[paulk]

Would like to add a suggestion re lifelines. Am seeing many boats with lifelines rigged with turnbuckles or shackles to the bow & stern pulpits. Our lifelines end in eyes that are lashed to the
pulpits. This makes it easy to cut the lifeline and get it out of the way if we need to retrieve someone over the lee side and they''re not in condition (unconscious?) to use the gate. If the mast goes over and is catches on a tight lifeline, the pressure could torque several stanchions off the deck - with the attendant problems of opening holes in the deck and damaging the the hull-deck joint . One swipe of a sharp knife might avoid this problem. Or you could unscrew the turnbuckle if you can remember which way to twist the barrel while you watch the stanchions pop off. Fast is fun - and safer. After an immediate crisis is over, lashings and lifelines can easily be returned to normal. If turnbuckle or shackles are damaged in the excitement, do you have spares? Do you want to be fitting small parts together by flashlight between waves at 30 degrees of heel?

Just some things that don''t come up in conversations in the showroom.