Some years ago, my Greek friend was having difficulty re-reeving an in-mast halyard on his Ocean Star 51, writes Steve Langton.

He’d made several attempts using a weighted cord from the masthead, but this kept getting stuck on the way down.

I hit on the idea of replacing the weight with a length (about 75cm) of thin stainless steel chain, which I had.

This worked perfectly because the chain could slither past any obstructions and find its way down to the exit slot, where we retrieved it with a bent wire hook.

Steve Langton’s chain, line and lighter line for halyard installation. Credit: Steve Langton

I have since successfully used this method on my Vagabond 47.

The cord needs to be long enough to go up and down the mast and strong enough so that you can haul the new halyard from the deck with the cord, rather than trying to get up the mast with its added weight.

Having removed the broken ends of the old halyard, pass the chain over the sheave at the masthead so that it pulls the cord after it down the inside of the mast.

Diagram of how Steve created his halyard threading line. Credit: Steve Langton

The cord should be attached to the halyard (as shown in the diagram) so that you have a smooth tapered join that will not get jammed and will not detach itself, and add to the problem!

When going up the mast with the cord, you must ensure it goes up in the way you need the halyard to fall so that it’s the correct side of any spreaders or shrouds.

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