Priscilla II 392 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 https://www.pbo.co.uk/seamanship/is-it-safe-to-use-a-tether-25125 If you are on your own with the yacht on autopilot you would be toast but hey your family may well have something to bury or burn. I’m with BP stay on board live long and prosper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 On the leeward side when heeled over, such a tether might be so short you cant even stand up straight. Thats why in my post I said you go down the weather side... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 In 45 years of ocean passages I have yet to clip on to the leeward jack stay. Must be doing it wrong. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chariot 243 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Agree, have had to use leeward side in racing situations. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 Also most jackstays are waaaay too stretchy. Next time you put them on deck, stand in the middle and pull one as high as you can. 2m is not unusual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wild violet 38 Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 That is a very good point km massive shock load if flung overboard.mine are attached to a steel bollard foward and steel ring aft,have seen them attached to stanchions dodgy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
idlerboat 116 Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 I find rock climbing tape works... Its very strong !! Its rated. As a loop for shackle attachment or around a fully welded D..... It needs to be either old school bow line tied with the bitter end quick stitched or cable tied. Or double back folded and fully machine sewed with appropriate thread and care. Measure the length and then take at least 20 mm off....you will pull it up enough to hook it on : ) A run up each side of the vessel, as close to centre as possible. This allows you to go up either side ..But travel on the High Side. Remember you can get deck washed on the low side if you are running hard in rough weather.. There is no reason not to...(unless you are racing and victory means more than your life ) After all...you can slow down and stand the boat up.... right ? A double tether / lanyard, call it what you want that is nice and short makes the difference. It gives you twice the reach with half the distance to fall : ) Clip on before clip off.... Dedicated eyes in the cockpit close to the helm. Clip on ....then clip off the jack line. You can set it up so that you can travel just about anywhere on the deck of a vessel up to about 45 foot..(as long as it dosnt have a stupid beam. If you did go over given all of the above ( and given reasonable fitness ) You Will be close enough to the hull and life lines to get back on board. On my boat I have solid rails with the staunchions protruding up through the rails by 25 mm to catch anything (like a lanyard) at each stauchion.....but I also spent a lot of time looking at solo in cold latitudes...which is not your normal production yacht. Probably whats more important is the unfounded level of confidence people have... Jump in the water and see if you can get back on board unaided.. Now do it with a life jacket on.... Now swim 100 metres ...and see if you can still get back on board... now take the water temp quite a few degrees lower than you were willing to do this test in.. This level of confidence seems to be largely middle age men.... A scary amount cannot even easily get into a life raft from the water... let alone swim to and get on a ( mostly stationary...because you aint going to catch a normally moving) vessel... ..I have heard it all.......but I have a sugar scoop transom...a pull down boarding ladder... It all works...most of the time. But not if you are cold...tired...and there is perhaps a 1 metre swell running. When I am teaching I put it like this... its either like standing beside a very busy road with the traffic traveling at 100 kmh or perhaps along side a cliff edge over a 200 metres high...Either way if you go over without something to keep you out of the traffic, or from plummeting...only luck is going to keep you alive. The fact is we become very skillful at staying on this edge. We lose the fear (and the reality)...we go sailing by ourselves on a nice night.. boats got a nice rhythmic roll to her...dont clip on... go up front and chat with the dolphins...magic... Until... You find out...you are not so young...you cant swim that far and that long....the water is cold....the boat moves away incredibly fast (even though we were only doing 4 knots).....and now that your eyes are 75 mm above the water your sense of direction is taking a hit. What was it ? you were only a mile off shore....? Hope you can swim 1852 Metres ...and thats in a straight line ........Oh and that gentle half a metre swell ?.....Its always bigger in it than on it... I hope I am painting an honest and real word picture here...because its a bit like the quadriplegic 19 year olds that got launched out through the front windscreen at only 65 KM per hour........without a seat belt.....that I have talked to in the other part of my life.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 My welcome aboard speech includes " if you go overboard you will almost certainly die". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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