3 Ways to Climb a Mast, Incl Solo (and Saba Adventure!) - Ep 29

[@torbenvik5439]

If going solo you also could get a GriGri and an ascender and other basic modern climbing gear and do it in comfort and safety solo. Your solo method is a cool option in a pinch. I would consider a helmet, since you could hit your head pretty bad, even on a nice day if a motorboat passes and makes big waves etc.

[@americanworldsuperbi]

I'm a fairly new solo sailor and I'm finally confident going up alone. It only took three years to finally get a solid explantation using knots. Thanks!

[@someImpossibleName]

This is one of the best sailing related tutorials I have ever seen! Congrats!

[@burlms]

Ya'll are brilliant seaman, thanks for sharing your knowledge!

[@exploringlandandsea4811]

Awesome video guys! I am not looking forward to soloing up my mast, but I know the day is coming.

[@goodq]

Marko is amazing. Love the style of all your videos guys. Thank you for providing entertainment during our quarantine :) Next video Marko teaches a traditional SA braai !!!

[@bryan_garrick_little]

super rad vid Marco and crew ! i watch a LOT of sailing tutorials etc and this is next level ! time to binge all of them :)

[@elischultes6587]

As a former rock climber I’d never trust a single bowline to tie in especially in a single rope. Put a second wrap in the hole.

[@JimmyLovesMundo]

Figure 8 on a bite with locking carabiner.

[@across_the_plane6800]

Figure 8 for the win when your life is on the line

[@joeanonymous1834]

That is the conventional wisdom. I have to say, however, with 55-years of sailing experience and a good bit of climbing/mountaineering experience, both military and civilian: I have never seen a bowline slip or fail. Not ever. Not once.

[@TimothyRobnett]

The main advantage of the figure follow through knot used by climbers is the ease of inspection by your climbing partner. Insurance policies for climbing gyms insist on figure 8 follow through so they have become widely used both in the gym and on the pitch. The bowline with a Yosemite finish was a standard climbing knot for generations and I continue to use it and it is safer under certain conditions, especially what you encounter when trad climbing in low light conditions. The "weakness" of the bowline with a Yosemite finish is that it is not as easy to inspect. But sailors use bowlines all the time and should be safe with it.

[@mehmetkadiralici]

All videos are amazing but especially this one requires lots of effort to produce. Big thanks.

[@ShesTheSkipper]

Legends - that solo climb gives me some peace of mind as I just bought a boat for myself here in New England. PS I loved my Saba visit too. Brilliant place!

[@timsouza7903]

Thank you for the great video! Now it’s up to me to implement. Take care, Tim

[@SailingVirgins]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nextphase7481]

Fantastic lesson, Marko! Clearly presented and very understandable to a newbie like me. Thanks so much!

[@tiagoduarte6146]

Great video as always! And a friendly tip for those who try the solo method, wear shoes!

[@cengizalperatilla]

The information and the demonstration were awesome. In the end the hike to the mountain was amazing.

[@AdventuresandLifestyle]

another epic video as always - love you guys slipping in those adventure shots above and below too - please keep up the great work. We are just setting off on this adventure with our RYA training booked & paid here in the UK, (sorry S-Virg) which starts as soon as this lockdown ends. Respects to your team guys. You've helped us a lot!

[@georgecanakis1075]

Hi guys been sailing for some time now and i find your videos very informative, refreshing and entertaining. I subscribed cheers happy sails .

[@geronimo4511]

It's like watching Zoolander trying out for a new career!

[@backwaters3660]

That solo is great, I am now able the understand the process of climbing solo, which I have been wondering and looking for an answer. Thanks 😊.

[@SailingVirgins]

Rock on Kochi!

[@kayneottley4669]

You guys make great videos

[@maxflight777]

Love the SA accent and no-bullshit manner 👍

[@bradabraham4512]

Awesome video. Thanks so much.

[@JohnFeeken]

Great technique for climbing and what an amazing scenery at the end!

[@SailingVirgins]

John Feeken thanks!

[@DaveWatts_ejectamenta]

And if you've got foot hoops built onto your mast, I guess you can clip on, clip off and you climb up the mast, or use that sliding hitch method as safety.

[@daha7864]

Can you please give me one more tutorial on this while you’re putting on my anchor and steaming light, and a new topping lift?, hmmm?😎

[@nikolaucznaum4312]

Right on the money!!..

[@stanknight9159]

Climber's know their knots: Only the ones still alive. lol. The old ones are geniuses.

[@yashmanwani6232]

I liked the first and third method. I don't think I will ever use second one.

[@jeffdege4786]

The masts on my ketch are on tabernacles. I can raise and lower them single-handed using an onboard winch.

[@CaptMarkSVAlcina]

Hi Guys, I would always wear shoes that way you can stand on things on the mast and when you use a line as you did to climb up the mast it will not dig into your foot. 4 way.... You can have a rope ladder , send it up as you would a person and off you go. Make sure you make it fast to the deck. Also your port hand Winch guy, is that sorry I can not remember his name but is he from sailingbritican ?

[@SailingVirgins]

Capt Chef Mark SV Alcina hey! We have a religious avoidance of cold water, shoes and gloves when sailing. Winch on port side is Gus Kell from Australia.

[@handyman4g]

Is that a Bee Gee singing drowning your voice out ?

[@jaselc]

great video

[@andrecarmo3577]

Another great video! Keep up the great content!

[@SailingVirgins]

Andre Carmo will do!

[@dwayne6402]

great vid

[@SailingVirgins]

Dwayne thanks!

