Monday, November 23, 2015

MAST CLIMBING: OTHER POSSIBILITIES?


BIANKA has a round unstayed mast almost like a tapered metal telephone pole. So there are no spreaders to deal with like on many other types of sailboats. There are two hanger lines that support the wishbone boom though. I don't have to go up the mast too often. Usually just in the spring and fall when stepping and unstepping the mast. I can use a folding ladder to reach the hanger lines for the quick disconnect that I have to do.  There is no need to drag out a Bosun's Chair. However, this video looks like it might offer an interesting alternative for climbing the mast that also does not involve the ladder or Bosun's chair:






4 comments:

bill said...

Looks great. But don't get the ones with the cleats. (smiley face here)

Anonymous said...

It does state "for concrete and wooden poles". I didn't see anything about smooth aluminum. I'm sure it could work, but I'm not sure I would be entirely comfortable entrusting my safety to something not type-approved. Maybe a pivoting contact-shoe to increase the surface area of contact instead of the tube-to-tube contact there is in the concrete version. I would worry that the concrete version may slip if there is any dew or moisture on the mast.

It's like the 1,000lb block-and-tackle hoist I have in my garage. It's an 8:1 block and tackle that can easily lift tools and lots of lumber into the loft for storage. However, when I read the packaging, it specifically stated "not for overhead use". It really gets you thinking about how you use something. It's been used quite a bit over the past 7 or 8 years, but we always make sure that whatever is lifted would be able to come crashing down without hurting anything more than stuff.

Free advice is always worth what you pay for it :-)

Cheers,

/Jason

Capt. Mike said...

Jason:
In the opening credits of the second video it says it is for concrete, polyester (fiberglass?), METAL and wood poles. Of course wood poles would uses the spikes on the feet. In some of the videos they also have rubber shoes for the tubes when used on the smooth poles. Looks like the configuration is changed for the type of pole you using them on.

I certainly would still use a safety line no matter what when climbing a mast. Including this system. But, this setup at least does not rely primarily on just line integrity for safety and allows the climber ultimate control.

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