tethers and jack lines

[Duckie]

So, where do you all attach your jack lines or tethers on your CP 16?  It seems like it is going to be either dead calm or blowing like stink around here this fall and I want to make sure I am attached to the boat when I am out of the chair doing something interesting.  I have a good looking harness, but I need to attach it to the boat somehow.

Al

[JTMeissner]

Al, I ended up adding rails, stanchions, and lifelines, so one could clip in to that system if desired.  But, a temporary/removable option would be to run the line from the stern cleats, through the bow cleat, and back down the other side.  This would keep the line along the deck, outside the cockpit coaming in the rear, but more mid-line as it ran through the front triangle.  Stern cleats to the bow pulpit deck attachments would give you some more stepping room as you went forward.  -Justin

[NateD]

On my previous 16 I mounted a padeye yo tve cabin top close yo tve cockpit, and on my current 16 there was a padeye mounted to the forward part of the cockpit footwell where I attach my tether. Both places leave me a bit short of reaching the bow.with my current tether.

[Duckie]

I was thinking about something around the foot of the mast.  That should leave me attached nearly the full length of the boat.  I'm not too worried about getting thrown out while in the cockpit, because I rarely get up unless to go forward.  I want to keep the tether as short as I can get away with and don't want to have to hook and unhook to move along the length of the boat.  Also, I don't want to end up in the water if I can avoid it.  Lake Superior is cold and getting back in could be more of a problem than I care to tackle quickly.  It is not a big issue right now,  but eventually the big lake is going to call and I will find myself doing some off shore passages of twelve to twenty miles from north to south and back.  I want to prepare for anything and everything if I can.

Al

[capt_nemo]

Duckie,

Wherever you attach or run your Jack Line, if it will be UNDERFOOT anywhere along its length strongly recommend it be strong FLAT NYLON STRAP.

The Jack Line on my larger cruising sailboats was FLAT NYLON STRAP which served me well and SAFELY when hooked up.

capt_nemo

[NateD]

I was on lake superior last weekend in a small craft advisory. I was motoring against 4-6 waves and burning a lot of gas, which required me to hang off the back of the boat with a gas can trying to pour gas is into the motor. If the tether was attached up by the mast I don't think it would have been long enough to allow me to refill the motor. Just something to keep in mind. Also, even though I was in the cockpit I was a bit concerned about falling out. I was going head into the worst of it, but if I got sideways to the bigger waves the likelyhood of being rolled to 90 degrees or more seemed high. Even without getting turned sideways, crashing down the backside of a wave into the next one was enough to throw me around the cockpit a bit. It was the worst conditions I've ever been in.

[capt_nemo]

NateD and Other Posters,

Nate, glad you made it back safely to talk about it.

Most serious users of Jack Lines have an attachment point somewhere close to and reachable from the companionway. They hook up when coming up from down below and BEFORE fully entering the cockpit. Their tether is just long enough to reach EVERYTHING that needs to be reached from the cockpit without unhooking or getting tangled in something and would certainly include the Outboard.

The "Jack Line" proper is attached somewhere at the aft end of the boat and runs forward to an attachment point at or near the bow. It is often attached securely to a stern cleat, runs along either side of the cabin on the side deck (need FLAT NYLON STRAP), and is attached securely to a bow cleat. Ideally, a crew member going forward would HOOK UP to the Jack Line first, BEFORE UNHOOKING from the cockpit attachment point (see tether comment below). When conditions warrant, a crewmember topside is ALWAYS connected to an attachment point or Jack Line.

A serious harness should be equipped with two (2) tethers, one LONG and one SHORT. In most cases the longer one serves as the cockpit tether while the shorter one serves for going forward. If absolutely necessary when forward one could switch and hook the long up BEFORE unhooking the short.

While cruising, at night when going forward for anchor check my wife insisted on following my movements on deck with her flashlight or that I hook up to my Jack Line if she was asleep.

Hope this helps.

capt_nemo

[Duckie]

There's  been a lot of that small craft advisory stuff lately.  It seems like this year is going to be a bit windier than normal.  I've never felt like I would get tossed out of my weekender, but I quickly found out that the Compac was a different deal.  I don't know if it is the height of the combings or the height of the seats, but right off the bat I found it harder to get around the cockpit of the CP and it felt much more unsteady.  The fore deck is much steadier, but without one hand on the ship, it is not a place to be when it is bumpy.  A lot of this issue will work itself out to a great extent when I figure out the best way to heave to this little bugger.  So far she tends to wander a bit too much. 

One of the things that I find myself doing in the Compac is kneeling on the seat with the out board knee to put some weight near the combings and give my butt and neck a little break.  This works pretty well but it is a vulnerable position that I can only use to windward.   Clipping in would be a good idea when I do that even in calmer conditions near shore.  I would always want to clip in during rougher conditions, but heaving to will steady out the boat so that getting tossed overboard will  be less likely.  As a total single hander, I have to take things like this very seriously.  I think I will have to use jack lines on the weekender because of the way she is built, but the Compac just seems better off with the attachments along the center line.  I won't know until I actually set things up and test them.  I will report back when I get things worked out.

Thanks all,


Al

[philb Junkie19]

For anyone but especially for singlehanders being able to get back on board needs to be planned for.  I've only attached a my webbing safety line a few times. I clip it to an inflatable vest /safety harness with a carabiner. It was reassuring to know it was long enough and attached so that I can reach to stern mounted boarding ladder should I take spill.

[GretchenG]

Hi, all--  I recently read some postings on sailinganarchy.com and elsewhere about jacklines and tethers.  Testing has shown that a tethered sailor will have a very difficult time getting back on board, and in most cases cannot do it.  Frankly, if I was being towed along in big waves, I'm not sure that I could make my way to a stern ladder, and I certainly couldn't scramble onboard without assistance.  Scary, huh?  So the best plan seems to be to stay on the boat!  Always be tethered, and in such a way that you can't go overboard.  I'm still thinking about how I will set that up, but then Thankful has not yet left the backyard...

[Pacman]

I have been thinking of attaching a pad eye to the bridgedeck to clip onto with my short teather/harness.

[Allure2sail]

F.Y.I.
I have a pad eye at the base of the binnacle. Also have jack lines for port and starboard that run the length of the boat. Luckily I never had to actually use the jack lines but I have set them out a few times (just in case) but I have tethered into the cockpit a few times.
Bruce

[capt_nemo]

Guys,

Based on my experience and everything I've read over the years, GretchenG has got it spot on RIGHT!

Rig your cockpit attachment points, fore and aft Jack Lines, and tether lengths "to stay on the boat" as she said, no matter what happens.

If you doubt the wisdom, go over the side under sail in comfortable controlled conditions (with crew aboard) wearing your harness, and see just how easy or difficult it is for a solo sailor to get back on board.

capt_nemo

[philb Junkie19]

I don't doubt that wisdom.  The more I think about it being in the water at 4 of 5 knots in waves is one of the the last places I want to be.  A jackline from stern to bow with a tether is a standard but I don't think that would really keep you on board a 16.  I'm picturing going forward to change to a storm jib along a jackline and am having a hard time seeing a tether from chest harness to that jackline being short enough to insure that I stayed on board.  A 15 foot jackline could also have some additional sideways stretch. I think for going forward it would have to be something on the or near the boats center line.  Would a simpler option be no jacklines, two short tethers, alternating OSHA style with one always attached, with clip on points of cabin top. mast and bow keeping connections near the center of the boat? 

[philb Junkie19]

In that last post I should have written jackline from stern quarter cleat to bow.