Hello All
I apologize if this topic has been addressed. I am purchasing a new halyard for my Nonsuch 36. The Mast is currently down and disassembled. I want to assure the proper pathway for the halyard when the mast is reassembled. The three mast joint bolts separate the mast into six “pie wedges” . Halyard exit is to port. Travel through wedge 4 is most direct but would the protruding ends of the sail track screws cause fraying of the halyard? I was thinking of adding a second halyard and passing the original halyard through 6 and the new halyard through 5. Thoughts?
Lee,
I haven’t seen this particular question come up in the 5-6 years I’ve been scanning the discussion group, so I don’t think you have anything to apologize for.
I don’t have personal experience with this, so the opinions following are just based on your really well-done sketch.
I don’t know how deeply the fasteners on the sail track intrude into the mast interior. However, since the halyard is going to be pulled toward its exit on the port side of the mast when under any tension, I’d think that would pull it away from the sail track and keep it acceptably safe from the sail track fasteners.
The currently recommended way of doing the mast joint bolts entails having a sleeve around the bolts themselves. This is to prevent overtightening of the bolts from affecting the mast, but it also ensures that they present a smooth chafe-free surface to any lines running over them. Not all boats have been updated to this; I suspect that many only do it if they have other concerns about their current mast bolts’ integrity.
Installing the second halyard is a good idea. If youre interested, Jay (the elder) Lesynski at Merri-Mar Yacht Basin fitted my second halyard, and may have some advice about placement.
That is a mighty good and informative sketch - thanks !! While having precious little knowledge of the innards of the mast, I would second your notion of installing a second halyard, And, needless to add, this is the time to do it.
Furthermore, Bob makes a very valid point of reminding us that each bolt should be sleeved. There is a recent and very detailed discussion of all of this on this message board.
Where will the second halyard exit the mast ?? This will mean cutting an exit slot in the mast, right ? THIS action (making any hole in our sacrosanct masts) should be carefully researched.
In my humble opinion, the very best two resources regarding your planned modifications are Mike Quill (who probably rigged the mast originally at the factory) and Klacko Marine (who, I’ll bet fabricated the mast tho I may be wrong. Regardless, Klacko is the go-to firm for Nonsuch masts).
