Mounting & use of Jacklines and tethers and sharks. Oh, my!

[s/v Faith]

....I have plenty of room to unhank, hank and stuff sails with the 3' tether and I can't fall off with it......

  I am not understanding something.  Are you saying you can stand up with a 3' tether on your harness and you can not fall overboard?  For instance, say you are walking forward, and you trip and loose your handhold... can you not roll over the side?  I can not picture the system that would prevent that (unless you are on a multi, with say a 3' tether and you are tethered to a jackline that is more then 3' inboard with very little or no stretch). ???

  I am not trying to be difficult I am thinking maybe there is something here I am missing.... I am kinda slow so it may take some pictures..  :P

  Thanks,

[TJim]

I run two jacklines, one on each side of my mast right down the middle of my boat and no, with a 3' tether
you can't fall off.  you can get to the forestay for sail changes and to the mast for reefing, you can also
stuff and or pull sails out of your forward hatch.  What else do you need to do? TJIM

[TJim]

PS... If I'm changing a headsail, I'm probably on my knees.  My tether attaches at waist level and I just
don't have a problem going fore and aft with a 3' tether.  At least no problem even close to  hanging
over the lifelines on a 6' tether. I have changed head sails in the slot between Alkatraz and SFran in
30 or more knots of wind without any problems other than being cold and wet.  135 down and 110 up,
probably took a total of about 3 to 4 minutes.  Threw in a reef shortly after that. TJim

[s/v Faith]

Thanks,

  I still can't figure out how that set up makes it impossible to go over the side... I am glad it works for you though.  ;D

  Here is a grog to you for trying to make it more clear to me.   ;)

  I was born in the Bay area, and grew up spending my summers there (Corta Madera) staring out at the bay, and watching the boats..... always wanted to sail there, sure have seen some rough conditions out there!  Doubt I would go anywhere without a tether on the bay!  Sure would not last long in that water.  One of the coldest experiences of my life was watching the 4th of July fireworks from the headlands! .... I'm cold just thinking of it....  :o

[Godot]

From the Good Old Boat Newsletter...

How to get back aboard?

My first sail this season was a short solo run that raised lingering qualms about self-rescue in an overboard situation. Basically, I wouldn't be able to. I wear a life jacket and a tether harness (even when my wife is with me), but if you happen to go overboard when you're soloing and are harnessed in, the options for saving yourself are few and far between if all you're doing is dangling over the lifelines, being dragged along on the end of a harness. The trick is what to do next.

It's especially important in cold water. You don't have a lot of time for thrashing around before hypothermia gets you.

I've seen sailboat discussion groups wrestle with this challenge. There are also a lot of patents out there on man-overboard recovery schemes. My suggested solution comes out of racing a Fusion 15 dinghy. That design has a dump-recovery assist line that runs under the rolled hull-to-deck joint. It's basically a line that runs from the stern to the shock cord takeup on the trapeze. When you capsize, you grab this line (which is held taut otherwise by the shock cord), and it is a major help in getting up and staying on the very slippery centerboard.

As best I can figure, if you're alone and go over the side anywhere forward of the cockpit, you have to figure out how to get to the stern and reboard using the swim ladder, without losing contact with the boat. If there was a self-rescue line running along the toerail, you would need a second tether hook on your harness. You'd snap the second one onto the self-rescue line, then release the first one that has you attached to the toerail or jackline. Then you're free to work your way back to the stern, flip down the ladder, and get back aboard. I haven't actually tried this yet (I'm waiting for Georgian Bay to warm up) but it seems plausible.

People may think — with a jackline along the deck or cabintop — that you can just work your way back to the stern, with the tether clip sliding along it. But the reality is that the tether on your harness (if it's long enough to allow you to float freely) is likely to snag on the stanchion tops as you try to move to the stern. The only way to find out is to jump overboard and test it. At any rate, the whole subject is one worth exploring, with the aim being to figure out a system an owner can install without a great deal of fuss.

Doug Hunter

Doug and the editors welcome further discussion on this topic, and experimentation with this and other techniques.

(from the "Doug and the editors welcome further discussion on this topic, and experimentation with this and other techniques" comment on the bottom of the article I am working under the assumption that they won't be upset by my copying this here).

If you can't stay onboard, this at least gives you a chance to get to the stern.

[newt]

Now were getting somewhere. I would like to test the above system with my 20 ft extra line system to see which one works better. Then put it on my solo sailboat.  It is kinda a redundancy- if the tether doesn't hold you in the boat, you have back up (sort of)
Cool.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Maybe this is one for "the Scoot".......and Youtube  ;D

TJIM,

Just curious as to how you transition from the Cockpit (6 foot line) to the Deck (3 foot line) - are you always clipped on? Not have a Sprayhood / Dodger?

Pics would be useful to visualise  ;D

[TJim]

My tether is like a 9" line with clips on both ends and a clip at the 3'/6' mark.  When I'm in the cockpit
I'm always clipped to my harness which has D rings at waist height with the clip at the 3'/6' mark.  The other end of the 6' piece of the tether is clipped to one of the two jack lines which go across the center
of the cockpit to the stern.  When I leave the cockpit to go forward, I clip the other end of the 3' element
to the jackline which runs on  the side of the mast that I want to go forward on and as soon as it is clipped, I unclip the 6' line from the jackline and clip that end to my harness D ring.  I have the option of
shifting to the 6' line at any time.  However I've never had to do it.  But if I ever need to do something besides change a sail or reef, I have the option.  I cannot fall off the boat with the 3' line attached.  one
other thing, I run my jacklines behind the upper horn on the 2 cleats which are mounted on each side of
the mast about a foot below the gooseneck.  I have to lift the jackline out from behind the upper horn to
get by the cleat.  It's no big deal, I would imagine even a Coastie could do it.  TJim

[s/v Faith]

... and the smoke clears....

 

one
other thing, I run my jacklines behind the upper horn on the 2 cleats which are mounted on each side of
the mast about a foot below the gooseneck.  I have to lift the jackline out from behind the upper horn to
get by the cleat.  It's no big deal, I would imagine even a Coastie could do it.

;D

[Frank]

I've stayed out of this disscussion.....it's turned out like 'anchors'...lots of opinions  ;) SOooo...here's mine  :o  I have an eye bolted to the side of the bridge deck to clip onto while offshore . Then a flat jackline running forward on the windward side deck. I STRONGLY believe that while offshore ALL movement forward should be on hands/knees with one hand on a hold.You must truly KNOW your boat-where to grab-so it's instinctive. I don't feel there is anywhere near 'the perfect set-up' on a small boat...most are in some way flawed..that caution is by far the best safety feature and that if one does get knocked overboard...being tied in some fashion, no matter how difficult it is to get back aboard...is MUCH better than watching your boat go on without you. So..clipped on in cockpit...extreme caution going forward as if not tied...but tied at all times when solo.

[Tim]

Kinda like being tied to your burro for the ride back from the cantina ;)

[TJim]

That's really good advice Tim... I've needed that ride a few times hehehehe   TJem