[Public-list] Re: up the mast

[Gordon White]

     If there is a dead-easy way to hoist yourself up the mast, 
single-handed, please tell me about it. I have done it, by myself, tied 
to the pier, but it was not easy. I went up the mast of a neighbor's 
40-footer last year in a bosun's chair to retrieve a halyard he had let 
fly and with two people on the deck it was still no picnic.  I was the 
lightest of the three of us. One cranked the winch and one handled a  
safety line (jib halyard) and it was a considerable effort. Now, I'm 71, 
the grinder is 67 and the safety man is 80, so maybe we are just too 
old, but  if there is an easy way I need to know  about it.

    When I went up solo I used the jib halyard as a safety and the main 
to take a 4-part tackle up the mast to which I attached the chair. The 
tackle, even 4-part, was not all that easy to manage while holding on to 
the mast with my legs and holding on to the  safety line. The 4-part 
tackle two-blocked somewhat below the masthead, so I had to unhook and 
re-set it. This was all in perfectly calm water, as I said, tied to the 
pier. I don't think I could have done it under way in any kind of a 
seaway. I think it would be as safe or safer to have steps and the 
safety line.

Ideas?

- Gordon White

Brigadoon II