How to Rope a Flag Pole

If you need to rope the pulley that holds your flag, and your mast is unstepped and settled into its cradle, all you have to do is push the end of the flag rope (called a "hoist") through the pulley at the top end of the mast. If, on the other hand, you need to re-rope your hoist as the line begins to fray, there's no need to go up the mast to re-rope. With the materials you have on hand aboard your boat, you can make the change from the deck, snap the clips to the flag, and "hoist away."

Things You'll Need

  • New snap swivels
  • Three-strand rope
  • Duct tape
  • Knife or shears
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Instructions

    • 1

      Splice a new snap swivel to one end of the new rope, using a chain splice.

    • 2

      Untie the old flag rope from the flag cleat (at the bottom of the mast, it's the cleat that you wrap the flag rope around once you raise the flag) and move the flag up and down slightly, to determine which side of the hoist is attached to the top of the flag. Two-block the flag (raise it as high as it will go.)

    • 3

      Tape the hoist to the mast with duct tape, at shoulder height. Cut the hoist (it's a continuous loop) with your knife or shears and splice the free end of new rope (the end without the snap swivel) to the old rope using a long splice. Remove the duct tape from the hoist and lower the flag to the deck. Re-tape the hoist to the mast and clip the new rope and snap swivel to the bottom of the flag.

    • 4

      Cut the long splice holding the new rope to the old. Use a chain splice to splice the freshly-cut end of the new rope to a new snap swivel and connect the new rope to the top of the flag.