A proper way to climb a mast?!

[Bolo]

I recently had my marina remount a repaired Raymarine masthead unit on my E32-3 which involved the rigger and his helper because I don't go up on the mast anymore. I just don't bounce as good as I use to. Anyway, I took a short video of him ascending the mast and well....I'm not a pro but I don't think I'd do it this way. I asked if they needed a winch handle before starting and it's when the rigger said, "No", that I knew I needed to tape this one. He got the job done but made me as nervous as the "cat on a hot tin roof" as I watched from the dock.

A proper mast climbing?

youtube.com

 

[Kenneth K]

Proper? I'd say a definitive "no" because I don't see any backup/safety line(s) at all. If the "helper" slips or lets go, or the winch rips off the mast, or any single piece of hardware fails, the climber is dead.

I went up my mast 4 times in the last 2 months. I go up using just prussik lines and a climbing harness. But I always have 2 backup prussiks attached to two backup lines while the primary prussiks are on the jib halyard. BTW, no helper required when using prussiks--one less thing that can go wrong.

 

[Bolo]

Proper? I'd say a definitive "no" because I don't see any backup/safety line(s) at all. If the "helper" slips or lets go, or the winch rips off the mast, or any single piece of hardware fails, the climber is dead.

I went up my mast 4 times in the last 2 months. I go up using just prussik lines and a climbing harness. But I always have 2 backup prussiks attached to two backup lines while the primary prussiks are on the jib halyard. BTW, no helper required when using prussiks--one less thing that can go wrong.

I have to tell you, it was a scary scene. A couple other boaters who walked by on the dock just stopped and stared at the faux Cirque du Soleil act happening on my boat.

 

[Kenneth K]

I wonder who's insurance gets hit if something goes wrong? He's on your boat, on the marina's property. Maybe it matters whether he's licensed and bonded.

 

[Bolo]

I wonder who's insurance gets hit if something goes wrong? He's on your boat, on the marina's property. Maybe it matters whether he's licensed and bonded.

I would hope (guess) that his employer, the marina, insurance would cover any sort of accident and/or damage. But I’m not an attorney and never even played one on TV so I can’t say. I’d like to hear from anyone else who has hired a rigger to say how they got up the mast. I think it would be fair to say that most sailors on this site (non-pro riggers) would be using safety lines, winch handles or mast climbers (with a safety line) to go up the stick.

 

[Christian Williams]

I wonder what his fellow riggers say about his technique.

 

[Vtonian]

I would hope (guess) that his employer, the marina, insurance would cover any sort of accident and/or damage. But I’m not an attorney and never even played one on TV so I can’t say. I’d like to hear from anyone else who has hired a rigger to say how they got up the mast. I think it would be fair to say that most sailors on this site (non-pro riggers) would be using safety lines, winch handles or mast climbers (with a safety line) to go up the stick.

I'd guess this fellow feels like he can climb with no safety gear, so the tailer is his safety. But doing it for work? On other's property and with all the climbing options avaliable these days, I don't get the point.

I can swim in Puget Sound in shorts but I've never seen a professional clean a hull without a wetsuit.

 

[Bolo]

I'd guess this fellow feels like he can climb with no safety gear, so the tailer is his safety. But doing it for work? On other's property and with all the climbing options avaliable these days, I don't get the point.

I can swim in Puget Sound in shorts but I've never seen a professional clean a hull without a wetsuit.

I even offered to help man the main halyard as his safety line but my offer was politely refused. As for Christian's comment about what his fellow rigger think I can only say that the "head of rigging" at the marina has undoubtedly seen his methods and is OK with it??? I was going to send the video to the head of the service department but torn between appreciation of getting my wind instruments rigged (he also installed a Windex for me at the same time) and exposing his, IMHO, unsafe mast climbing practice that could possibly get him in trouble or not if the manager is OK with it. A this point my feelings are to just let it be.

 

[Vtonian]

I even offered to help man the main halyard as his safety line but my offer was politely refused. As for Christian's comment about what his fellow rigger think I can only say that the "head of rigging" at the marina has undoubtedly seen his methods and is OK with it??? I was going to send the video to the head of the service department but torn between appreciation of getting my wind instruments rigged (he also installed a Windex for me at the same time) and exposing his, IMHO, unsafe mast climbing practice that could possibly get him in trouble or not if the manager is OK with it. A this point my feelings are to just let it be.

I agree, I wouldn't rock the boat either. As long as you didn't have to clean splatter off your deck, 'not my zoo, not my monkey'.

 

[Bolo]

I agree, I wouldn't rock the boat either. As long as you didn't have to clean splatter off your deck, 'not my zoo, not my monkey'.

HA! "Not my zoo, not my monkey", is a phrase I haven't seen here on EYO, ever, and I would notice it because the origin of the phrase is Polish and it just so happens that I am 100% Polish. The phrase is actually, "Not my circus, not my monkeys", which in Polish is "Nie mój cyrk, nie moje małpy." It actually originated with something like not my cows, not my farm or words to that effect to mean it's best to stay out of someone else's business. I think the phrase eventually morphed into, "Not my circus, not my monkeys", because it infers confusion and trouble if you get involved and there is almost nothing that has the potential for confusion and possible trouble (if you get involved) than monkeys in circus.