[@dragonrage1281]

We want to see the 4th way, free climbing one

[@guilbaultfrederic440]

at 4:31 this is a triple chair knot, not a double. you must use the 3 loop. .... Or do a double if you want to use only 2 loops.

[@Ratko1997]

Great video, but why bowline for climbing. Isn't double figure 8 much more reliable.. At least I would feel with it.

[@SailingVirgins]

Bowline clipped in and backed up with bowline I have never heard anyone fail on, and is fast. I come from climbing where double-bowlines are legit for climbers, esp. mountaineers who need to get in and out with frozen fingers. The biggest problem with a figure 8 is it takes much longer to tie, and it locks up which means it takes a long time to come off of. This is fine in good weather but can be consequential in a storm. So we're not against a figure 8, it's just when you weigh several factors, you come to something that you're happy with. We're happy with a backed-up bowline.

[@jonmacrae9469]

DRT method with a blakes hitch might be an easier single handed climbing method.

[@R33F3RMONSTER]

Very helpful!

[@pirateradio8336]

Good lesson

[@bryan_garrick_little]

Random (could be stupid) question : with the 3rd option of 'solo-ing' the mast... could you hypothetically rig a counterweight on a halyard that would help pull you up? a 'negative buoyancy' type situation to make it super easy to go up? or is that madness and/or too complicated .?

[@SailingVirgins]

bryan little hi, thanks for your comment; we have never heard of that method and couldn’t actually see how it might work. The prusik method we show is pretty robust and simple. It may take time but there is not a lot that can go wrong with it. This is a huge advantage for this sort of activity. Thanks for watching and engaging!

[@bryan_garrick_little]

@@SailingVirgins I'm a total beginner sailor so it probably doesn't exist for good reason. Your video just got me thinking what I would do if I absolutely had to get up the mast solo and physically couldn't pull myself up for whatever reason. anyway, shot for reply and thanks for the videos they are super cool. been practicing the with the knots one. super rad

[@86oclvc]

What’s your boat?

[@gatecrasher1970]

very good video at first i thought you was just going to talk only lol

[@莫钦成]

Could you share the bosun harness link?

[@discepolodelvento]

Prusik knots are not the only method for solo mast climbing. Check out this ladder method from Kinleven marine: kinlevenmarine.com/about-the-kinleven-mast-ladder/ Using this ladder with a bosuns chair on one halyard, and backup climbing harness on a second halyard is the absolute safest method out of all of them.

[@cycharbormaster7171]

I use a Jumar ascender and footloops (frogger cave ascending method) and a grigri for descending, plus a lanyard around the mast (adjustable via a prussik) as a fall-arrest, and I tie a series of alpine butterfly loops in my backup halyard and clip them to my harness with a big carabiner (undoing them as I come down) - lots of ways to skin the solo mast-climbing cat ;-)

[@Nixontheman]

Good Tube

[@LandoLeavesLand]

Is it Mast or Most... I can’t google search correct without the proper spelling

[@SailingVirgins]

Haha that's what happens when a Saffa does the episode

[@18magicMARKer]

weird enought there's a medical school on that island

[@mymobile5014]

Hot tip, instead of having the camera on his face....show us what he is doing!

[@richk5460]

Great, but please kill the music, it's just a distraction and I'm trying to listen.

[@jackphillips5524]

Loved the video BUT ...... Cringe...... Hate to be that guy.....but I do have one criticism......... Do not secure your halyard to your harness or Bosun's chair with a bowline knot. If you are in choppy water or moving around a lot, or for any reason, you unload the line, it can shake loose. Old-time climbers can tell stories about people or themselves who have had a bowline knot come loose on them. Instead use a figure 8 knot, commonly used as a stopper knot but if it is rethreaded or doubled back on itself and followed back through the knot, it will never come loose even if you're using it as a bouncy chair.

[@SailingVirgins]

That's a matter of opinion. Bowline clipped in and backed up with bowline I have never heard anyone fail on, and is fast. I come from climbing where double-bowlines are legit for climbers, esp. mountaineers who need to get in and out with frozen fingers. The biggest problem with a figure 8 is it takes much longer to tie, and it locks up which means it takes a long time to come off of. This is fine in good weather but can be consequential in a storm. So we're not against a figure 8, it's just when you weigh several factors, you come to something that you're happy with. We're happy with a backed-up bowline.

[@jackphillips5524]

@@SailingVirgins your right it is a matter of opinion. And that would be why you, and I, tie prusik knots to a different line and have other back ups no mater what knot you use. I personally would use the figure 8, where you personally will use a bowline. Thanks for the vids they are informative and I enjoy them.

[@tallbillbassman]

Your weight on a bare foot in a prussic loop soon becomes painful. Wear a a trainer on that foot. Keep the other bare for climbing.

[@SailingVirgins]

Agree. :)

[@RichardPhillips10]

Ask any climber: bowlines are *not* safe for this purpose and have led to many deaths. Do as climbers do, double figure of eight. On the other hand, at least he is using a safety line which not every youtube video on the topic does!!

[@across_the_plane6800]

You 100% need to dress your knots, and not ideal recommending a bowline for climbing 🤷🏻‍♂️😢

[@Bakanelli]

Relying your life on just 2 or 3 prusniks is REALLY bad advice. Where the hell is your rolling clove hitch ?!?!?!?!?😟

[@johnfarling1537]

When relating important safety information turn down the shit background music.

[@tmblweed0429]

The music makes this unwatchable.

[@spaceoddity2485]

What is a ridiculous music in the background? It sounds like somebody strangling a chicken.

[@mymobile5014]

Had to stop watching cos of that crappy music. Awful.