Jacklines and harnesses. It is hypothermia season up here!

[thinwater]

True, falling off a cat is difficult in general, but not impossible. I sail either alone or with crew alseep a good deal. I sail in the winter, when falling in is going to be a death sentence, PFD or not. Thus, I am a big fan of harnesses and have little time for PFDs. They do not suit my sailing style.

That said, what is your practice?
* My jack lines are 5/8-inch dockline, girth hitched around the front beam about 12" and tied off to the center of the hard top hand hold. Both sides.
* They stay on all the time; rope is much more uv tolerant than webbing.
* No, the hand-hold is not a 5000 pound fitting, but neither will it go through the carabiner on the tether! I will still be with the boat.
* The tethers will reach into the cockpit and anywhere on deck. They can be shortened if the weather is very bad - did this in the Delaware bay when I had to fight with the roller furler while pounding into steep chop and putting the front beam under now and then - and then you can't slide far. You can quickly clip on when leaving the cock pit, since they reach well around the corner. The tethers are 1" climbing webbing. The biners are climbing biners (much lighter and less prone to dinging gel coat. Wire gate on the harness end, locker on the jackline (more likely to unclip, and seldom released).
* I am not big fan of spin shackles on the harness end; I have seen them blow of chutes too many times. I have been a rock climber for MANY years, and regular biner is VERY unlikely to unhook on a harness end. Yes, if it is clipped to a fixed point, but not on a harness. Sometimes I use a locker on both ends, but not generally.
* On some boats you need to be certain the tether will not allow you to get near the transom for fear of the prop; not so on a PDQ.
* I keep 3 chest harnesses on-board, each with a tether.
* Getting back on board. The tether just reaches to the sugar scoops if you go over when it is set long. Get back on! When it is short, falling over is nearly impossible.

Does someone have a better rig? I have used this all summer and am pleased. I rigged it for our December delivery trip from stuff on-hand, and have not thought of any improvements. There is a step-over issue at the front of the cabin, if you are going to the tramp, but on the other hand many use the jackline as a second in-board railing when going forward.

I guess I have spent over 3000 hours involved in roped climbing, actually on routes. Thus, I don't feel tangled or distracted by the extra rigging.

[mikeandrebecca]

We just did a "medical emergency at sea" seminar and the course instructor pointed out that the number one cause for boating deaths in our area is hypothermia. Although we are done sailing for the season we know that we need to rig up jacklines and acquire harnesses for next season. This post is very helpful. Thanks. I too would like to hear what others are doing.

[mikeandrebecca]

We you please be able to post a photo or two of your setup, thinwater, either here or on your Blog?

[thinwater]

We you please be able to post a photo or two of your setup, thinwater, either here or on your Blog?

Yes, give me a few weeks - just hurt my back fooling with engines! I will paste them into the blog post.

[mikeandrebecca]

That sucks about the injury. Sore backs are the worst! Thanks in advance for the pics though.

[thinwater]

Although it is not clear from the photo, there is not more than 12 inches of side-to-side give.

http://sail-delmarva.blogspot.com/2009/ ... lines.html

There is also enough length so that you can clip-on in the cockpit, so long as you exit over the seats. At the longer "fair weather" length, you can walk down the steps and leave the tether hanging from the hard top. Very easy. The reality is that 95% of our tether use is fair weather, when either alone on deck or at night. We don't use PFDs much. We like jacklines better. Get a nice comfortable harness and you barely know you have it on. Much cooler and more adaptable to clothing changes (rain, cold).

Enjoy.

[mikeandrebecca]

Thank you! That's very helpful for us.