Halyard replacement

[Uturn]

I'm not sure if my halyards need replacing or not. They were called out in the survey as being dated. However, I think they are just dirty and moldy. The boat sat in north east NC for almost 2 years. There was lots of mold on the exterior that I had to clean off. I have not been up the mast, but the visible parts of the halyards are not frayed, the weave is tight, and I see no signs of chafe. Do I replace, or just clean?


If I need to replace, how do I determine length? 86 Catalina tall rig. I can find the height of the mast and the distance from mast to end of bow sprit. Mast height squared plus distance to sprit squared = length of forestay squared. Do I just double the height of mast and forestay plus distance to cockpit plus some extra?


I've pulled miles of structured cabling by electrical taping the ends together. I have a feeling that this is not the process. Is it time for some quality time with fids? Is end splicing a difficult thing to learn? Basically, what is the margin of error? Does it need to look like a solid piece of rope on a galloping horse at 30 paces, or a solid piece of rope in your hand?

[Spot]

On my 21' boat it gave me joy to spend about 100$ for double braid to replace both halyards, topiing lift, and sheets as I had no real idea how long they had been in service. I got mine from Valley Rope and Supply. Make sure to pick sizes that work with the rest of the shackles, etc. on the boat.

Below is a link to an article from APS on measurin'. After that a pic of the freshness that is on my mast. Beats looking at the old grayness and is one less set of things I will not have to wonder if/when they will fail.

https://www.apsltd.com/aps-advisor/m...expert-advice/

[roverhi]

As long as the braid is still intact need to replace. Halyards are almost always sized for hand comfort and way stronger than the actual load. You might attach a messenger line, pull them out, put them in laundry bag(s) and stick in a washing machine with Oxyclean and maybe fabric softener. Use the messenger line to pull them back through.

If you decided to replace, sew the old halyard to the new halyard, just a couple loops of whipping twine, tape the the join so it won't catch on anything and pull the new halyard through.

[psk125]

What Rover said.

[Jammer]

1) If it was called out on the survey you may have to do it in order to get insurance.


2) Out of all the things that go wrong on sailboats, broken halyards is near the bottom of the list


3) It is much easier to replace halyards when the mast is down for other reasons


4) There are various reeving splices that are specifically designed to allow you to pull a messenger line through the sheaves with a halyard with minimal odds of sorrow

[sv Noodles]

roverhi has the best solution.

[Tillsbury]

I disagree. Broken halyards are a royal pain when they happen at sea. If the surveyor mentioned it (unusual) they are probably worth replacing. Get a reel of mousing line (cheap 3-4mm stuff) and pull that through with the existing lines. You can then check them thoroughly, wash them, measure them, and replace them if needed. I'd want to be sure my halyards are the best, as they're close to impossible to replace at sea if they fail.

Think about what ropes are under stress: the second reef, for example, is only a very short critical line. The vast majority of it (that ends up in the cockpit when the reef is in) is only used to pull the rest of the line in. It could easily be a fairly tatty old halyard, as long as the working section is the part that used to be in the mast and still looks good.

[LongRange]

I'd add a note of caution about using too-small messenger lines.

I bought a bunch of quality 4 mm line, thinking it looked plenty strong for the tiny loads. The halyards on my boat are 14 mm. The previous winter I replaced them all with the messenger line, patting myself on the back for being so proactive about maintenance.

Three months later, Im trying to pull on the messenger line to get the main halyard back up. Half way up, the messenger line somehow gets stuck. Pulling any harder risks breaking it. In desperation I get myself hoisted up the mast (via another halyard) to take a look. The small diameter of the messenger line has somehow allowed it to jump off the large masthead sheave, and wedge itself in the tiny space between the sheave and the alloy around it!

What followed was three hours of utter frustration, during which I invented several new swearwords. In the end I fashioned a kind of bent little trident out of a piece of steel, and somehow managed to get the messenger line back on the sheave.

Next time I'll just leave the halyards in place over winter. Or use cheap 8 mm messenger lines.

[JimsCAL]

Are these older wire and double braid halyards? If so, probably overdue for replacement. Did the surveyor say why replacement was recommended?

[Snore]

Sorry there comes a time when the line is just old. Plus if it is that old, it will likely stretch. What does that mean? You will raise the main, have the luff just right, and then while sailing the line will stretch and the luff gets too loose.

If you wish to replace the line. I measure by resting the halyard shackle on the gooseneck and marking the other end of halyard against the gooseneck. Now raise the main. Mark the raised halyard against the gooseneck. That is the distance the halyard traveled from the gooseneck to the top. Double that distance for the round trip it has to make, now add for routing to the cockpit (or wherever you hoist) and add for splices. I added 8 feet just in case I made a mistake mistake.

Unlike replacement sheets, most boats can handle replacement halyards with a dyneema core. That ensures they will not stretch.


Since I do my own splicing, to install the new halyard I took 6-8” of cover off the old halyard and 6-8” of core off the new halyard. I then used my splicing fid to pull the old core into the new cover. Added some stitches in two locations and they were spliced well enough for the reeving(SP?). I then pulled on the old halyard and voila, it all came together.

Save the old halyard. Practical Sailor did an article a while back about how to stitch eyes into old lines. I would not leave the boat on those lines, but they are good short term docking lines.

[navman]

One thing few consider, is that each halyard should be sized so that you can effectively use it to hoist someone back on board the yacht in a MOB situation.

I have been on many, many yachts where the halyards are too short for this.

It is also worth adding a few extra feet enabling you to shorten the halyard to remove chafe which inevitably happens first at the masthead sheaves. I usually add 16 feet, enabling me to sufficient length for a second splice for the shackle one time, and 10 feet to get to the waterline even if the yacht is heeled over when hove to.

I always add chafe protection at the sheaves for full hoist, and both reefs.

[JC Reefer]

Tough to say without seeing pictures. We demand pictures.

BUT Mousing in messages line is a good thing to get the right length from your local rigging shop. Use proper messenger line. It’s cheap and should hold up to the sun (in case it’s out there for 3 months)

The sewing of the two ends of rope together idea is asking for trouble.

New lines with a proper reeling eye will work best.

Don’t be the guy yanking on the messaged line. If your forcing it, then something is wrong.

[CassidyNZ]

To determine length of your halyards go to Sailboatdata.com and search for your boat. The attached image is for a 1979 Catalina 30 as an example. The rig dimensions are provided and if you need to understand the nomenclature, clicking the little question mark will provide help.

[Mr B]

My halyards were sitting on the deck for seven years,
They were black and green with mould and dirt, and stiff,
Looked absolutely terrible,
I bought a couple of 100 metre rolls in appropiate sizing to replace the lot,
I brought a few of the shorter ones home with me and chucked them in the washing machine with my jeans,
They came up like brand new,
Try washing them first, Then see what they look like,
If they are still look tacky, Replace them,
Buy your new halyards direct from the manufacturer, 1/3 the price of a chandlery,

[S/V Adeline]

Electrical taping halyard ends together works great up to the point when one slips the tape. Then the real fun and excitement begins.
With internally run lines you either drop the mast or spend hours in a bosum's chair dangling a weight on a fishing line while someone with a crochet hook tries to fish it out the lower exit hole. Make sure the weight doesn't wrap other lines (electrical too) or you end up with chafing and squealing inside the mast.

Fond memories I assure you!!

I prep both lines with duct tape, cut and burn each end. Then butt them together and sew them making a minimum of 6 complete stitches. The stitches are placed about 1/4 in past the burnt ends and all go through duct tape for added strength. Never had any issues with this method.