days, halyards are made from a variety of exotic materials, likely much stronger and hardier than my original halyards, but still.....
For the same reason, I don't trust the line splice containing the shackle and will tie a bowline to the chair instead, even hauling someone else up.
Paranoid ???..me ????

A lot of higher-end boats these days have a dedicated "gantline," used only for winching a crewman up the mast. Typically the ones I splice are 7/16" dyneema-cored. There's an extra measure of confidence knowing that it's only used for hoisting people, and not getting thrashed by other use.
If on a smaller boat, or one without room for an extra line, it's pretty easy to mouse out a questionable halyard and send up a dedicated climbing line, then mouse the halyard back in afterward.
Either way, I prefer one good line in which I have full confidence than two of unkown age/quality/wear.