Jacklines

[windrose]

Going to be going out by myself and need to rig some jackline. How have you guys set them up around the dodger/bimini frame. I am thinking two eyebolts on either side of the companionway and a line down each side so you could walk the windward side of either deck. Ideas?

[Tim]

I put bronze padeyes on each sidedeck outboard of the coaming and then run my jacklines from there up to my big bitt on the bow.

Link: Jacklines

[Tim Mertinooke]

Tim, I enjoy seeing and reading your work and appreciate your willingness to share your experiences so others can find success. I can also appreciate your attention to detail such as lining all of the bolt heads so they are in the same direction. Nice.

One thing that I have read if sailing alone is that jacklines should be run along the centerline of the boat along either side of the mast so if you did slip while walking along the sidedeck, your tether would max out with you not dangling off of the boat or worse dragging in the water.

[bcooke]

I did a lower tech version of what Tim did. I anchored the straps through cleats forward of the winch (now removed) and secured around the mooring bit up front.

I think jacklines along the centerline is a great idea but difficult to work in practice. The dodger really gets in the way here. In fact it is impossible to route the jacklines on the centerline with a dodger unless you were willing to leave the cockpit, walk two steps forward and then get to a place where you could reach a suitable jackline forward of the dodger. Anything else piled on the cabin top has to be worked around as well. In a small boat like a Triton you don't have much room to work with anyway so the difference between deck run and centerline run jacklines is not that much in my opinion.

My workaround was to always clip in to the upwind side so I had some room to slide to leeward before launching over the side. It isn't a perfect system but it is better than no system.

-Britton

[Tim]

One thing that I have read if sailing alone is that jacklines should be run along the centerline of the boat along either side of the mast so if you did slip while walking along the sidedeck, your tether would max out with you not dangling off of the boat or worse dragging in the water.

It's a good thought, and one that's worth trying to emulate, but it simply isn't always truly practicable. A centerline jackline might be the best, ideally, but in a lot of cases there's just no way to cleanly run it. If you can, by all means do.

The key is to simply hold on anyway, which by itself would be enough for 99.9% of the sailing that all of us are likely to ever do. Jacklines are just good insurance to keep you attached to the boat if something happens to your grip, which would be better in any event than floating loose. Getting tossed to the end of your harness is not an ideal situation to begin with. Obviously, no one plans to go overboard or tossed around on their harness, but I think that some basic carelessness often is a factor in these situations too. So take care and hold on.

[jollyboat]

The whole idea of falling overboard is scary stuff. It would be good practice to jump overboard (while with skilled, strong crew) while the boat is underway to see how long it would take you get back on board with no help. Even with jack lines I am afraid that drowning a real possibility anyway. I did a solo sail from Mazatlan Mexico to San Francisco on Swan 60 and the thought of not wanting to fall over came across my mind several times - usually while hanging over the stern rail - if I did ever go over - well that would be bad. I agree with Tim - hang on and be smart.

[Ric in Richmond]

Most boats you'd be shark bait.

I seriously doubt you could get back on solo.

Especially if on autopilot in a decent breeze.

Tough way to die....

I don't do enough solo sailing to really worry about it...but even with my marginally skilled family aboard it scares me.

[Bluenose]

I think the Pardey's said something to the effect that the fear of death is the best safe guard from going over the side. One idea they mentioned for really bad situations, which I hope none of us will ever see, that I quite liked was using the spinnaker halyard or topping lift for a safety line. I like the fact that it doesn't let you fall overboard and it isn't another thing to trip over.

[Peter]

One idea they mentioned for really bad situations, which I hope none of us will ever see, that I quite liked was using the spinnaker halyard or topping lift for a safety line.

I can see it now: heeled over at 30 degrees, sailing along on autopilot, and hanging over (or in) the water like an errant plumb bob, trying to swing back onto the deck!

Actually, it sounds like agood idea ... have to try it out.

[Bluenose]

I can see it now: heeled over at 30 degrees, sailing along on autopilot, and hanging over (or in) the water like an errant plumb bob, trying to swing back onto the deck!

Well after all, sailing is a sport :).

[Kristian]

Agree with everyone who expressed the "falling overboard is extremely bad and the best recovery method is staying aboard."

USSailing has reports on overboards, which make really sobering reading. I cam across them as I used to teach keelboat sailing, and made it my business to know about how COB happens and how to recover. Nothing impresses the seriousness of this situation on new crew/students as much as throwing something in the water and letting them try and pick it.

