I am in the process of changing the running rigging from the wire to rope to all rope and have read a few post about the issue of existing sheaves not working for the new line. Has anyone had any experience in changing the sheaves and could give me advice on getting this done. thanks
butch
Just found Peters post concerning sheaves March 13th. Sounds like I need to find a rigger.
Threading a new all rope halyard (7/16) turned out to be easy if you have the right tool. I bought a 16" x 1/2" coil spring from ace hardware. The kind used to close a screen door. Attach that to a 90 feet of 1/4" halyard and keep it in your ditty bag. Its an essential tool if you ever need to thread a new halyard. The spring will negotiate the bends in the masthead channel. A coat hanger will not do this.
The wire/rope sheaves are just fine for rope only. The trick is freeing them up if they are seezed up. If they are you will need to pound the sheave pins back and forth with a big hammer to loosen them up. Soak them with PB-blaster prior to beating on the pins with a hammer. Naturally you or your rigger will be hanging one of the sheaves in the bosun chair. I would not recommend going up the spinnaker halyard. Its not safe. So replacing sheaves is difficult without pulling the stick.
If they are not seazed and you have wire/rope in place. No need to go up the mast. This is now a 30 minutes job to replace the halyards.
Pete, sv Tartanic
I replaced my wire/rope halyards with 7/16" line. I did it all from the deck without problems. I sewed a 1/4" messenger to the tail of the existing halyard and pulled it through from the wire end of the old halyard. I cut the messenger loose from the old halyard, sewed it to the new rope and pulled it back through using the messenger. On the first attempt, the line jammed as the new halyard entered the masthead. I wrapped the messenger/halyard connection tightly in plastic tape so it made a smoothly tapered transition from messenger to halyard. It still required a firm tug to pull past the sheave so be sure to do a secure sewing job on the messenger!
I have heard that the wire/rope sheaves cause the rope halyard to wear prematurely. I am planning to pull the sticks this fall to replace the standing rigging and possibly replace the sheaves.
I have been out sailing several times since the replacement without obvious problems.
Pete and Laelia,
Thanks for the reply with info. I will give this a go and let you know my results.
Again much appreciated,
Butch
Mi'Samba
We just replaced all the halyards on Journey with wire to rope. Got the halyards cheap from Defender, used 1/2 rope fused to the wire. Figured that it worked for 40 years, it would work for another 10 as is....
;)
I'm sure you are right Wayne, I'm just not a fan of wire/rope. But hey...nice blog!
Butch
I am fix'n to shimmy up my mizzen and main to replace my halyard sheaves. Does anyone know the brand or size of the sheaves? Has anyone ordered them and if so where from? West Marine has a limited size, supply and they are 15.00 each. Any helpl would be appreciated..... Billy