Yep, That's Me! Half way up the mast, strapped to my top-climber boson's chair, tied to my spinnaker halyard, with a boat-hook in one hand, and my other hand holding on for dare life! Ha!! Magic Wind Adventure Sailing....for real!
You might ask, what going on here? Let me tell you a funny little story.......
So this really nice family pictured here comes sailing with me for a sunset cruise. We motor out to the Gulf, turn into the wind, and I begin to raise the main sail. The sail goes half way up and stops. I look up and find that my halyard has wrapped itself around my steaming light on the front of the mast. I lower the sail and unhook the halyard in order to try and "whip" the line loose from the steaming light. That doesn't work. I tie another line to the halyard with a big knot in order to try and "saw" the line loose from the light. It was actually starting to work...till my knot came loose and left the end of my halyard dangling half way up the mast! Now I really was sweating bullets. 
So after a few minutes of sailing with the jib only, the oldest gentleman in the group suggested that if I had a boson's chair, they could hoist me up. Problem was, I only had a spinnaker halyard on the front of the mast that I knew nothing about. I didn't know if it was strong enough to hold my weight (245#s) and if the folks doing the winching were strong enough and aware enough of the concept of hoisting a person up a line using a boat winch. But in the spirit of adventure, I said "what the hell!". I strapped on my boson's chair, gave the folks in the cockpit the low down on winch usage, tied on the spinnaker halyard, and put my life in their hands.
Little did I know as they began winching me up the mast that action photography of my ordeal was being taken. Here's a pic of one of my guests winching with all his might trying to get my big arse up the mast while the rest of the family is pulling for dare life on the tail end of the rope. Ha! I honestly didn't know that so many good shots were being taken. Needless to say, I made it halfway up the mast and recovered the loose end of the halyard and made it back to earth safely. Laughs were had by all. I'll never forget this sail. 
The other great couple on board (pictured here), I think they'll never forget this evening either! The look of shock is priceless!
Later that night I called Capt Ron to tell him about the events of the evening. He paused...then told me "you went up on that line?". "That line is held at the top of the mast with a pulley held in place with two little screws!". "You are CRAZY!".
Sailing in Fort Myers is always an adventure.
I've never felt more alive!
Fair Wind,
Capt Dan
www.sailmagicwind.com
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