I may have worked out a solution for my jib sheet tangling issue. On a little boat like mine, the hardware for it is extremely simple. In this picture:
You can see the eye and the jam cleat. That's all there is. You pull the sheet tight and cleat it (and yes, it will slip when hit by a gust). What I am thinking is that when I am letting one sheet out, I need to be pulling the other in. But I have one hand on the tiller so I need to do it one handed. If I have the "off" sheet cleated with just a little slack in it, I could uncldeat the loaded line, slide my hand down the line trying not to release line as I do until I reach the other cleat, uncleat that line and then with both lines in the same hand move my hand along the cabin roof line so that I will be releasing one sheet while tightening the other. The downsides that occur to me are that I will be dragging the sheets across the (probably open) companion way and the practice could be rough on hands/gloves and line.
A related question - should I consider getting cam cleats instead? It almost seems like a safety feature that the jam cleats slip (I think it would help prevent knockdowns), but the last time out when I had a fairly steady brisk wind it was annoying.
BTW, when I seem a little overcautious, it's because though I am usally sailing single handed as far as the mechanics of sailing goes, I am usually not alone.
