Ed, I take my halyards home every Winter and clean them.
3/8'' line, sewed them the first few times, now I just tape
them.
Scotty



"Edgar" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
wrote in message

ups.com...
I need to replace my the halyard for main main sail.
How can I do this
without climbing the mast?

The old halyard is still in place.

Thanks



You can cut off whatever is at the business end of the
old halyard and
either sew the new one on temporarily or attach a mouse
(light line) to it
with tape and pull it through... I've done the latter
several times...
just
pull gently otherwise you might separate the two lines.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

What a lengthy argument about the simplest of jobs which I
have done many
times!
You _must_ use a messenger line unless your boat is very
small because it is
very hard to sew two fullsize ropes together with a strong
joint that will
not bulge and jam in the sheave at the top. Also Jon's
suggestion of tape is
a no-no because as the new halliard is hauled up there is
every chance the
whole thing will come unstuck and you will lose the end
and then you will
have to get yourself hauled up on the spinnaker halliard
to reeve the new
one or drop a 'mouse' down (if the halliard runs inside
the mast). My mast
is 50' high and by the time you have hauled 50' of rope up
to the top the
weight on the join is quite substantial and the additional
tug as the joint
goes over the sheave may prove to be the last straw.
The messenger line can be quite small because synthetic
line is very strong
and this enables you to use a sail needle and incorporate
it into the old
rope in such a way that it will stand very considerable
force. Take a bit of
trouble over this and save yourself a big hassle.
I have four halliards going to the top of my mast and like
to take them down
periodically and put them through the washing machine.
Cleans them and
softens the rope which may have developed stiffness due to
stress and time.