up the mast/ spinnaker halyard bail

[john churchill]

i just finished a minor project that actually went better than expected (it happens). i added a spinnaker/spare genny halyard bail. i checked the price with spartan- $60- and decided to make my own. a piece of 1 1/2" x 6" aluminum bar 1/4" thick was rounded at one end and drilled for the shackle. two 5/16" holes (fiddle factor) for 1/4" bolts at the other. swivel block of course.
the greatest part of the deal was my new PETZL ascenders. these are rock climbing equipment items that are similar to cam cleats. one is attached to a lirakis bosun's harness (a webbing bosun's chair) and the other to a piece of webbing with 2 foot loops in it. to use it, clip onto the halyard, sit in the harness, raise the foot loop ascender, then just stand up and raise the harness ascender. it works GREAT. very low stress, easy,quick and safe. i had previously used a captain al's style ladder and found it tiring and not confidence inspiring. i am not able to hand over hand shinny up the mast (go ahead and throw me out of the old salt's club).
at any rate, once i got up there i drilled and tapped the masthead, which is a fairly soft aluminum casting, with ease and attached the bail with 1/4"-20 x 3/4" machine screws, then came on down. i could have done it all in one trip but expected so many problems that i did not take the new halyard up with me. actual time at the masthead was 15 minutes or less.
n.b. do not "plunge" when drilling the masthead as you may damage the halyard upon which you hang. similarly the bolts should be short.
the real discovery is the ascenders. they exceeded my wildest expectations, cost about $100 and should last a lifetime (hopefully a long one).
john churchill
cd26 "skua"

[John]

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them? Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them. I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?
Any other details would be helpful.
I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

[John]

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them? Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them. I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?
Any other details would be helpful.
I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

[Chris Reinke]

John - I also use a pair of ascenders to climb my mast. I purchased mine at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) but have seen them in most outdoor supply stores which carry technical rock climbing gear. I have often needed to go aloft solo so they are very useful. I fix my main halyard and attach the ascenders. They are an open handle device which can slide around the line. The ascender has a spring loaded cam cleat on the inside which locks the line as pressure is applied downward on the handles. The base of the handles have a hole for attaching the foot webbing loop and seat tether. As you stand in the foot loop you simply slide the ascender attached to you chair, and sit down. Your weight will lock the ascender in place. The next step is to slide the foot loop ascender up and transfer your weight back to you feet. The process of sitting, sliding, stepping, sliding, etc brings me to the top of my CD330 mast in about 2 minutes, including the additional time it takes me to secure a safety line. I secure the jib halyard and periodically tie myself to it as I ascend the mast. To descend the mast you simply reverse the process. To lower the ascender you raise you weight off the device and manually push the cam cleat open (remember the spring for quick ascents). I believe I spent approximately $125 for the two ascenders, webbing for foot loop and chair tether, plus two locking carabiners to secure it all together.

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them? Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them. I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?
Any other details would be helpful.
I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

Chris.reinke@transamerica.com

[john churchill]

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them?

i got mine at a local camping/outdoors shop. there are 2 main brands-PETZL and JUMAR- i got the petzls for $48 each, they come in a left and right. jumars are apparently the original ascenders. they are what the surveyor that introduced them to me had. he was happy with his, had used them frequently for many years with no signs of wear. a different shop wanted $65 each for the jumars. REI has them as well, you can look at a picture on the website.

Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them.
this came with the boat. available thru defender (who i hate) for $109.95 it is on page 299 of their 99 catalog. their new improved index does not list it. there is a picture. yes, be careful how that front strap is adjusted. you want everyone off to one side or the other.

I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.
my halyards are 3/8". larger line is safer, not so much for strength, but for how the device grabs the line , and also decreases the outside chance of it disengaging. i tie a 1/2" line to my main halyard, hoist it and belay the tail of the larger line to the jib halyard winch (this is not actually necessary, but makes it a little more secure feeling). i run the main halyard to the winch, 4 turns, the cleat it off, 2 throws, then tie the tail to another cleat. for a safety line i put a loop around the mast when i get above the spreaders and tie it to the harness, tying again to something at the masthead if i am going to stay. no one else is needed to winch or tail. i believe i coul;d use this system to go aloft solo at sea although i still dread the thought.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?

prior explanation is good. the place i bought them would not tell me a thingabout how to use them (liability issue) but let me look them over and read the instructions.

I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

try the ascenders, you will never consider the ladder style stuff again. i am going to disassemble my homemade ladder ( it was an improvement over capn al's.



jchurchill@erols.com

[John]

John - I also use a pair of ascenders to climb my mast. I purchased mine at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) but have seen them in most outdoor supply stores which carry technical rock climbing gear. I have often needed to go aloft solo so they are very useful. I fix my main halyard and attach the ascenders. They are an open handle device which can slide around the line. The ascender has a spring loaded cam cleat on the inside which locks the line as pressure is applied downward on the handles. The base of the handles have a hole for attaching the foot webbing loop and seat tether. As you stand in the foot loop you simply slide the ascender attached to you chair, and sit down. Your weight will lock the ascender in place. The next step is to slide the foot loop ascender up and transfer your weight back to you feet. The process of sitting, sliding, stepping, sliding, etc brings me to the top of my CD330 mast in about 2 minutes, including the additional time it takes me to secure a safety line. I secure the jib halyard and periodically tie myself to it as I ascend the mast. To descend the mast you simply reverse the process. To lower the ascender you raise you weight off the device and manually push the cam cleat open (remember the spring for quick ascents). I believe I spent approximately $125 for the two ascenders, webbing for foot loop and chair tether, plus two locking carabiners to secure it all together.

