I sail 99% of the time alone, and so the first thing I looked at was how to climb the mast solo.
Borrowed my neighbours ATN Mastclimber, which he raved about, and subsequently bought one. Yes I did a fair bit of research and read about folks who built their own, and was duly impressed at their skills. My take is that this is a critical pieces of safety equipment, life a tether, or fall arrest harness, so I opted to leave the design and manufacturing to the experts. I always rig a safety line that Is looped around the mast, and then undone and re-looped as I go past spreaders. Not the safest system, I know, but will break up the drop height from <>46' to <>15'. One downside of the ATM. The climbing clutches are hard anodised aluminium which do a real number on any mast paint or anodisation. Particularly as you get to the top and it is harder to hold them away. I spent the winter with the mast out, and did a TOTAL rebuild of everything. Also sanded off the anodisation and primed with zinc chromate and brightsides. Looked great until the first climb with the ATN, which did a fair bit of damage. The next 3 trips were spent repairing the damage, primer, paint. This time I took a cheap rubber backed floor mat, wrapped it around the mast, and dragged it up as I went. Still thinking of ways to simplify this work around, as I cant see me even finding the mat if I have to go up when its blowing snot or in rough seas. I made about 15 more trips up last summer, with the Loos Gauge to tuning the rig, and always felt secure. Some of the Imoca 60 folks use it, so it has a good pedigree. Almost spring John LF38 From: Ryan Doyle [mailto:ryanpdo...@gmail.com] Sent: March-16-17 2:31 PM To: Patrick Davin Cc: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Subject: Re: Stus-List Climbing the mast solo Thanks Patrick and everyone for the warnings and suggestions. Violet Hour is a really pretty boat. I just ordered an ATM mast climber for pickup Saturday. Sent from my iPhone On Mar 16, 2017, at 12:24 PM, Patrick Davin <jda...@gmail.com> wrote: Here's how I do it: https://svviolethour.com/2015/04/22/how-to-climb-the-mast-solo-part-2/ https://svviolethour.com/2015/02/28/cleaning-the-boat-climbing-the-mast/ (earlier post with my first attempt; part 2 above has more details) There are many different ways to do it. One of my goals was doing it cheaply, with equipment I mostly already had. If you're willing to spend some $$$, ATN mastclimber might be easier. -Patrick 1984 C&C LF38 On Thu, Mar 16, 2017 at 9:00 AM, <cnc-list-requ...@cnc-list.com> wrote: From: Ryan Doyle <ryanpdo...@gmail.com> To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: Bcc: Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2017 11:01:15 -0400 Subject: Stus-List Climbing the mast solo Hi All, I need to replace the radar dome on my mizzenmast this weekend. It's about 22' up. I'm in solid shape and can climb without a problem. However, I have never climbed a mast before, and I have to do this work alone. I'm curious if anyone here has suggestions for doing this safely. Is it possible, or should I call in a professional? I'll be down on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake, so I'm sure I could find someone, but I'd rather learn to do this myself and I'd rather spend $ on mast climbing equipment than on a pro. I'm sure this won't be the last time I have to do this. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks so much. Ryan Juniper - 1983 Pearson 424 Ketch (Former 1976 C&C 30) Sent from my iPhone
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