tethers

[mike cunningham]

I am reading Andrew Evans' "Thoughts, tips....For Singlehanded sailors". Good info and interesting book however Andrew says he tapes his tether quick release up cause if he goes over offshore he's dead if he releases (hypothermia). I use a tether offshore and I keep the quick release active. I don't want to get trapped in the damn tether either due to capsize or some other crazy bashing around that gets me into a bizzare situation where the tether is wrapped around me or something.

Anybody have any thoughts about tethers? Sometimes I am more afraid of the tether than I am of going over.

 

[Ragnar]

Jackline Routing

My thoughts are to clip in so that I don't go over the lifelines. I figure if I go over, somewhere between the cold water, getting bashed along the hull, and water-logged clothing, I'm dead. When I'm at the helm or up near the bow I'm clipped in using the 3' tether.

I don't agree the the jacklines should be run port and starboard from the bow the way it's stipulated in some Race Instructions. I think it makes more sense the run them from the bow to the mast on centerline, then down each side port and starboard.

 

[Submarino]

quick release on tether

A quick release is faster than a knife. There might be situations where you want to release yourself, e.g., you're being dragged/drowned in the water, it's cinched around your arm, etc. I prefer the combo 3 ft/6 ft bungee tether.

BTW, west marine recalled this type of tether in 2010 because of a defect in the quick release mechanism. Check their website if you run into their brand.

Joe

 

[cafemontaigne]

My thoughts are to clip in so that I don't go over the lifelines. I figure if I go over, somewhere between the cold water, getting bashed along the hull, and water-logged clothing, I'm dead. When I'm at the helm or up near the bow I'm clipped in using the 3' tether.

I don't agree the the jacklines should be run port and starboard from the bow the way it's stipulated in some Race Instructions. I think it makes more sense the run them from the bow to the mast on centerline, then down each side port and starboard.

Does that mean you have to unclip from the double jacklines and clip on to the single center line when you work your way to the bow? With jacklines running down both sides, I can run the length of the boat in about 3 seconds flat while still clipped in, it's very handy. If I had to unclip all the time I would probably risk it to the bow untethered on a regular basis...

I fell overboard once (not off my boat), caught a lifesling that was thrown to me, and ended up being towed behind the boat at ~5 kts. It was kind of a wild ride, but I managed to pull myself up the line a little ways before they stopped. The water was maybe 45 degrees (Strait of Juan de Fuca in May), but with foulies and thermals I wasn't incapacitated. My boat has really low freeboard (an unseaworthy feature according to the people that make up rules), and I have no doubt I could pull myself over the side fully clothed if I was hanging by a tether. But I am part monkey...

Another note, on the SHTP I used my inflatable PFD with built-in harness the first day or two, but once I got offshore I used a chest harness exclusively. It's much less bulky, feels more secure, and if I went over an inflated PFD would impede my getting back on the boat, or prolong the agony if I got separated.

 

[Jud - Vancouver]

I am reading Andrew Evans' "Thoughts, tips....For Singlehanded sailors". Good info and interesting book however Andrew says he tapes his tether quick release up cause if he goes over offshore he's dead if he releases (hypothermia). I use a tether offshore and I keep the quick release active. I don't want to get trapped in the damn tether either due to capsize or some other crazy bashing around that gets me into a bizzare situation where the tether is wrapped around me or something.

Anybody have any thoughts about tethers? Sometimes I am more afraid of the tether than I am of going over.

Reading this thread the other day, reminded me to get a new tether, which I've been meaning to do. The ones I have are for my high freeboard heavy-displacement cruising boat and are "homemade" --rope with a spliced eye and stainless snap shackle.

For racing my Cal 20, I realized I wanted something that has a good one-handed quick-release. So, I just bought a Spinlock two-lead tether --this one: http://www.spinlock.co.uk/en/deckware-series/safety-line/3-clip-safety-line The two tether leads are short and long, depending on need. I gotta say, my rock climbing background (which likes simple things for efficiency and safety) makes me look at the "extra" tether and wonder what it's gonna get caught on eventually...but it seems like a good way to go if you keep the "extra" one clipped well out of the way...but somehow easily accessible when needed in a hurry?! I really like the quick-release feature on the carabiners: very sturdy, but easy to release one-handed. Almost bought the West Marine one; glad I didn't.

