Getting up to the top of my mast

[imjustinbraun]

My Starlink dish will be here in a week and when it does, I'm going to need to go up to the top of the mast to mount & install it. I was also thinking of taking this as an opportunity to install a radar and adjust my wind vane. I really don't want to take the mast down as I finally have the rig tensioned exactly the way I want. I have a climbing harness and my plan is clip it to a halyard and a rope clutch, and shimmy my way up to the top. To keep from capsizing the boat I intend to fill the ballast tank, tension mooring lines as much as possible on both sides of the boat. I'm on the small/light-ish side (5'7 & 170lbs) and I'm pretty athletic so there really isn't an egregious safety concern.

My questions are as follows:

1. Has anyone tried this before? If so, got any tips?
2. What safety gear should I bring to keep from falling down?
3. Can the mast safely support my weight? What about the halyard pullies?

Thanks in advance

[Russ]

I wouldn't do it! Remember that factory video pulling the boat over from the top of the mast. Even with ballast and all, the boat will easily topple.
Just unstep the mast.

Also....I doubt you want starlink on top. It sways so much up there. I'd mount it off the transom.

[NiceAft]

I wouldn't do it! Remember that factory video pulling the boat over from the top of the mast. Even with ballast and all, the boat will easily topple.
Just unstep the mast.

Also....I doubt you want starlink on top. It sways so much up there. I'd mount it off the transom.

Ditto.

Don't make your last words to be "Oh $#*&@ " That didn't work.

[Wyb2]

Are you talking about putting either, or both, of these at the top of the mast? A radar dome is too bulky and heavy to install at the top of the mast. I don’t know how much a star link antenna weighs, but it still looks too bulky to me. Even on much larger/heavier boats, these things are installed at the spreaders or on a stern arch/pole. Even ketches and yawls generally install radar domes partway up the mizzen, not at the very top of it.

Adding 25lbs to the top of the mast is equivalent to subtracting 250lbs (probably more) of ballast weight.

1. Has anyone tried this before? If so, got any tips?

I’ve been to the top of the mast on a Catalina 36. On a Mac, my tip would be to drop the mast, it will be easier in every way. Getting up the mast is one thing, actually working up there is another, and way more difficult than it seems from the ground.

2. What safety gear should I bring to keep from falling down?

Real rope access harness (not a rock climbing hips-only harness or a fall-arrest harness). Always be attached to 2 lines, either 1 to climb and 1 as a safety, or ‘walk’ your way up, depending on your gear.

What seems like overkill in theory is important in practice. I’ve had a carabiner flip at 120’ up, fell about 1.5 inches. In that moment I was 100% sure I was dead. Fumbling with backup lines seems like a headache until something like that happens to remind you why you do it.

3. Can the mast safely support my weight? What about the halyard pullies?

Mast - yes. Pulleys - yes if they are in decent shape. But, if you can’t tell with 100% confidence just by looking, do you really want to be dangling 30’ in the air from it?

[Jimmyt]

I have an M, and I wouldn't consider going up the mast on any of my halyard blocks. Nor would I consider the boat stable enough to stay upright, if I tried. The mast is pretty light, but would likely support your weight in pure column. The problem would come if you put your feet against it and deflected it a bit.

If you guyed the top of the mast with three lines 120 degrees apart to anchor points on the ground, you might get the boat stable enough to where it might be possible, but the other concerns would still keep me from trying it.

I wouldn't do it. I don't shy away from heights, or adventure. But, this is not a good idea. You would spend more time trying to get a safe situation in place than it would take to drop and reset the mast.

Your boat is not new. Blocks may be attached to the mast with self tapping screws in aluminum. Your blocks are likely not good for their original load rating anymore (a load rating which we likely don't know anyway). So many ways for this to go sideways.

Take a moment. Think it through. Please be careful.

And, if you decide to go up, make sure your video starts with "hold my beer and watch this".

Seriously, good luck and be careful.

[PSNA]

Please, don't.

[Sheppie62]

I have worked on my mast a few times in the slip. I turn the boat around, tie it up with bow sticking out about 6’. Lower mast onto the trailer support, then use a ladder on the dock to get to top of the mast. Pretty easy really. I have removed the Nissan 50hp engine while backwards as well, but that is much harder, more so to put back on.

[imjustinbraun]

Point taken. I'll lower the mast or find another place for the dish. I'm already building a truss for my solar setup so maybe the dish can go there instead of the mast.

[NiceAft]

Highlander created a new mast support arch where he installed similar electronics you are interested in. He has an , but the idea could be applied for an .

[Russ]

Put it on an arch over the stern or something.

[rsvpasap]

I installed a Raymarine Quantum radar with a Seaview mount, combined weight slightly less than 20 lb., on the mast, about 7 ft off the deck, i.e., as high as I could reach to put it in place or remove it with the mast up. (I was inspired by Rich Johnson.) It seem to have no impact on boat stability. I used it during the first few years I was cruising in the PNW, especially in the winter when the days are brief and there's the possibility of traveling in darkness with fog. It works great, but I rarely use it now. These days, I do 99.99% of my maneuvering just with autopilot and Navionics on my phone.

If you get Starlink to work successfully, please post the specifics. Thanks.

[Russ]

You are going to need to drop the mast just to run wiring to both. I can't imagine how to run wires out to the deck without access to the bottom.

[Dougiestyle]

Rig tensioning should remain the same every time once its set.

[OverEasy]

Hi ImJustinBraun!


Glad you didn’t go up the mast on your Mac!
As others have stated this is just a bad idea on so many levels.
The mast isn’t designed for that kind of loading, nor the rigging or attachments, nor the deck structure,….
Any side loading, which is inevitable, will probably bend/collapse the mast and stretch the rigging.
The leverage of 150+lbs will also grossly compromise the stability of a Mac even with the ballast full.
Much better not to do that and avoid the #$%@*¥€£§ …”Well that was a bad idea” moment as everything goes south…..

Having the radar and other bulky items on a rear arch is a much better idea!!!
Most vessel have more than sufficient height at 6 or so feet above the cockpit deck for excellent operability.
It’s also much more easily and safely installed, serviced and maintained.

Best Regards
Over Easy

[dlandersson]

Ditto

I have worked on my mast a few times in the slip. I turn the boat around, tie it up with bow sticking out about 6’. Lower mast onto the trailer support, then use a ladder on the dock to get to top of the mast. Pretty easy really. I have removed the Nissan 50hp engine while backwards as well, but that is much harder, more so to put back on.