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A lot of safety discussions usually include talk of clipping in. I bough my inflateable PFD with an integrated harness so when necessary I could clip in.
My questions though:
1) I don't yet have a harness, can someone recommend one that is a good value. I see the wichard one's, are those the way to go? Who do some have three hooks? One to me, one to the boat, and one to ____, or is it just when you're switching
2) Do you clip into the lifelines that go around the boat? Are they really strong enough to hold a person's body weight?
3) Do you switch which side of the boat you get clipped into through different maneuvers?
4) if you go overboard wearing the harness, does the boat just drag you, do you pull yourself back up? What to do? Can you unclip yourself with tension on it?
A lot of safety discussions usually include talk of clipping in. I bough my inflateable PFD with an integrated harness so when necessary I could clip in.
My questions though:
1) I don't yet have a harness, can someone recommend one that is a good value. I see the wichard one's, are those the way to go? Who do some have three hooks? One to me, one to the boat, and one to ____, or is it just when you're switching
Get ISAF approved tethers, since they have some features that won't be on non-approved tethers, like colored strain indicators. The two leg tethers are s you can stay clipped in when moving about the boat. The shorter leg is often useful when working at the mast or cockpit, and range of motion isn't an issue.
2) Do you clip into the lifelines that go around the boat? Are they really strong enough to hold a person's body weight?
NO, NEVER CLIP TO LIFELINES. Tethers should be clipped to hardpoints, like padeyes, or to jacklines, which are usually webbing, that run fore-and-aft along each side of the boat.
3) Do you switch which side of the boat you get clipped into through different maneuvers?
Generally, you stay clipped to the high side of the boat, so that you don't fall across the boat or off the high side.
4) if you go overboard wearing the harness, does the boat just drag you, do you pull yourself back up? What to do? Can you unclip yourself with tension on it?
ISAF approved tethers have one or two clips that are dual-action, like the Gibb or Wichard clips, that will not release accidentally. These clips are for the boat side of the tether. The body side of the tether is a snap shackle. This is so that you can release the tether under load... like if the boat capsizes. DO NOT BUY a tether that does not have dual-action clips for the boat side and a snap shackle at the harness side.
running down the deck...yellow webbing...This is John Pollards boat...Isist this one of the coolest photos ever...I have it as my screen saver...gives me goose bumps every day..
running down the deck...yellow webbing...This is John Pollards boat...Isist this one of the coolest photos ever...I have it as my screen saver...gives me goose bumps every day..
4) if you go overboard wearing the harness, does the boat just drag you, do you pull yourself back up? What to do? Can you unclip yourself with tension on it?
ISAF approved tethers have one or two clips that are dual-action, like the Gibb or Wichard clips, that will not release accidentally. These clips are for the boat side of the tether. The body side of the tether is a snap shackle. This is so that you can release the tether under load... like if the boat capsizes. DO NOT BUY a tether that does not have dual-action clips for the boat side and a snap shackle at the harness side.
Anything over say around 4 knots or so and your not going to pull yourself back on board. That is why the dog is saying to get a tether that you can release under load. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your thether should be short enough to keep you from falling overboard in the first place. If you fall, you want to remain on board. Its a debate that has been going on for years.
Notice, it has a snap shackle for the body end, dual-action clips at the boat end, shock cord and two legs...as well as the strain indicators to show when the tether should be replaced. However, I prefer the stainless steel hooks to the aluminum ones this one has.
Believe they're made by SOSspenders, but could be wrong. They're using a new type of clip, called a Kong, but I prefer the Wichard or Gibb clips, since they're stainless, and the Kong is aluminum IIRC.
So you don't have to unclip as you go forward. Perhaps it would be better to say, arrange your sheets and your jacklines so that once you hook on, you don't have to unclip to leave the cockpit. It would be okay to run them under the sheets if you always clip on forward of the sheet winches.
