Main halyard sticking near the top

[chughes82]

After 2 years of working just fine, my main halyard suddenly no longer goes all the way to the top.  It sticks/stops somewhere between 6 inches and a foot from raising the main fully.

I'll be going up the stick this weekend to examine things, but I was wondering if anyone's got advice on what to look for, what it may be, and/or what to bring with me when I go aloft.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Chuck Hughes
Sand Save #223 (1986)
Long Beach, CA

[dave davis]

I don't want to over simplify your problem, but the first thing to do is attach a retrieval line to your halyard and send it up without the main. That will tell you if its in the main or in the halyard. If it will still not go to the top, take a good look with your binoculars. Also, examine all you sail slides to look for breaks. Good Luck, let us know how it turned out.

[c34member]

Unless you have a knot in the halyard, I can't envision why it would stick.  Take a look at the screw in slide stop just above the boom.  If that backs out a bit it will snag the line arrangement on the lower sail slides that's used to accomodate the reef.  While you're there, check to be sure that one of the sail slides isn't in the groove upside down.  Good luck.

[chughes82]

Thanks for the reminder to check the simple things first.  Raising and lowering the main halyard several times with only a line attached revealed no problems going all the way to the top.  Inspection by binoculars showed the halyard was still on the sheave.

Turning to the sail slides, none were cracked or damaged.  However, deciding to stay as simple as possible before going up the stick, I tried applying McLube SailKote to the track and all of the slides.  Guess what?  Problem solved.  As a side benefit, the sail comes down very easily when it's time to head back to the dock, whereas before I had to tug on it a bit.

Thanks again!

Chuck Hughes
Sand Save #223 (1986)
Long Beach, CA