[Public-List] Main sheave update

[John Riley]

Kris Coward wrote:
> When we're talking about applying tricks upon tricks to disconnect the
> shrouds from the top of the mast while held aloft in a bosun's chair by
> said very same mast, then we're getting into levels of cheapness that
> may qualify for a Darwin award. Don't make us show up at your funeral to
> call you dumb; just pull the damn stick.
>
> Cheers,
> Kris
>
>   

Aren't we getting a little melodramatic here?

There are ways to secure the mast or certainly ways to go aloft that
don't compromise safety, even if the upper shrouds are off.

Even in our small town, there is an equipment rental firm that has
"cherry pickers" that are more than adequate to do masthead work on an
A-30, if you can get her alongside a proper seawall.  Many major
boatyards have some sort of bucket truck / lift assembly that can
likewise be used.

Could one not use halyards, perhaps doubled and reinforced, to secure
the upper half of the mast for a short job?  They used to do stuff like
this on the square riggers, at sea, all the time.  The stays and lowers
are still in place, so it's not like the mast is an unsupported stick.

A similar apparatus as used to pull the mast could be constructed to
help support it side-to-side, no?

Pulling the mast may be BEST, and there are certainly other, very good
reasons, to pull the mast.  But there are also SAFE ways to do this job
without pulling mast, so that dropping the stick is NOT the "only"
choice here.

All it takes is a little planning, a cold objective eye to the dangers
and how to minimize them (there can be dangers in dropping the mast, as
well) and execution of a good plan with discipline to not cut corners.

My two cents.

-- 
John S. Riley
S/V Gaelic Sea
1972 Alberg 30 #521


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