It really depends on the design of the boat. My jacklines can be run either inboard or outboard of the genoa sheets, and wouldn't require you to unclip in either case. Of course, I do have 18' of beam, and the jacklines and genoa sheets are attached to the main hull, so if I run the jacklines outboard of the genny sheets, you have the entire width of the ama to use to go forward, rather than just the cabintop.
Now I have gone an offended my mentor...Here all this time I have remembered incorrectly...
OK well if I remember correctly he took these just this past winter on a 2 week sail to Bermuda...OH Bother... Im probably digging myself into a beeper hole....Please forgive me.
Now I have gone an offended my mentor...Here all this time I have remembered incorrectly...
OK well if I remember correctly he took these just this past winter on a 2 week sail to Bermuda...OH Bother... Im probably digging myself into a beeper hole....Please forgive me.
Nothing to forgive, I'm sure he'll be flattered. Your memory of the photo is same as mine. Do a search on "Caliber 40" and you should find the owner. Is it "TAK" maybe??
Merlin,
What type of boat are you talking about and does it have or do you use Auto Pilot often? The reason I ask, is that I used to single hand our old Cal 25 all the time and I did not worry as much about a tether because if I fell, I was pretty sure that eventually the boat would stall out and round herself up. Doesn't mean my thinking was sound, it was just the way I felt. Unless the boat was perfectly balanced, it was going to stall. I would practice at balancing the helm all the time, and she would sail herself for a while, but eventually she would round up. Today, I am always using Auto pilot and I am much more concered about tether and harness. In any sort of winds when single, I am tethered. Smaller boat no auto, I did not worry as much. Call me crazy, I know.
thanks to everyone for all of the helps. I am looking at some tethers now, seemingly expensive but I guess that's the price of safety
TJK, I don't have my own boat but belong to a club with a variety of boats and have been crewing on other people's boats. I know the smaller boats at my club don't have jacklines. I just figure if I'm going to crew a lot and try and get on bigger boats it'd be good to come prepared so a harness has been on my list!
TJK, I don't have my own boat but belong to a club with a variety of boats and have been crewing on other people's boats. I know the smaller boats at my club don't have jacklines. I just figure if I'm going to crew a lot and try and get on bigger boats it'd be good to come prepared so a harness has been on my list!
Safety is always a good idea. However, I have never seen anyone actually wear a tether, and I have never seen a boat with jacklines. I must state that I am a fair weather sailer and occasional racer on other people's boats (OPB).
Do you plan on sailing on bad weather? Are you likely to be caught in bad weather? Do the boats you sail on have a secure place to connect a tether? If not, I don't think you need a tether, Of course, it's your money, but I think you may be getting a little ahead of the game.
On my boat, it's real unlikely that I would ever need a tether. On the boat I race on, I wear my PDF all the time, carry a handheld VHF and GPS. There are no jacklines, so wearing a tether would not work. I haven't seen any of the other racers wear tethers either.
If I planned on long distance sailing I would invest in jacklines and tethers. Barring that, there are lots of other things I would spend my money on.
In addition to all the excellent advice above, one thing that the wife and I do while offshore is run a temporary line from the pulpit to the gallows, (which is aft of the cockpit), as near as we can get it to chest level.
Not to clip into of course, but it seems to help with balancing while moving forward.
We tie it to the shrouds using clove hitches and stretch it pretty tight. Maybe it's just psychologically, but it really seems to help in rough seas.
On many boats, the jacklines terminate about a tether length before the stern, so you can't fall off the back of the boat. On a boat with an aft swim platform, it might make sense to run them almost all the way aft, so that you might have a chance to climb back aboard via the platform.
An inflatable with built in harness, two legs on the harness, quick release at the harness connection, hard attachment points in the cockpit, plus jacklines running forward from the cockpit = best set-up.
Depends on the boat. Might not work so well on a center cockpit boat... there is no one best way to do this.
Tweitz-
Can be any number of things: padeyes specifically setup for the jackline, stern cleats, stern pulpit stanchions, etc. Depends on the boat. On some, the cleats and stanchions might not be in the right osition or backed strongly enough.