Serious recovery training is not just for newbies: my ride for the Mac was out practicing in very high winds, doing sail changes. With main, staysail and 1 1/2 spinnakers up, the owner of the boat threw in a seat cushion and made the call of man overboard. Well, 16 people on the crew, half of them professionals and hundreds of years of sailing experience took about 20 minutes to recover our OB. At the end of all that I think we all made promises to clip in, and stay on!

In talking to an Around Alone 60' skipper, he told me that he never clipped in when his tether could reach the water. His thinking was that he would rather die watching his boat sail away than being beaten to death by it.

It doesn't take anything away from enjoyment of sailing to be safe.

[bcooke]

I can see it now: heeled over at 30 degrees

The good news for me and my boat is that at 30 degrees my rail is only a few inches above the water - on the lee side - upwind I am a gonner.

Agreed that the chances of recovery are not good but hopefully better than watching the boat sail away. I would definitely want a clip at my harness that would allow me to disconnect from the tether if the condition warranted it.

I am not sure if it could be done well aethestically but boarding ladders alongside the cockpit might help with recovery too. Or maybe around the transom but getting to the transom on a tether would be near impossible and disconnecting, getting to the transom and re-boarding would be a tricky operation to say the least.

-Britton

[jollyboat]

Having grown up sailing the soupy warm waters of the Connecticut shores of Western Long Island Sound, I have seen my fair share of windless days with humidity oppressively high. As a youngster in my early twenties and finding myself the proud skipper of a Triton, these seemingly benign conditions led me to stray from the safest of sailing practices. (Ahh youth) After years of sailing the LIS without a PFD or even life lines I suddenly found myself charging out of the Berkeley Marina in my beloved Triton that I had shared so many adventures with already. Compared to the LIS, the slot in the San Francisco Bay is pretty much a windstorm and there I was blasting out in my regular fashion. As the "breeze" freshened the SEPI responded as she dug in on her keel and heeled over to the wind gods in submission. I trailed my hand into the fridged waters and instantly knew that I was not "in Kansas anymore" - if I fell in the Bay - I could die and quickly. The decks of the SEPI were slick from the liberal applications of fresh Awl grip paint that was without non-skid. Spray from the constant chop soaked the boat and the crew with a cold, sobering effect. I quietly put on my beloved 50 mission PFD that I typically only used while on storm duty at the yacht club back home in Connecticut - as the reality of the situation became clear in that almost instantaneous moment - I still have not forgot the lesson that thankfully I did not have to learn the hard way. I am now back in my beloved soupy waters of the LIS and now on another Triton but still continue to wear my PFD. Sailing smart is . . . well smart.

[Bluenose]

I had a rude awakening about boating safety last May when I was taking an Instructor certification course in Port Townsend. Part of the course requirement was a swim test. We had to jump off a dock swim 25 yards tie a bowline around our waste, put on our life jacket and swim back to the dock. This dock had one of those low swim platforms so we had to crawl / drag ourselves up onto the dock. There was about 12 of us in the class. I beleive we had to help 2 people back up onto the swim platform. I think that if the swim test had been 75 yards not everyone would have made it back to the dock.

I really learned about the effects of cold. We followed that joyful experience with a small boat righting drill. Two of us pushed off the dock in a tethered sailboat and then flip it and the self righted while the other one bobbed in water. This was a pretty physical effort and it wouldn't have taken very many failure for me to have wanted to give up. It was cold.

Years ago a friend had told me his 50-50-50 rule for sailing in the Pacific Northwest. 50 degree water, 50 yards from shore, 50% chance of survival. I gained much, much more respect for this idea after my polar bear swim test and I now wonder if he isn't conservative.

I guess where I am going with this rambling is that if I go over the side and end up in the water while sailing alone I am likely a goner. I have sometimes morbidly joked that life jackets are so they can find the body and I believe that in the spring and fall when there are few boater this might be reality. So any harness system in my mind has to keep a person out of the water (at least up here).

Also, if I was going to place my safety and piece of mind in a harness system, I would want to check it out and find out what I was getting into. I would deliberately go over the side with crew and see if I could self rescue. Many of my preconceived notions of safety and contingency plans went out the window that day in Port Townsend I imagine if I went over the side with harness a similar rethinking would occur.

[Hirilondë]

Years ago I heard a description of offshore sailing: one-third boredom, one-third euphoria and one-third terror.

