[Public-List] Mast up! No halyards~!

[Jeffrey]

Well, went to the boat yesterday and when I told my story to the guys
in the yard they said "no problem" I could come in as soon as they
finished rigging the boat they were working on. Since I was determined
to give it a shot myself, I laid out my plans to the guys and they
said call if I need to come in to the crane. They would fit me in. I
rowed out to the boat and got right to it.

First thing I did was create a klemheist hitch out of a long length of
cord, slide it up above my head, and clip an aider to it. An aider is
sort of a ladder made out of sewn flat webbing. I put a foot in the
aider, stepped up and it held. I jumped a bit and it held. I gave it a
good bounce test and it didn't slip a bit. Feeling confident with my
hitches, I tied the second klemheist, put on a harness and the rest of
my gear. Each hitch had an aider clipped to it, and I could climb by
sliding one hitch up, steppinig up in the higher aider, then sliding
the lower hitch up, stepping back so I could again slide the higher
hitch up. I was also clipped to both hitches from my harness. I didn't
bother with a belay to the spreaders, feeling confident in the
hitches. They didn't slip down one bit, and they slid up the mast
easily. As far as aid climbing is concerned, this was easy. It went
well up to and past the spreaders. The mast felt a little more bendy
that I thought it would but I kept going.

At the spreaders, I made a third klemheist above the brackets and
clipped to that before removing one under the brackets and re-tying it
above. I was always tied to two hitches.

Above the spreaders was a different story. The mast felt even more
bendy, much different that the side to side swaying of a trees I've
climbed. When I settled into the aiders, and leaned out to move the
hitch up higher it felt as though I was bending the mast outwards.
Visions of a drinking straw ran through my head..strong straight up
and down, but weak if you apply a load to the center.  I could see a
visible bend in it.  Could I buckle the mast? I doubt it. No way. But
the straw...

I had the spreaders at foot level and I decided to come back down. I
hadn't expected the mast to react that way. I've been hauled up by a
halyard, and never noticed the mast bending like this. Descending was
easy enough. The klemheist hitches slide down easily when unloaded,
then lock immediately when loaded.

At the crane dock they sent a guy up in the bosun's chair and he set
up the main and jib halyard with just a little difficulty since my
mast has two small plates above each end of the shiv that needed
removal before passing the line through.

What I learned: The mast can easily and safely be climbed using two
klemheist hitches. But should it be done? I'm still not sure about the
mast bending like it did. I bet would need to bend quite a bit before
it buckled but it didn't feel very solid. Perhaps I'm used to climbing
cliffs which don't move, or free-hanging ropes which move lots..and it
is ok.

We got the sails bent and are ready to sail. We discussed spending a
night in Damariscove harbor, Maine before the summer  crowds show up.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=damariscove+island+maine&aq=&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=60.676898,135.263672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Damariscove+Island&ll=43.762416,-69.612808&spn=0.219933,0.528374&t=p&z=12

http://marinas.com/view/overview/40_Damariscove_Island_Damaricove_Island_ME

Thanks again everyone for your advice and encouragement!

-jeff




On Fri, Jun 17, 2011 at 3:56 PM,  <gregr at nethere.com> wrote:
> Jeff,
>
> I too have done my share of technical climbing. I don't see any issue with
> your plans. An upside is that you'll have worked out a system should you
> need to do it when a yard isn't available. I'm sure you've thought of the
> following but I'll throw it out there anyway.
>
> Setup a "Top Rope" at the spreaders: figure 8 a loop in the middle of a long
> line with a couple of biners and a safety line. The bitter ends go over the
> spreaders from the bow, cross, come back over, cross, back over, get drawn
> tight and tied off aft of the mast. This is better than a single line over
> the spreaders for couple of reasons.
> 1. The anchor uses both spreader sockets so both have to fail for the system
> to fail.
> 2. The safety line is sliding through biners and not over the spreader
> socket should you need to be lowered via the safety line.
>
> Either way, make sure your belayer knows to keep your safety line snug so
> if you slip your anchor doesn't see any shock loads.
>
> Backup #3: I use this even if I have two halyards because
> it keeps me close to the mast should some joker come blasting through the
> marina. Larkshead an additional loop around the mast, through your chest
> harness, and down to your seat harness. Absolute worst case is you slide
> down the mast feet first...
>
> Greg
>
> P.S. DON'T FORGET THE MESSENGER LINE TO HAUL UP THE HALYARDS!
>
> sorry, couldn't resist :)
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-- 
Jeffrey Fongemie

 1308409723.0