I am a dumbsh- -

I was tyding up my halyards today after a short sail. I [i][b]knew[/[/b]i] that my mainsail halyard clip was firmly attached to my reefing hook...

I then pulled it all tight, but my halyard kept on going...faster, faster then I realized...OMG...there it goes.

Good news. I have an extra foredeck halyard on an external block. I can use my standard jib halyard for my main until haul out and the mast comes down.

Bad news. No back ups.

Anybody got any tricks up their sleave for getting a main halyard down from the masthead?

Thanks

I don't recall what kind of boat you have with respect to mast height, but I've seen guys at the sailing center crawl out on the boom of the crane and tie lines to wayward halyards. If the mast is short enough, might even be able to get it with a long boat hook if someone can "heel" your boat for you with you on top of the wall by the MCSC docks. I have also imagined ways of fetching the main halyard with the topping lift and a little bit of creative engineering, but I've never put any of them to the test.

I need to go aloft on my boat, or wait until haulout to get my windvane straightened out. It's bent back and doesn't give me any indication of wind direction. I've had to rely on such crude artifacts as yarn on the shrouds and the hair on my head. I assume something's wrong with my VHF antenna too as my reception is better with my handheld.

Matt,

PM me and we can get that down.


Chris,

That wind in the hair thing is over rated.

Two ways. One, use a boatswain's chair, secondly, simply use the cranes at the MCSC north wall.

Ditto what Gary said. Happened to me last year, boatswain's chair did the trick.

this happened to me this summer all ready; my brother pulled on the wrong end of the jib halyard and pulled it all the way out of the block. We tied the main halyard around his leg and pulled him up to the top of the mast. it took 10 min and required nothing that wasn't on the boat allready.

Dagmar, Was the halyard made into a loop and he put his foot in it? Or did you haul him up the mast by the leg, upside down?

You can simply twist up a double bowline, leave enough of the bitter end to wrap around the waist. Legs go through the bowlines and, voila, a bos'n chair quickly made out of existing line on the boat...

Yeah, my dad use to have me tie that knot, actually it was the bowline in the bite if I remember correctly, great knot for lifting a person -I was just joking w/ Dagmar.