Anonymous wrote:

Try googling "icicle hitch"...I read somewhere that when this knot was demonstrated to an audience for the first time, the inventor suspended his body weight from a smooth, wooden, tapering fid using it. Although it it harder to tie than a rolling hitch.

Here

Martin

Allow me to add my own experience, based on other junkists advices.

I used icycle hitches to lift both my masts on my Freedom 39 junk rigged schooner. They are slick, tapered, and there is no point to secure a rope for the crane to pull. First try when lifting the foremast, the mast collar was still stuck to the mast and we lifted the boat from its craddle! I can assure that those knots definitely don’t slip. I made icycle hitches at deck level, ended with a loop and the crane driver worked from there.

Try them at home with a piece of rope on a slick pole, or handrail. etc.

See the discussion on that link:

https://www.junkrigassociation.org/technical_forum/12817106?tpg=7

Hope it can help!

Patrick

Hitches won't work if your mast is tapered.  Most masts have a U-bolt, saddle, or something similar at the bottom. to stop them jumping out of the step and/or rotating.  I have always simply made a nice loose bowline in one end of some decent rope (don't use nylon: it's too stretchy), about 2/3 the length of the mast and then tied the other end through said U-bolt or eye.  That way you don't need to worry about slippery rope and slippery masts.  If you leave a tail from the eye, you then have a handy bit of line to help guide the mast into place while it's swinging around like a Sword of Damocles.

Try googling "icicle hitch"...I read somewhere that when this knot was demonstrated to an audience for the first time, the inventor suspended his body weight from a smooth, wooden, tapering fid using it. Although it it harder to tie than a rolling hitch.

Here

Martin

Anonymous wrote:

Rolling hitch, using a heavy warp. For the crane operator's peace of mind, I've always tied 2 in series, one above the other. When Branwen's foremast proved reluctant to let go, the crane began lifting the boat.

The crane operators at the marina here seem to have some concerns about how to attach the crane to my smooth tapered masts in order to raise them. Clearly, they need to lift each of the two masts to an upright orientation and then lower them through the partners fitting until meeting the keel step. Can some of the experienced here make a suggestion as to how best to attach crane to mast in such a way that the mast won't slip when being hoisted?

I'm pretty sure when I did this in Canada (it was a long time ago, and the yard guys did it without me paying enough attention) they attached to the mast with a timber hitch or something similar. Thoughts please!