Tethered Washboards

[Lightspeed]

Before the SSS Farallones race I need to comply with the new 2009 SSI #5 x Tethered Washboards.

Lightspeed has three very nice smoked lexan washboards so I would like to do this right and only drill once or not drill at all if possable.

I am thinking of a simple eyelet on the inside of each washboard with a short tether and a clip. The clip could then be attach to an eyebolt along the inside the companionway.

If anyone has a slicker system for SSI #5 x, I would like to hear your thoughts…..Thanks in advance......Rick/Lightspeed

 

[BobJ]

Hi Rick - I have a similar setup to what you describe. This is part of a post I made on another board:

"I have two drop boards. Each has a SS eye strap near the bottom on the inside. A piece of line is tied to the eye strap in the top board, passes through the eye strap in the bottom board, and then through a small cam cleat on the underside of the companionway "sill." The tail is tied to something down inside the boat. The piece of line is long enough that the drop boards can be removed and laid down below without untying the line. To secure the boards, they are dropped in and the line is snubbed in the cam cleat. This can be done from the outside by reaching in with the hatch barely open (then closing it), or obviously from the inside."

I'll add that the cam cleat is Harken's smallest (#365?) and has their optional wire loop over the top of it. This keeps the tether over the cleat so you can snub it by feel.

I've seen boats with a pocket near the hatch to hold the drop boards - that seems like a good idea too.

 

[tiger beetle]

I like both ideas. Bob's is simple and keeps the washboards in place as a group, with a single line that minimizes the chance of getting the boards tangled up, and keeps them attached to the boat.

I also like Rick's idea of multiple lines as there's a built in redundancy -if one board comes loose (if a string breaks) the other two boards are still attached to the boat. Note that the clip had better be strong and not something as lightweight as a metal dodger clip - something more like a bronze hank from a jib should be way strong. The lines should exert downward force to lock them in place and prevent the boards from wiggling out of the lateral rails that normally hold them in place.

Conveniently Beetle only has one board, thru which is drilled a hole through which I've threaded 1/8" dacron cordage which is knotted on the exterior (line can't pull back through the hole). The cordage follows Bob's idea - it leads through a single metal jam cleat set inside the companionway sill, and it can be tugged down tight to lock the board in place. I did not use a cam cleat as the as the cam stands taller than the jam cleat, and the jam cleat has zero moving parts. So my installation consisted of a hole, 3' of 1/8" line, and a jam cleat (plus two bolts to hold the jam cleat in place).

An alternative might be tethering all 3 boards to the boat with a hole, line, and knot, and separately lock them in place with a fourth line that can be lead up and over the boards to jam (or cam) cleats mounted outside and inside the companionway, though this is getting into a lot of string.

- rob/beetle