On Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:20:54 -0600, "BarelyAwake"
wrote:

Thanks, guys, for your input. I had intended to use one of the halyards as
a safety belay. I've seen photos of men at the top of a mast, held by one
line and no backup. This seems foolish, especially considering that there
is always another halyard just sitting there, waiting to be used as a
backup. I like the idea having the harness or bosun's chair attached to a
primary winch serving as a method of descent. Attaching the bosun's chair
to one ascender and a loop for the feet to the other ascender seems like a
great idea for a lazy, middle-aged man like me! I'll give these methods a
try.

It works for a lazy, middle-aged man like me. Just stand up in the
loop and raise the upper ascender with the bosun's chair attached to
highest height where you can still sit down. Then sit and raise the
lower ascender with the loop maybe a foot (if you're lazy) or two (if
you're in a hurry) ... go at your own rate. Then stand up in the
raised loop and raise the chair again. Repeat as often as necessary.
Reverse to descend. I've found that since I have to raise the
ascender slightly to get it to unlock while descending, I have to make
more frequent and smaller moves on the way down. But I still wouldn't
use a descender.

Of course I'd rather have someone winch me up. But I frequently work
on a boat alone and have to make due with what I have.

I've used the same setup for climbing trees as well.

Steve