Re-reeving Jib Halyard

[hwpratt]

Hello,

Our genoa halyard broke about 1 foot from the shackle ... after the finish of the race. The cover has been stripped (by a previous ownler) from the in-mast portion of the line. The last 2 feet of core at the shackle end are a litle thinner and fuzzier than the rest of the core.

So, I have two questions:

(1) When I re-reeve the halyard (from a bosun's chair), are there any in-mast structures I need to navigate around? For example, is there a bar from the spreader that goes through the mast, and if so, does the jib halyard need to go ahead or behind of that bar?

(2) Since the core has alread failed once, it is time to replace the whole line or should I be OK cutting off 2 feet of the cored line and continue using the same halyard?

[J.D. Kloss]

Yes, there are obstacles, including the rod between spreaders. Trick that has worked best for me is using about 2 feet of monofilament fishing line with split shot sinkers spaced about every 6" to feed a line down. If it hangs up, the weight of the subsequent sinkers pulls it free. I've heard that a length of bicycle chain works similarly, but I'm not sure it would fit through the sheave.

I'd replace the whole line, but then I love to spend money on my boat.

Jim Kloss
s/v Ambivalence
S2 7.9 #8

[Tim Bosma]

Harrison,
Re-reeving a halyard can be a bit tricky with the stick up. You need a bosun who is not afraid of heel. I have 2 tricks:
1. use a bright yellow string line like for bricklaying or such, tie a length of bicycle chain on the end. I use about 18" of chain. it will roll in over the sheeve.
2. use a really big zip tie to retrieve the line at the mast exit.

so here's the drill.
hoist the bosun up with the chain/line, pay it out from on deck so you have the bitter end in hand,
bring the boat down in the bow - this will let the chain ride down the inside front of the mast - until the line is past the spreaders,
insert a big loop of zip tie into the mast exit and let it expand inside the mast - this will push the other lines out of the way,
heel the boat to the side of the mast exit for the halyard you are replacing have the bosun pay the line down until the chain passes the zip tie,
snug the zip tie and pull the line out of the mast,

your leader line is now run.

tape the bitter end of the new halyard to the leader line,
pay the leader line out of the mast exit while the bosun feeds the sheeve up top,

when the new Halyard is all in place, ease the bosun to the deck.

Thanks,

[hwpratt]

Tim & JD,

Thanks for your helpful thoughts. The zip-tie is a genius idea!

We sent a young man up in the bosun's chair and got the job done with a bit of fishing.

Started with a length of parachute cord on which was strung a stack of steel (not stainless) nuts having outside diameter of about 3/8" so they would fit through the sheaves. The plan was to "capture" the nuts with a super-magnet probe (pencil sized tool) as they passed near the halyard exit slot ... a good theory, except that the mast is at max-rake and the line slid down the aft side of the spar and the probe couldn't angle enough in the slot to capture the nuts. We didn't have enough courage to heel the boat enough to get it to slide down the side. The halyard now probably passes aft of the internal spreader bar, but it runs freely. Will check that in the fall.

What would have helped us a lot: Mark the distance from the sheave to the exit slot on the line used to fish the halyard. The man aloft can hold the tail of the fish line at the sheave and the man at the mast can mark it so that the bosun knows when to stop feeding the line. We ended up putting too much ine down the spar before we figured out what was wrong.

I respliced the shackle onto the stripped core after removing about a foot of line near the break. It will get replaced over the winter. Meanwhile, we won't over-tension it (hopefully).

Thanks,
Harrison
Gargle Blaster, #352
Sandusky