Frigging in the rigging
November 24th 2006 19:15
Climbing the rigging
Climbing in the rigging has been a job for sailors since the first time a mast and sail was put on a boat. nothing we ever put aloft seems to stay the way we want it to and so its up to the poor sailor to climb up and fix or alter things. Jammed sails, frozen blocks, loose halyards, electrical gear that birds have sat on and bent.
Though it is considered the done and accepted thing that sailors climb the rigging, it has now been accepted that there is a danger involved here. Sailing and sailors fall into that category people who work and play in an envirenmont that spells death in mistakes! Death as we know it is permanent we try to avoid it or the flip side of the coin, permanent or even temporary damage and the pain that comes with it.
A bosun's chair or a well tied Spanish bowline seems to suffice, though some cruising boats are still set up with a ladder arrangement up the mast at least to the first spreader. I was recently shown the accepted navy manner of doing this and also the accepted Occupational Health & Safety system. It is complicated to explain but very basiclly it involves only using ropes of the correct working load, an extremely simple but effective timber seat, and a system of wrapping yourself up to the "chair". Then it is a matter of climbing or hauling yourself up. The point of this is that you never go higher than you can pull yourself. That seems to be the safety factor. No buckles or shackles just the knots you have tied.
On big racing boats the deckie is often wearing a nappy style harness which is connected to a halyard and the moment there is a problem in any of the rigging, like a jammed sheet at the end of a spinnaker pole, up they heave the deckie and out he swings to fix it. I saw one guy go to the top of a 90' mast, fix the problem and as the boat tacked and heeled over, he took a perfect swan dive from the top but used the sail as his medium for the dive. he was lowered as quick as his dive was and as he neared the end of the sail, he was pulled up with the halyard to prevent damage. Spectacular stuff and what a way to get your rocks off!
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