Shortly after sunrise on the fourth morning after leaving Funchal, as I lay against the hull, firmly grasping the upper lifeline, I was definitely experiencing the terror. As I dangled two feet above the water, the boat racing along at 10 knots under autopilot with a double-reefed main (shortened mainsail) and the small white spinnaker, there was a sense of relief, thankful I was not body surfing along, attached to the boat by my safety line. Figuring that at any moment Acadia could roll aggressively in my direction, dumping me in the water, my mind focused on getting back on-board. I looked at the sponsorship weather cloth, an advertising banner, perfectly lashed to the lifelines, aft stanchion and stern pushpit by Rodney Johnstone. Using all of my upper body strength to support myself, I lowered my right leg that was hooked over the top lifeline and started kicking at the bottom section of the banner…I broke some of the lashings and managed to swing both legs onto the deck, under the lower lifeline. As if doing a chin-up, I hoisted myself up just enough to slide my left butt cheek over the corner of the deck. I rested for a few seconds and then, using all my remaining energy, leveraged the rest of my body on board. I unclipped the tangled safety line and slid into the cockpit.

Even with jack lines etc., getting back on board is no simple task. Even at the risk of being thrashed to death, I would still choose to wear a harness and tie in. For further info on Clay's trip:

http://teamacadia.org/

[Bluenose]

the boat racing along at 10 knots under autopilot with a double-reefed main (shortened mainsail) and the small white spinnaker

I know it is always easy to second guess but I think that there is value in looking at examples and asking: How could I prevent that situation? I have read a number of these types of stories and the common thread is the autopilot. With two or more crew I think that the autopilot is a wonderful convenient feature but when single handing I wonder. It seems to me that it puts the sailor in a position of having less options. I routinely go forward to reef while leaving the tiller unattended balancing the helm with the sails. She will sail that way for a few minute, just about enough time to get the reef in but then she will round up. Harness or no I like this extra feature. Especially if the conditions are crazy enough that I have a reefed sail and a harness on.

In these types of situations having an autopilot would scare the bejesus out of me.

[bcooke]

My Triton has gone a few hours unattended with the sails balanced and no one at the helm. That hasn't happened often but it has happened.

If I go over my boat probably won't round up and wait for me.

-Britton

[Hirilondë]

I routinely go forward to reef while leaving the tiller unattended balancing the helm with the sails. She will sail that way for a few minute, just about enough time to get the reef in but then she will round up. Harness or no I like this extra feature. Especially if the conditions are crazy enough that I have a reefed sail and a harness on.

I often do the same, it works well, quite safe and it means I am balancing my rig well, which is good for many reasons.

With two or more crew I think that the autopilot is a wonderful convenient feature but when single handing I wonder.

Definitely something to ponder. But when you are racing 4200 miles single-handed across an ocean in a 21 foot boat an autopilot means you can sleep once in a while.

Most men found drowned from boating accidents have the same adjustment found to their clothing. This could easily be corrected, but some how I doubt it will.

[windrose]

Thanks all very informative discussion.

[keelbolts]

I spent years, in the Coast Guard, flying around looking for people in the water and I can tell you this: If you go over the side, you are dead. You might not survive harnessed to a jackline, but you damn-sure won't survive if you get separated from the boat. Yeah, there have been exceptions, but I don't tie my chances for survival to exceptions.

[David VanDenburgh]

I put bronze padeyes on each sidedeck outboard of the coaming and then run my jacklines from there up to my big bitt on the bow.

Tim,

Do you happen to recall which model padeye you used? I see two possibilities at Hamilton Marine.

Thanks,

David

[Tim]

I put bronze padeyes on each sidedeck outboard of the coaming and then run my jacklines from there up to my big bitt on the bow.

Tim,

Do you happen to recall which model padeye you used? I see two possibilities at Hamilton Marine.

Thanks,

David

It's the ABI-150112 (Hamilton #100166), the 3-1/2" long version.

[Quetzalsailor]

I think I'd be much happier with a heavy cast or welded stainless padeye for this purpose. I used the heavy stainless fittings associated with the backstay and the forestay the one time we went offshore in Q.

The bit I don't get is how I'd get back on board once I'd found myself being dragged along behind the boat. One thought for that is that I should have ended the jackline somewhat forward of the cockpit; I'd be dragged alongside.

I have the twin long/short tethers on a harness w/inflatable PFD. While in cockpit I'd be on the short tether clipped to a winchbase (for lack of a decent alternative). I read somewhere that you really want to limit the distance you can travel, so normally use the short tether to a fixed point, and the long only when necessary. Of course, one or the other is always clipped to the boat.