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A proper way to climb a mast?!

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
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
Amen. I've been up the mast a few times in the past month. Seems it takes at least an hour of prep each time before going up. When working near the top, I've found it helps greatly to hang a small diameter rope with many loops and clips on it to attach tools and parts to while working.

I'm a big fan of prussiks. My new rule is to use 3 lines (1 primary and 2 safety) with prussiks attached. To accommodate this, I hung spare climbing-lines from the masthead, and I loop a climbing-line around each of the spreader brackets. I also carry a spare pair of chest and foot prussiks. Now when I go up, I can completely unhook from any one climbing-line (while still having 2 other safety prussiks attached) to facilitate moving from left-to-right (becomes an issue when the forestay/backstay is blocking your passage) or from the front-to-back around the mast.

20241107_160755.jpg

On smaller lines like halyards, I triple-wrap the prussiks, but on the big, beefy dock lines I've hung, a double-wrap gives plenty of bite and is easier to slide over the line.
 
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bumbugo

Member I
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.
I believe this system is also known as a Gantline Setup. Most of the riggers that I've seen around my area use this system with a prusik attached to a secondary line that is tied off securely - usually another halyard. This is the system I want to use in the future. I've been up the mast a few times lately but even though I'm not a heavy person, it still seems like a lot of work to hoist me up to the top of the mast.
 

Second Star

Member III
I have been following this discussion with great interest as I am due up the mast over the winter for some light and wind instrument issues. Being a 28+ the forestay attaches about 8 ft short of the masthead so using the foresail halyard is a non starter. There is only one line that goes up the mast, the main halyard, and it is internal on the downhaul. Then there are the shrouds. two points of attachment each side of the mast, the spreader arms and the forestay. This whole arrangement makes it a major pain to efficiently get past and up the mast. In the manner of Kiba and Pete, I plan to use a 2:1 arrangement where the first block it taken to the masthead by the main halyard and the second block is attached to my harness. I can have an assistant haul me up using the mast mounted winches for the mainsail or foresail or I can haul myself up and use the bos'n chair method of tying the line off (much like we did in the navy). A form of safety line or system is what I am working on now. The first thought is to prussic directly around the mast to my harness and change it's position each time I meet one of the obstacles listed above. Has anyone out there done that?
Of note for a off the wall way up the mast I found on a youtube site Wind Hippie, a young woman sailing Maine into the Pacific solo. She just shinnies up the mast like climbing a pole! I'm a tad too old for that.
We also had a major yacht into Victoria last year (200 ft long) that had a bucket "elevator" that went up the mainmast. This is my preferred method but I can't afford the boat.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
The first thought is to prussic directly around the mast to my harness and change it's position each time I meet one of the obstacles listed above. Has anyone out there done that?
A prussik likely won't get any "bite" on the mast, and any slipping that results will generate heat which is bad for the rope. Look at a klemheist knot made with webbing. The webbing will likely grab better on the mast's hard surface.

See approx. 4:30 into this video

I used to use a klemheist on a 36 or 48" runner (climber's webbing loop) as a safety, once I got above the upper spreaders. I figured it would at least arrest my fall as a last resort. But, if you think it through, that's still problematic. Sure, you're alive, but if you're hanging by your last resort, that means you can no longer descend (with or without help), nor can anyone else ascend to help you down (and, you may be injured). That means your only options are:

1) A helicopter rescue (as I don't think fireman are going to climb a mast that's just experienced the multiple failures that put you in the position you're in). Or,

2) Hauling up a bag from deck level with more climbing gear. I.e., another line you can descend on, a carabiner to hook that line to your existing (or an added) Klemheist, and a pair of foot and chest prussiks to descend with.

It's well worth running through all the worst-case what ifs ahead of time.

20220306_152622.jpg
Runner & klemheist around the top of the mast (wrapping it over the other lines will give the knot more to bite into).
 