As far as jacklines go --I'm in the process of installing two sets of tubular webbing jacklines: port/stbd from front of cockpit to bow; and a single one for the cockpit. This is following the advice of Robert Crawford on Blackfeathers (Cal 20), to avoid long jacklines and the stretch they'd have. They'll be sewed to stainless carabiners/snap shackles so as to be easily removable when boat is not being sailed.

Anyone have any opinions on the two-lead (long and short) tethers? Is the extra one in the way? Or is it nice to have a short and long tether, depending on need?

 

[Foolish]

Mike, I don't tape my tether quick release shut. I don't have any quick release at all. I just use a regular, non locking carabiner, similar to this one:
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Climbing/Carabiners/PRD~5015-876/petzl-owall-biner.jsp

So it is very easy for me to unclip it if it is not under extreme pressure (like if I was being dragged behind the boat)

Your worry about being somehow trapped by the tether is reminiscent of people who won't wear a seatbelt because they are worried about being trapped underwater in their car. You need to consider the odds. As small as they are, the odds of being flung off the boat by a big wave are much greater than the odds of having the tether wrap around your neck in some freak situation.

If you are more worried about the tether than of going over, then you are not wearing your tether often enough. If you wear it all the time, like I do, you will get to know exactly how it works in all situations. You will learn every thing that it gets stuck on when you are rushing to the bow.

In case you want to know, I've worn my teter on every single one of the many hundreds of trips that I've taken over the past decade and it has never - not once - come unclipped from me or from the jack lines unintentionally.

Just like riding my motorcycle without a helmit, I actually feel naked if I'm sailing without my harness and tether. On the few days a year when my wife come sailing with me, I feel really awkward if because I don't have it on.

Jud, you might want to have a second, short tether, back near the cockpit where you are likely to be sitting most of the time, or perhaps a short one clipped at the bow where you will be working in the bounce while changing headsails. The problem with a second carabiner on the same tether is that it will be dragging on your boat, making lots of noise and getting caught on things.

Ragner, it is completely unacceptable if you need to unclip and reclip from one jackline to another to move from the cockpit to the bow. The reason being that one day, in a rush to the bow, you won't do it.

 

[Culebra]

Regular climbing (non-locking) carabiners can work free of the jackline if they twist around just right. I think it's not a small probability. It has happened a couple times to me with a system I once used to ascend the mast. I like the quick release shackle on the harness end (and no I wouldn't tape it), and I like the self locking carabiners that come on most tethers now. They have a much wider throat which is nice.

I use long and short tethers, separate units. My jacklines are the heavy-duty yellow polyester stuff, run along either side from padeyes on the coaming at mid-cockpit to padeyes a few feet aft of the stem, going inside the shrouds. Like Adrian, I want a continuous run to the bow, and I almost always go along the windward side. If conditions are snotty, I'll use the short tether and crawl. If I need to work along the leeward rail, and it's rough, I'll still go up the windward side and then climb over the cabin or around the forward side of the mast to leeward. The tether ends up taut... a secure feeling. When I'm driving I tether to a padeye in the cockpit. With the long tether I can't fall out of the boat when secured to that point.

Nylon webbing is sensitive to UV and, when it's wet, it lengthens considerably. For several years I tried to make tubular nylon work for me, and I don't like it. The slack that builds up and the elasticity both make me feel unsafe. Actually, the tubular stuff will roll under foot if the deck is heeled enough.

The thing I hate about tethers is that you get all tangled up in them. Invariably they snag on a lazy jib sheet or something. I remember one year in the Windjammers race, sailing solo at night on my old SC27, winds well into the 20s, surfing on the wavefronts 10 miles or so off Pescadero, I think. It was during the pitch black of night and I was trying to gybe the chute wearing the tether. I got so tangled in the foreguy and lazy jib sheets I couldn't work at all. I was sure I'd trip. I ended up yanking it off in frustration (the self release end). I made the gybe. I didn't fall off the pitching deck. But I shuddered at my stupidity.