 

[peaman]

Right here, we got experts on every topic. LOL

 

[Bolo]

Right here, we got experts on every topic. LOL

Hey! You gotta be smart and well informed if you want to own an old sailboat.

 

[Elgyn]

Videos like that make me cringe. I did cell tower work for years and have a Petzl harness and still have a SPRAT 1 ticket for climbing. Climbed up a 15 story building with my setup and +300 foot towers was common
Nothing like dragging out $4k in rope access gear in front of "professional" riggers to show then who's actually know the correct way of doing it

 

[Angel D.]

Videos like that make me cringe. I did cell tower work for years and have a Petzl harness and still have a SPRAT 1 ticket for climbing. Climbed up a 15 story building with my setup and +300 foot towers was common
Nothing like dragging out $4k in rope access gear in front of "professional" riggers to show then who's actually know the correct way of doing it

Hello friends , shure dont have $4k on gear at the boat , but do have spend a few bucks to feel safe. Basic knowlage of physics push me towrads safty and i have to climb alone. Usualy have a friend around , looking out from a another boat or on deck. Use multiple lines and climb with no tools on me , i pull them up after.
Always take my time and go easy , is a solid deck. And chances are i wont land on the folded dighy or the water. My sailing adventure could end at the begining .
Stay safe my friends !

 

[Bolo]

In life most of us have taken shortcuts in doing something for the sake of expediency or just being lazy. It’s human nature when the risks of failure or the results of failure aren’t that great. If you’re an “old hand” at what you’re doing but skip a step or two by justifying that you can count on your experience allowing you to get away with it now and then then you might be successful. However, IMO, it comes down to the odds. How many times are you going to be allowed to skip a step or two until it catches up to you ending with up having to do it over again the right way which can be expensive or, in our case, laid out on the foredeck of a sailboat. I’ve never seen the phrase, “This is where you need to be lucky” in any instruction manual. So it makes me wonder if the rigger who I filmed going up my mast does it the same way each time, and I have the feeling that he does, or will his luck run out going up that next mast. I don’t want to be in the marina to see it if that happens.

 

[Felicity]

I have been up the mast of our 38-200 a few times, First I bought a ‘mastladder’ pulled up on a halyard, with footholds all the way up, but it swung relentlessy, after going up about 10 ft, I abandoned that course of action. (Slightly used mast ladder for sale ) The next time, at dock, our jib halyard got terribly tangled in top of furling system, could not get sail down, a friend using his bosun chair, cranked me me up, but between him, a bit overweight with a bad back, and my wife with joint pain in her hands, they were a sad duo who did manage to get me up, but it took all they had. I decided then I would get a mast climber unit that did not depend on being pulled up by anyone else.
My third time up, due to my older jib breaking at eyelet that connects to halyard, jib came flying down into water and I had to go up to retrieve the halyard… using my new mastclimber unit, basically using your own legs to pull you up, worked like a charm. Really happy to have control over this essential part of boat safety. Here it is in case you are in search https://defender.com/en_us/atn-mastclimber-bosun-chair-mastclimber

 

[Loren Beach]

Probably not new news to anyone... but there is the DC answer. Several years ago a friend powered a housetop winch to hoist me up. IIRC it was with an angle-drive 28 (?) volt big drill motor with a winch stud chucked into it. It had enough battery reserve to hoist one 210# person up and approx. a remaining reserve to halfway do another hoist. Atmittedly it took some oomph. Our masthead is about 55' off the water.
We did have a second person to run a safety line (another halyard) also. Harken chair, with bowlines and not shackles used to secure the halyard(s).
Even allowing for a slight touch of acrophobia the view is terrific from the top!

 

[Christian Williams]

That's how Jerome Sammarcelli, local rigger and sailor, proposes to do it if I can ever actually get him to come to the boat to replace my busted anemometer cup. He brings one of those portable winch motors, the client uses it to power him up the mast.

 

[G Kiba]

I found comfort in having a system that puts less of my well being in the hands of a helper and having a redundant backup safety line that is somewhat independent of the primary equipment. In other words, removing/reducing the "single point of failure" if you don't count the mast falling down. I use a 4:1 rescue pulley system (used to raise and lower litters from high places). That, and a standard climb's prusik attached to a spin halyard and a secondary attachment point on my climbing harness. The 4:1 allows me to pull myself up while the helper tails the line that passes through a block on the toerail to a primary winch. The secondary safety can be lowered by the helper if I am not able to slide the prusik myself by lowering the spin halyard. Instructions are given to the helper prior to acending.

 

[Pete the Cat]

That is what I use (4:1) and I climb by myself (I am 76, not sure how much longer, but I went up last week). Key point to me is to take the time for prep so that you think through everything you need and make sure everything is accessible when in the harness. I leave a pail on the deck for bringing up tools and taking things down because maneuvering when up there is tough. I don't recommend it, but I climb alone because I want to do it slowly and get a bit nervous when someone is below me. I have dropped stuff and even with warning, keeping folks away can be a problem. I have been stuck on a mast and seen a lot of problems with winch over rides and other problems when you start to get a lot of people involved. I am not recommending it, just sharing my conclusions after many trips up the mast in different conditions. Some safety lines can be more of a safety problem (fouling, getting in your legs and feet, etc) than a help if not carefully planned and executed. I actually think most of the danger is not thinking things through and having an awareness of what can go wrong. And mistakes are very unforgiving. That is why it is dangerous. FWIW.