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Vtonian

E38 - Vashon
This discussion makes me feel better about all the gear i take up with me. I was thinking I looked like a dufus, clattering around decorated with anodized gear like a Christmas tree compared to the bare bones shinny style climbers. But I didnt start tree climbing again until I'd learned and practiced switching climbing lines and descent gear at low level, and then practiced that at height, before tackling the mast. Always have at least a plan B and C. IMO, a mast is harder, in that trees have bark that grips lines well, masts are slippery. Trees have generally wide angled forks and branches that can help you, while masts have thin, close angled shrouds and stays that always seem to trap you.

I also appreciate the comment about not trusting the turning blocks at the collar, I totally overlooked that.

If I have a helper, they follow me with another halyard on a winch as backup. If not, a backup line clipped to a webbing loop that is cow hitched around the mast and fastened to my climbing saddle, and can be pushed up as I go, unclipped and re hitched above spreaders, etc as needed. It isn't a completely hardened attachment and likely to slip a bit if catching you in a fall but then plenty of injuries can happen from the shock of arresting a fall, and the main objective is to not take the loooong fall, so I think slippage for the backup isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'll take a broken rib or nose over a broken neck.

FWIW, I climb on a Hitch Hiker 2 ascender/descender with foot and knee ascenders, and use a Petzel I'D S as my backup descender, which can also be rigged at the base (base tie) so if unconcious, I can be lowered from there, without anyone having to climb up to rescue me. That requires an extra long rope, so theres enough to go from the deck, up through a pulley attaced to the halyard, back to the deck, and enough after that for lowering, so 3x the mast height.

If incapcitated, a rescurer can lower you by operating the descender's lever. The same precaution could be done with a deck winch, just takes a longer rope. And, then you could still take a backup line and descender with you so you could also self rescue from a main equipment failure.

An advantage to that could be the possibility to also raise an unconscious climber up off an obstruction with the winch, an otherwise horribly complicated task.

More FWIW, for scheduled work, I climb on a decent entry level saddle for the comfort and security. For emergencies, I carry a rock climber's version on the boat.

Last FWIW, fear of heights is a big deal, people can need rescuing from getting frozen by it. Having real, properly rated climbing equipment is essential. Honestly, it would take a tow truck to pull me out of a tree and I count on that. Practicing with it low and slow, long before attempting heights, and doing it often enough to be proficient in its use is also required.

Fear is crevice corrosion for the brain and things in there will snap if you haven't worked on your mental game as much as your technical one. You need a mental toolkit handy to sort through when something unexpected happens, anxiety starts to creep in, and your basic self assurances suddenly don't cut it.

Unless you're one of those fearless folks that are unperturbed by anything, in which case I dislike you already.
 

nukey99

New Member
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.
Back in the days when I would go up my mast, very similar process to Kenneth K, I had climbing ascenders and a harness, I would climb a halyard, and have two back ups thread through a figure at descender for safety.
 

Vtonian

E38 - Vashon
A note to add about prussiks for climbing life support, per Kenneth's comment, descent on a prussik will generate heat, a lot in most cases, so make sure you use the type of heat resistant line made specially for that use, and also of a type and size to work smoothly with the climbing line you're on. If there isnt at least one other friction generating component in your setup, prussiks can be dangerous.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
I learned about climbing with prusiks in a mountaineering course I took in the 2000's. The mountaineers were big on always using a chest loop-- a loop of webbing draped around the shoulders, crossed in an X across the back, and connected with a carabiner in front of the chest (the green loop shown below). The upper prusik goes through the chest-loop carabiner on its way to the climbing rope. This way, during a fall, the torso is pulled upright before the fall is fully arrested by your waist harness.

I always use a chest loop when climbing the mast. Not only would it keep you upright during a fall, but you can also tie it off to the mast to hold you upright (i.e., something to lean back against) instead of relying on your abdominal muscles to do that for an hour or more at a time.

Chest Loop.jpg
Blue = climbing rope
Yellow = harness prussik
Green = chest loop
 
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