Alternative Bosun Chair

[wingman]

To remove weight and extra equipment from the boat and some obstructions to normal sail handling, we removed the D frame and the line from Bay Wings. We only need to lower the mast when trailering, which is an every two-year effort (we hope). Of course, the predestined day arrived when the spinnaker halyard remained at the top of the mast. I had put off buying a bosun chair for both cost and space reasons, but now it was a week before a race and I did not have time to do a lot of comparative shopping.

West Marine and other sailing sites wanted at least $120 for a bosun's chair and those often prohibit climbing the mast, as you actually have to sit in them. Fortunately, EMS, Eastern Mountain Sports, had climbing harnesses on sale, 20% off, making them half the price of West Marine's. Hey, if climbers trust them on sheer cliffs, I suppose that one will take me up a mast. Plus, I also can climb using my legs, so guy winching me up does not have to be muscle bound ( I weigh 210 lbs.). The added bonus is that they cost half the price of a true bosun chair and take up much less space on the boat. The only drawback that I see is that they do not have all the nice pockets for tools. They do have loops on which you can attach tools or bags containing tools, however. They are comfortable, but not made for lounging.

Of course, if you keep your mast raising and lowering gear on the boat, you may not need it, though it would be interesting how far out the mast one can reach when on the water with the mast down. Can you reach where the halyards enter the mast?

One added piece of equipment is an extended pole, my boat hook's hook was too bulbous to fit, with a hook that can snag the halyard's shackle. I could have reached the shakle while at the upper spreaders. A bent coat hanger taped to the boat hook would work!

The other possibility is when the mainsail or spinnaker will not come down. Then you really need the chair!

John

[Dan]

One point about climbing harnesses from EMS/REI/etc., compared to the bosun’s chair. The climbing harnesses tend to be less comfortable when used for an extended period of time when basically just hanging off the mast doing work in one spot. Adding a foot loop on an ascender can really help with this issue by letting you support much of your weight on your legs. A tool bag or bucket on a line is always a good idea when working aloft, especially if you have deck monkeys who can add tools that you need but have forgotten to it. Safety lanyards on heavy or expensive tools is a really good idea.

[drsm]

How did you attach the climbing harness to the halyard? Do you trust the shackle?

Steve

[Dan]

I prefer using a bowline... but if the shackle is not a snapshackle, it can often be used instead. Don’t trust snap shackles. Screwpin and other postively locking shackles are probably okay to trust.

How did you attach the climbing harness to the halyard? Do you trust the shackle?

Steve

[drsm]

I was speaking with a climber today who also uses his harness as a Bosun chair. He recommended tying the halyard on using a bowline around both the leg band and waist band and leaving a long tail, then clipping the shackle to the belay loop as a back-up.

Are you using the winch at the mast, or running back to the deck self-tailing winches, which seem safer, but more difficult to lead a line to?

[Dan]

I run my hoisting line back to the large genoa winches, but I’ve got my halyards run aft to them already, so it isn’t much of an issue. Also, the halyards have been mostly replaced with a spectra or dyneema-cored high-tech lines, and give me a lot more strength than the original halyards had.

[drsm]

Thanks to everyone's input. I successfully made it up, and more importantly down, the mast to change out the anchor light. I'm pretty light, so my assistant was able to assist me using the mast winch. I used a Black Diamond SA harness which was quite comfortable and waited for winds under 5 knots. There was minimal wave action on the mooring until a power boat blew by just before I started my descent--got a pretty good ride out of that!