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them? Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them. I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?
Any other details would be helpful.
I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

Thanks for the additional info and source leads. My new question is how high can you get yourself relative to the mast head? In other words, when you are all the way up and seated, tied off, can you see the top of the mast head, is it at your shoulder level and can you work on it easily? By the way, after reading your descriptions I would use a second halyard as a safety line tailed by someone on deck as backup. I realize that isn't always possible but I'd sure strive for it. I guess since I saw a co-worker fall from the spreader height after a halyard splice let go on a C&C Landfall I've developed a little more respect for the inherent dangers in going aloft no matter what technique is employed.
The guy hit the deck landing between the lifelines and the cabin top with the upper lifeline hooking up into his armpit which badly broke his collarbone and he dislocated his hip, not to mention some bad bruises and scrapes. He was lucky. The lifeline in an odd fashion did its job and kept him on board. He could have drowned had he gone over the side as he was hardly conscious. A case history we should all consider when we think of going aloft. I don't know about you but I'll never go up again without someone tailing a safety halyard after witnessing that unfortunate event. You can imagine what would have happened had he been all the way up to the mast head. Thanks again for the detailed info.

[john churchill]

John - I also use a pair of ascenders to climb my mast. I purchased mine at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) but have seen them in most outdoor supply stores which carry technical rock climbing gear. I have often needed to go aloft solo so they are very useful. I fix my main halyard and attach the ascenders. They are an open handle device which can slide around the line. The ascender has a spring loaded cam cleat on the inside which locks the line as pressure is applied downward on the handles. The base of the handles have a hole for attaching the foot webbing loop and seat tether. As you stand in the foot loop you simply slide the ascender attached to you chair, and sit down. Your weight will lock the ascender in place. The next step is to slide the foot loop ascender up and transfer your weight back to you feet. The process of sitting, sliding, stepping, sliding, etc brings me to the top of my CD330 mast in about 2 minutes, including the additional time it takes me to secure a safety line. I secure the jib halyard and periodically tie myself to it as I ascend the mast. To descend the mast you simply reverse the process. To lower the ascender you raise you weight off the device and manually push the cam cleat open (remember the spring for quick ascents). I believe I spent approximately $125 for the two ascenders, webbing for foot loop and chair tether, plus two locking carabiners to secure it all together.

John,
I'd like more information on those ascenders you mention. Where did you get them? Also that Lirakis webbing bosuns harness, where did you get that as I have several of their safety harnesses but have never seen a bosuns harness made by them. I assume you used the jib halyard as a safety back-up with it being tailed by someone on deck.

Can you describe in a little more detail the operation of the ascenders, for example, how do they "clip" to the halyard?
Any other details would be helpful.
I once bought a Capt. Al's mast ladder from West Marine and promptly returned the death trap the next day, what junk. If I went that route again I'd probably go with the Mast Mate ladder, looks real stout and secure.

Thanks for the additional info and source leads. My new question is how high can you get yourself relative to the mast head? In other words, when you are all the way up and seated, tied off, can you see the top of the mast head, is it at your shoulder level and can you work on it easily? By the way, after reading your descriptions I would use a second halyard as a safety line tailed by someone on deck as backup. I realize that isn't always possible but I'd sure strive for it. I guess since I saw a co-worker fall from the spreader height after a halyard splice let go on a C&C Landfall I've developed a little more respect for the inherent dangers in going aloft no matter what technique is employed.
The guy hit the deck landing between the lifelines and the cabin top with the upper lifeline hooking up into his armpit which badly broke his collarbone and he dislocated his hip, not to mention some bad bruises and scrapes. He was lucky. The lifeline in an odd fashion did its job and kept him on board. He could have drowned had he gone over the side as he was hardly conscious. A case history we should all consider when we think of going aloft. I don't know about you but I'll never go up again without someone tailing a safety halyard after witnessing that unfortunate event. You can imagine what would have happened had he been all the way up to the mast head. Thanks again for the detailed info.

i was high enough above the masthead (about upper chst level) to examine measure/mark and drill it accurately.

[Mike]

Just a note, Jumar ascenders that are made of cast aluminum have been known to break and release climbers. I myself use CMI's version, the
" Ultrascender" machined from one piece of 6061 T6 aluminum.
Your masthead maynot be Halfdome, but a 40 foot fall can mess your whole day up, and just think of the deck repair.
Mike



konastorm@hotmail.com