Random notes and a question...

[NCboater]

Question first:  What do yall use to attach the halyard to the jib?  Please be specific (size of shackle and type etc).

Funny story, not unrelated to above.  Last weekend I was putting away the sails after a weekend of sailing and was going to attach the jib halyard to the shackle that attaches to the jib tack.  I was looking up to make sure that the halyard was not twisted around the stay and I heard a "plop".  I thought to myself, that was a strange sounding fish jump... took me a couple of seconds to realize that the shackle on the jib halyard was gone.  Hence the question above.  I have a CP16 and am a sailing novice.  Would like for that to not happen again.

Went sailing along the ICW at Ocean Isle Beach.  Not much room and fair number of motorboats passing by but had both sails up and the outboard off and doing fairly well for a novice.  A large TowboatUS passed me and then stopped  ahead, hanging out in the infamous Shallote river inlet.  It was a very low tide.  We got to the inlet and passed a buoy on the correct side and suddenly stopped.  We ran aground with a 2 ft draft in the ICW  marked channel.  Ridiculous.  It spun us around 180 degrees but my son doused the sails quickly and I started up the outboard motor quickly and we were off the sand bar with no one overboard and no water in the cockpit.  We started motoring back the way we came and were laughing at the thought  of the Towboat US just hanging out waiting for victims.  A huge 60+ foot motor yacht passed us going the opposite direction and we waved at him but he didn't understand and he ran aground at the exact same place only he wasn't getting off the sandbar without some help.  Made for a good story when we got home.

[Vipersdad]

Check your PM's.

[MHardy]

I use Wichard Keypin Shackles with the captive pin and bar for both the jib and mainsail on my 16. Not sure about the size, but they are pretty small.