Paul/Culebra

 

[Ragnar]

Great stuff, guys. A wealth of experience coming out that we all can learn from.

Does that mean you have to unclip from the double jacklines and clip on to the single center line when you work your way to the bow? With jacklines running down both sides, I can run the length of the boat in about 3 seconds flat while still clipped in, it's very handy. If I had to unclip all the time I would probably risk it to the bow untethered on a regular basis...

I fell overboard once (not off my boat), caught a lifesling that was thrown to me, and ended up being towed behind the boat at ~5 kts. It was kind of a wild ride, but I managed to pull myself up the line a little ways before they stopped. The water was maybe 45 degrees (Strait of Juan de Fuca in May), but with foulies and thermals I wasn't incapacitated. My boat has really low freeboard (an unseaworthy feature according to the people that make up rules), and I have no doubt I could pull myself over the side fully clothed if I was hanging by a tether. But I am part monkey...

Another note, on the SHTP I used my inflatable PFD with built-in harness the first day or two, but once I got offshore I used a chest harness exclusively. It's much less bulky, feels more secure, and if I went over an inflated PFD would impede my getting back on the boat, or prolong the agony if I got separated.

Adrian, I have a 2 clip tether, so yes, when I get to the mast, I clip on the 3' to the center line & unclip the 6' from the windward line. So yeah, rather than 3 seconds to the bow it's more like 12 seconds.

Down south here, when Tom Kirshbaum was lost over the side of Feral with his tether on & clipped to the boat, we did a lot of investigation and thought on harnesses, tethers and jacklines. Tom couldn't get back aboard a very low freeboard boat - for some reason that we aren't sure of. Could you have pulled yourself aboard if the boat continued on at 5 knots? I'm just saying I doubt I could. I know myself and how weak and tired I can get in snotty conditions, so I think about how to stay inside the lifelines. That said, I'm thinking about rigging up some kind of deployable rope ladder that sits on my transom so if I do end up in the water, I at least have a chance.

Regarding the lack of PFD offshore, a snug harness is a good harness. Tom slipped out of his - whether intentionally or unintentionally, we don't know. I choose to wear a PFD with harness, but along with a PLB and VHF (in the So Cal Bight). So if I'm separated from the boat, I can still set off a PLB or hail a fellow racer if they happen to be nearby.

There is clearly no "one best way". But for me as I near 50, I'm trying to stay inside the lifelines.

Whitall

 

[Ragnar]

Anyone have any opinions on the two-lead (long and short) tethers? Is the extra one in the way? Or is it nice to have a short and long tether, depending on need?

I have found the short and long tether the way to go. I use the long stretchy one while moving, then clip in with the short one if I need to be somewhere for a while or I'm on the bow. If it's nicer conditions I use the 6' in the cockpit as I can reach everything. When it gets tougher I'm clipped in with the short line.

 

[Ragnar]

Ragner, it is completely unacceptable if you need to unclip and reclip from one jackline to another to move from the cockpit to the bow. The reason being that one day, in a rush to the bow, you won't do it.

Completely unacceptable? Pretty strong language. Which is greater, the risk from being pitched over the lifelines & not being able to get back aboard or me not staying clipped? The few times I needed to "rush to the bow" was when a tack fitting exploded or a jib halyard parted, and I stayed clipped in.

At least one is more under my control.

 

[Foolish]

Yes, I will stick with "completely unacceptable". It is one thing to need to rush to the bow, not clipped in, on very rare emergency occasions. It is another thing altogether to need to unclip and reclip every single time that you go to the bow.

In my book I tried to stress the human factor in everything we do. It would be very human to start ignoring the bow clip as one moves back and forth doing a job, going back to get a different tool, back to the bow, back to the cockpit to adjust the autopilot, etc. I believe that the greatest risk is not during the emergency situations, but during normal day to day sailing when you just happen to trip on a line or slip on a wet deck.

