Stephan, One of the first things I did when I got my boat a few months ago was replace both halyards. Mine were seemingly original and the cable/line combination. The line was a mess (see below) and the wire was dangerous to handle with all the "fish hooks" from broken strands. After considering a cable to line splice, I bought the pre made halyards from West Marine which is composed of 1/8" 7 x 19 oil free stainless wire and Sta-Set yacht braid. I chopped off the eye at the end of the old wire, taped some 1/8 inch line to it and pulled it on through the shive. Then I cut the new wire to the same size as the old leaving enough to make the wire eye for the shackle to fit in and pulled the new through. Then I Nicro Pressed a new eye and thimble at the end of the wire. Worked fine... no problems. I was told the halyard should be cut so when the sail is fully raised, there should end up one to two raps of wire around the winch if you have one on the mast. A rigging guy told me t! hat.
On an aside, I replaced the halyards because I planned to travel up my mast on one of them. It ended up I made several trips. When I got the boat, a nearby nesting Albatross (that's what I was told it was) had been using the top of my mast for a feeding station. It would catch a good sized fish and take it up to the top of the mast, stand on the struggling beast and pick it apart raining fish guts on the mast, deck and neighboring boats. Then it would sit and digest and poop raining that all over the place. I would find fish heads and skeletons all over the boat as well as a coating of bird poop. He had been doing that for some time. The mast had no wind vane or antenna on top, so the bird found it a perfect pedestal to eat on. I needed to mount a wind vain that was poky enough to keep him off. Also, the mast was a mess and I needed to wash it. And also again, the sheaves were frozen with dried fish and poop. I did all that... all is well now. The bird tried to kn! ock the wind vane down at first, but I went back up, rebent it back into shape and he finally left it alone. I definitely plan to replace the sheaves, though, when I take down the mast...lower on my priority list. They looked pretty weather beat from what I could see of them while hanging off the top of the mast. That's what I did. Brad ---- Stephan Debelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Lots of good information, may be I should have mentioned this was the main > sail halyard and currently is a cable. I do not intent to replace the > sheave at this point, if I know the 5/16 line will fit through the sheave > then may be I don't need the combination cable/line? I only have the boat > two years and the mast down and can't recall the size of the sheave, > alhtough I am pretty certain it is the original. > > I might be wrong but I would say I have to use a cable and line as I suspect > the sheave will be too small for a line? > > Thank you, > Stephan > > On Tue, Jun 24, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Sailor Chef <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I agree with Mr. Ford, 5/16 is the way to go. Line choice is dependent on > > the type of sailing you do, racing vs cruising also whether or not you have > > roller furling or not because some lines don't like to be bent over a > > sheave > > and loaded for long periods. For every thing we normally do, Sta-Set or LST > > is more than enough. However you will , more than likely, need to change > > the > > sheaves in the mast head as the grooves for the wire are a different shape > > and will cause abnormal wear on the new rope. > > If you need to know what the mast head looks like, I have mine on my desk > > "as we speak" and can shoot some photos if you need them > > > > Mark, Gratis (6115) > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > Want to keep your WHOLE PAYCHECK? > > PLEASE VISIT http://www.fairtax.org > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "tim ford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[email protected]> > > Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 9:53 AM > > Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Main halyard replacement > > > > > > Agree. 5/16th is the way to go and you'll get much better performance > > with Sta-Set-X then with Sta-Set, > > as it has much higher stretch resistance....Sta-Set is like > > bungy-cord...Sta-Set X is almost as good as T-900 > > (well, not really but it's so much cheaper) > > > > tf > > > > > > > > > > Mark Tamblyn wrote: > > > > > > I think you will be happier with 5/16 I'm pretty sure that is what I > > used. > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. > > Checked by AVG. > > Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.6/1482 - Release Date: 6/4/2008 > > 7:10 AM > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Stephan > > MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype: stephan.debelle