The line should be the same size/strength as it would be for a larger boat -- i.e., it doesn't get downsized for smaller boats. Make sure your hard points for mounting are up to the task.
It seems most folks these days opt for 1" nylon webbing, since it's easier to walk on than the round lifeline wire material sometimes used. Something like this:
It says that the load that will "trip" the load stress indicator is only 900lbs. Is it me or does that seem low? I am used to these things having a fairly ridiculous safety factor. Maybe I am just thinking too much.
Also what does this mean:
"Nonmagnetic, stainless steel snap shackle at chest releases from the harness under load". Does that mean if you need to you can get out even while under load.
It's just a big snap shackle. All should release under a very heavy load. I have the SOSpenders one w/o the colored threads or elastic built in. I've put almost all my weight on it and it releases just fine, very sudden.
The safety factor is much higher than 900lbs. That's just when they want you to replace it. I'd expect it to hold 3x that amount. But add UV rays, salt water, and chaffing, and you start to get a lot closer the the 900# advertised weight.
The stress indicator is to show that the tether was used under a high strain and may fail in the future, since the stitching may now be compromised. A 200 lb. person falling across a heeling boat may generate in excess of 2000 lbs of force against the tether. This is why you don't attach tethers to lifelines. Given the lever arm of the stanchion, it would most likely damage or destroy the stanchion. BTW, the breaking load on most tethers and jacklines is supposed to be abut 6000 lbs.
Yes, you need to be able to release the tether under a load. A good example is when a bowman on the boat I was on got his harness caught over a spinnaker sheet, and the boat broached... the spinnaker dropped into the water and his tether was tangled in the sheet when the boat got knocked down. If he couldn't release his tether, he might have drowned.
Great suggestions. I never knew about having clips on both ends of the tether. Ours have a clip on one end and a spliced eye on the other that gets looped through 2 D rings on the harness (Jim Bouy brand). I've always been uncomfortable with that, but didn't think about it until reading this thread.
As for the jack lines, I've never been sure why people use webbing. I've used spare STA-SETX halyard lines (the ones that I replaced because the colored tracers were getting faded). Since I take exceptional care with my running rigging, puling them off the boat each winter and replacing them every 5 years or so, they should be much stronger than 1" webbing. I attach the line to my bow and stern docking cleats under the assumption that if the cleat can hold the boat, they can hold me.
Great suggestions. I never knew about having clips on both ends of the tether. Ours have a clip on one end and a spliced eye on the other that gets looped through 2 D rings on the harness (Jim Bouy brand). I've always been uncomfortable with that, but didn't think about it until reading this thread.
Good way to die if you don't have a rigging knife and get pulled under the surface by your tether. Get one with a snapshackle. You should be able to release the body side of the tether under any load-if you can't carry a sharp rigging knife. IMHO, you should carry a sharp rigging knife any time you're on a sailboat anyways.
As for the jack lines, I've never been sure why people use webbing. I've used spare STA-SETX halyard lines (the ones that I replaced because the colored tracers were getting faded). Since I take exceptional care with my running rigging, puling them off the boat each winter and replacing them every 5 years or so, they should be much stronger than 1" webbing. I attach the line to my bow and stern docking cleats under the assumption that if the cleat can hold the boat, they can hold me.
Rope jacklines aren't used typically for several reasons.
First, they're too easy to confuse with other lines... if you clipped onto the furling line instead of the jackline and fell... chances are you'd be gone. Webbing is easy to tell from the lines on your boat.
Second, ropes roll under foot-webbing doesn't.
Finally, webbing is usually stronger than the rope often is.
The best jacklines I've seen are dacron tubular webbing with a spectra 1/4" or 5/16" line running down it. The webbing keeps it from rolling under foot and protects the spectra line from chafe, wear and UV damage.
Wichard makes webbing jacklines which have a glow-in-the-dark fastener on them, which makes it easier to spot the jackline in the dark.
Dog, I could not have said it better. I hope people read your post. You just saved lives!
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