 

[BobJ]

Guilty as charged. Ragtime!'s jacklines run cockpit-to-bow but I don't always clip on. You'd think I always would:

Several years ago I was teaching a spinnaker class on a J/80. I was standing on the foredeck with the boat level, in fact it was TIED TO THE DOCK. To this day I don't know how I fell in - perhaps a line rolled under my foot. With several students standing on the dock dutifully watching their instructor, I went over the lifeline on the open-water side, just catching myself by grabbing the gun'l so I wouldn't go clear under.

Embarrassed, I was. Learned my lesson, I have not. Yeah, don't set yourself up to have to unclip.

 

[cafemontaigne]

Yeah, the one time I fell overboard was flat water, nice clear day, 6-7 knots of wind. Nice big foredeck on a 40-footer, the genoa sheet snagged on the mast during a tack and I reached over to clear it. It cleared unexpectedly and the genoa filled in front of me, pushing me back into the lifelines, which tripped me overboard.

I swear the Olson 30 actively tries to shed extra crew weight. The land-lubbers and big-boat sailors are the first to go

I often keep a little rope with loops on the back of the boat for getting aboard. I'm not really impressed with it or rope ladders. Next boat will have an open transom...

 

[Culebra]

I often keep a little rope with loops on the back of the boat for getting aboard. I'm not really impressed with it or rope ladders. Next boat will have an open transom...

I haven't yet figured out a workable system for climbing back aboard, were I to fall overboard while tethered. I'm sure I can't haul myself up without a ladder, so I keep one hanging over the stern (folds into a bag, deploys when pulled open). But how the heck I get to the stern is a problem. Bob has a system that involves a safety line led outside the stanchions along the length of the toe rail. I copied it, but I'm not convinced I could negotiate the trip aft while the boat is flying along at over 6 kts. The tether would snag on a stanchion, and I'd be hanging there, partially or fully dragging in the water and unable to attach myself to the outboard safety line. So I'd have to trigger the release. Then what? I often keep a second tether-in-waiting attached to my harness on the theory I could hook it first to the safety line, then release the one tethered to the jacklines. Just theory. Doubtful it would actually work. Best not to fall over.

Paul/Culebra

 

[Philpott]

Dura Mater doesn't have autopilot, and only two headsails, so I try to determine the wind at the dock and don't change jibs unless I tie up somewhere (like Sam's). When I signed up double handed for the HMB race I considered the possibility that, with crew, I would have the opportunity to change sails if needed. Once we went out the gate I mentioned to Brittany, my crew, that one of us might need to go forward to change to a smaller sail if the wind increased. I had tried to inculcate the whole "obey the skipper" ethos the night before. She said, "Hell, no! I'm not going up there. You go up there if you want to, but I'm staying right here!" Well, after careful consideration I decided that maybe the wind didn't warrant a change after all, so my crew and I stayed tethered and sitting in the cockpit the whole time. And that's how we avoided falling overboard.

 

[mike cunningham]

A quick release is faster than a knife. There might be situations where you want to release yourself, e.g., you're being dragged/drowned in the water, it's cinched around your arm, etc. I prefer the combo 3 ft/6 ft bungee tether.

BTW, west marine recalled this type of tether in 2010 because of a defect in the quick release mechanism. Check their website if you run into their brand.

Joe

I was the person who instigated the recall!! I was aboard the boat one day fussing around as we all do. I happened to grab my tethers off their storage rope and put a pull to the quick release on my older tether (I have two aboard), mind you, just putzing around. Even though I has fresh water washed it, the snap shackle has a little salt in in from my last dousing outside the Gate. The pin was sticky and I pulled a little harder, imagine my chagrin when the split ring just deformed and sprung open leaving me with the quick release handle in one hand and the snap shackle nicely closed in the other.

I dashed off a letter to Practical Sailor and started getting calls from West Marine and the editor of Practical Sailor (to their great credit). Its unfortunate West Marine got a little bad press. I bought the damn thing from an online deep discount retailer. Its a Kong elastic loaded two hook tether which is a thing of beauty except for the split ring, kind of a "for lack of a nail" thing.

