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60 Posts
Hello,
After reading too many stories about a long (6') tether doing more hard than good on sailboats I decided that I needed something that will keep me on deck and not just attached to the boat.
This decision was followed immediately by sticker shock while looking for a commercial tether and then the realization that even that expensive tether was too long to keep me on my small 23' boat deck. 3 feet is too much.
So I came up with the rig shown in the attached photos. The harness is an inexpensive one and has crotch straps (not shown) that I can attach.
I tried to address the following issues. Please let me know if you think I am building something safe or something dangerous
1. 'Normal' carabiner-style spring clips can be twisted around and unexpectedly disengage from pad-eyes. The 'double action' clips are EXPENSIVE: I used a stainless steel clip with a locking gate that must be manually locked. As long as I remember to screw down the lock there is no way this is going to come off unexpectedly. Must less expensive.
2. Emergency quick release. I had a snap shackle from unused spinnaker rigging. I added a little lanyard to make the pull easier. I have tried supporting my weight from the tether and a good hard pull will release this shackle. I feel good about it holding when I need it and releasing when I need it. The big knot on the lanyard should be easy to find and pull by feel if I cannot see.
3. Three feet is too long and multiple lengths are needed.
- I have a lineman's loop connecting the snap shackle to the nylon line. This knot should take pull in all three directions without jamming and without working loose when not loaded.
- The carabiner is attached to the nylon line with a cow hitch. I think this is OK, but I am a little worried about the sharp bend right at the eye splice.
- Between these two attachments I have a loop formed using a rolling hitch. Since the lineman's loop is on the load-bearing end of the hitch I am able to adjust the whole thing down to just under two feet or extend it out to almost 3 feet. I might move the linemans loop closer to the rolling hitch so that I can pull the tether in VERY close for clipping on to the mast or other close work.
Since I will be using either a very short adjustment OR I will be attached to jacklines I feel alright with not having the shock absorbing properties of a 'real' tether. I think if I am held very tight at a hard point it will work more like a seat-belt and having it rigid is OK. If I am attached to the jack lines, they should provide enough 'give' as they tensions between the two hard points to avoid a really hard stop.
All in all I have to think this is better than nothing and better than a long tether.
Anyone want to talk me out of using this setup?
Scott.
After reading too many stories about a long (6') tether doing more hard than good on sailboats I decided that I needed something that will keep me on deck and not just attached to the boat.
This decision was followed immediately by sticker shock while looking for a commercial tether and then the realization that even that expensive tether was too long to keep me on my small 23' boat deck. 3 feet is too much.
So I came up with the rig shown in the attached photos. The harness is an inexpensive one and has crotch straps (not shown) that I can attach.
I tried to address the following issues. Please let me know if you think I am building something safe or something dangerous
1. 'Normal' carabiner-style spring clips can be twisted around and unexpectedly disengage from pad-eyes. The 'double action' clips are EXPENSIVE: I used a stainless steel clip with a locking gate that must be manually locked. As long as I remember to screw down the lock there is no way this is going to come off unexpectedly. Must less expensive.
2. Emergency quick release. I had a snap shackle from unused spinnaker rigging. I added a little lanyard to make the pull easier. I have tried supporting my weight from the tether and a good hard pull will release this shackle. I feel good about it holding when I need it and releasing when I need it. The big knot on the lanyard should be easy to find and pull by feel if I cannot see.
3. Three feet is too long and multiple lengths are needed.
- I have a lineman's loop connecting the snap shackle to the nylon line. This knot should take pull in all three directions without jamming and without working loose when not loaded.
- The carabiner is attached to the nylon line with a cow hitch. I think this is OK, but I am a little worried about the sharp bend right at the eye splice.
- Between these two attachments I have a loop formed using a rolling hitch. Since the lineman's loop is on the load-bearing end of the hitch I am able to adjust the whole thing down to just under two feet or extend it out to almost 3 feet. I might move the linemans loop closer to the rolling hitch so that I can pull the tether in VERY close for clipping on to the mast or other close work.
Since I will be using either a very short adjustment OR I will be attached to jacklines I feel alright with not having the shock absorbing properties of a 'real' tether. I think if I am held very tight at a hard point it will work more like a seat-belt and having it rigid is OK. If I am attached to the jack lines, they should provide enough 'give' as they tensions between the two hard points to avoid a really hard stop.
All in all I have to think this is better than nothing and better than a long tether.
Anyone want to talk me out of using this setup?
Scott.
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