View from the top

I made my third trip up the mast this summer to replace the mount for the TV antenna. I designed and built this new mount as the original was obstructing the anchor light as viewed from the rear. This was to be a simple task but one of screws was frozen in place. I finally took a saw up and cut the screw head off. I spent nearly an hour doing this as every task is much more difficult suspended in a climbing harness. As I have mentioned before I use a ascender which is typically used in Caving where the need is to climb back out after descending. This has worked really well as I use my own power to ascend. I am also attached to a spare halyard which Linda keeps tight using a winch. When I am done I detach the ascender and I get a free ride down as Linda lowers me. Note the tight spacing between boats. This really sharpens the skills when returning to the slip. I drop the main sail, which is visable on the deck, when going aloft. I actually attach to the main sail halyard for the climb.