As far as my setup on the boat, I use the long six foot leg of the tether to hook onto a ring bolted to the floor of the cockpit just forward of my pedestal. I have enough stretch that I can reach my deck jackline and clip in with the short three foot leg before I release the cockpit floor connection. The jacklines come back to about a foot aft of the cockpit coaming where they are attached to folding wichard rings that would support a Sherman tank. If I went over, even with the long tether leg, I would not wind up behind the boat. I take the tether forward on the starboard side, do a few turns on my bow cleat which is amidships and bring it aft on the port side. I loop the starboard end on the witchard ring, and secure the port side with a double wrapped piece of hi strength line which I then "sew down" with whipping twine so there is no way the knot is coming out. I use a flat low stretch jackline I bought from West Marine and remove and clean it when I am not offshore. My practice is to start tethering when I leave the Bay. I realize I should probably use it in the Bay too but its just a big hassle and I am banking on being seen if I go over. Some of you will roll your eyes at this but that's what I do.

I try to use the short leg of the tether for all on deck work except at the mast where I will wrap the long tether around the mast before I do any standing up there to deal with reef / line fouls or whatever. I am a complete wimp on deck when offshore I will always keep my CG on deck so I move on my knees or my butt.

Having said all of the above. I agree with the person that said its a pain because you always seem to get tangled in the thing moving around the cockpit, especially when you have your foulies on and all bundled up. God knows what would happen if you went over violently, what kind of attitude you would find yourself in, etc.

I sail a Freedom 30 so I don't do any jib changes. The little self tacker is either up or down and that is fine with me.

I think we should get together some fine summer day down on the warm water Delta and do some research. See who can get back on their boat unaided after a simulated fall, check out various methods to get back aboard, etc.

 

[K38Bob]

Nice thread. Thanks to Mark, the L38 article is scanned and online (last 2 pages transposed)http://www.sfbama.org/1999/1999DHF%20Shlasky.pdf

 

[Wylieguy]

Thank God I've never fallen off, although I've slipped several times and hit the lifelines - while tethered. I want to emphasize how important it is to have the aft end of jacklines secured so that I am never dragged beyond the stern. Pulling myself "upstream" behind a boat moving 5+ knots would be nearly impossible. I end my jacklines at the cabin so if I go over I'll come up against the hull in the cockpit area. I keep a rolled up ladder on each side, on the cockpit coaming, with a trip lanyard hanging over the side. "NANCY" has an open transom, but I don't know how I'd get back there to use it if the boat's moving.
I loop a line around the auto helm and over the lifelines so it hangs down over both sides, too. I hope to reach it and jerk the helm off the tiller so the boat will round up.
I get kidded for my "bulk" when I'm singlehanding: PLB and VHF around my neck. Spinlock PFD (I like the "hood" & thigh straps) with tether. Strobe light hooked on, too. I also have one of those orange whistles WM sells - the one with no "ball" that's especially loud.
Pat Broderick

 

[Philpott]

Jeesh, Pat! And the weight of your foul weather gear, and your boots full of water. I agree, that is a scary scary thought.

 

[BobJ]

There's been a big focus on safety equipment requirements but when it comes to jacklines, tethers, harnesses and related gear, I like to look at it differently. As singlehanders we need to have the right gear but I think we also need to have a PLAN to (1) stay on deck and if that fails, to (2) get back on deck if we find ourselves being dragged alongside.

For (1) I have dual, tight jacklines that run as close to the centerline as possible, from the forward end of the cockpit, over all lines running on the cabintop, and terminating at the (bow) mooring cleats. With a short tether, I cannot fall far enough to go over the lifelines except at the bow, but I can go forward (inside the shrouds) without unclipping.

For (2) I have a continuous perimeter jackline that runs outside of the stanchions from the bow to the quarters. Just aft of the terminations I have Plastimo emergency ladders on each side, hung low enough that I can pull them down from the water. With a dual-legged tether, should I find myself alongside the boat, I would clip the free leg of the tether into the perimeter jackline, unclip the other leg of the tether and slide aft to the ladder. It may not work but that's my plan. Sorry if I've posted this before.