BobJ
Alerion 38 "Surprise!"
Since today is Jim Kellam's birthday, I'll post a note I received from him a few days ago. Not long ago, Jim was told he had carpal tunnel syndrome. He was advised that he should no longer sail Haulback hither and yon, and should find something else to do - can you imagine? So this note was wonderful news:
"I’m still in New Zealand .... what with lockdowns and one thing and another I decided to ride out the COVID19 virus down here - it seemed to be as safe a place as any, and has proven to be just that. We are 16 days now without a new case and only 1 active case left in the entire country. Looks like next week we go back life as normal nationwide, apart from keeping the borders closed.
My whole medical drama has been sorted out, which was complicated and somewhat drawn-out due to the whole lockdown thing and associated clinic closures earlier on - Anyway - the carpal tunnel diagnosis was incorrect , upon further investigation it turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis ...... which sounds a lot worse than it is....as, although it can’t be cured, it can be treated. (Prescription drugs are free here in NZ, even for non residents....who knew??) so, heading into week 4 of treatment I am back to bushwalking, bike riding, and boat improvement.
As with all things in my sailing life I have been really lucky - the whole boat sale fell through at the last minute due only to the kiwis closing the border...there was an American guy - with an airline ticket in hand and a bag full of cash - ready to fly down an purchase her. So, looks like fate has decreed that Haulback and I may have a few more oceans still to cross together. Whew! that was a close one....
So, with lots of time on my hands here in New Zealand waiting for other countries to open and seasons to change, over the last few days I put together something I have been thinking about now and then for the last several years. ....a different and non-tangling version of a safety harness/tether.
Although I haven’t seen of heard about this before, it is so simple and obvious that other people elsewhere must have come up with the same idea too. A guy of the dock here took a short video of it in action that I will include.
So .... the general idea is instead of jacklines along the deck that you clip in to with a short tether, that fouls and tangles on everything as you try to move about, why not rig a line (one on each side of the boat) that attaches to the mast under the lower spreader that allows you clip in before leaving the cockpit and move forward inside and above all the sheets, furling lines, boom control lines, preventers etc? Better yet, make it retract as you move about.
So, I drilled a hole for an eyebolt in spreaders close to the mast, then spliced a line that reaches from there back to the cockpit which will also allow you to go as far forward as the bow. . ......I used dyneema line which being hollow, allowed me to insert a bungee cord into it so it retracts as you move around so won’t wrap around your arms and feet (or, hopefully, your neck) .
I know....it’s a brilliant idea!!!
And actually, alongside the dock at least, seems like a practical solution. Not sure I will actually ever use it now that I have made it, but at least I know it is there is if I want to....and it was a fun project to put together ideas that have been percolating in the back of my mind for years.
Total cost for both safety lines, with eyebolts, shackles,snap-shackles, 8mm dyneema and bungee cord was about $200kiwi
By this time of year most cruisers have headed north to the islands, but all the island nations in the S Pacific have closed their borders, so everyone is more or less resigned to spending this ‘cruising season’ here. And then the following cyclone season as well, of course so hat pushes most departure dates out into Mar/Apr/May 2021. Kind of a long time for planning, isn’t it?
There may be a possibility to cross back to Australia, if and when the Aussies and Kiwis form a trans-tasman bubble at some point on the coming months. But who knows how that will work out. In any case the soonest I can see for Haulback and I hitting the big water again would likely not be until Feb/Mar of 2021……so will have to wait and see what the world situation looks like then.. In the meantime am enjoying my time here in NZ.
Bye for now….Jim
_____________________
Here are Jim's bungee-jumping videos, eh:
https://vimeo.com/430417474
https://vimeo.com/430417663
.
"I’m still in New Zealand .... what with lockdowns and one thing and another I decided to ride out the COVID19 virus down here - it seemed to be as safe a place as any, and has proven to be just that. We are 16 days now without a new case and only 1 active case left in the entire country. Looks like next week we go back life as normal nationwide, apart from keeping the borders closed.
My whole medical drama has been sorted out, which was complicated and somewhat drawn-out due to the whole lockdown thing and associated clinic closures earlier on - Anyway - the carpal tunnel diagnosis was incorrect , upon further investigation it turned out to be rheumatoid arthritis ...... which sounds a lot worse than it is....as, although it can’t be cured, it can be treated. (Prescription drugs are free here in NZ, even for non residents....who knew??) so, heading into week 4 of treatment I am back to bushwalking, bike riding, and boat improvement.
As with all things in my sailing life I have been really lucky - the whole boat sale fell through at the last minute due only to the kiwis closing the border...there was an American guy - with an airline ticket in hand and a bag full of cash - ready to fly down an purchase her. So, looks like fate has decreed that Haulback and I may have a few more oceans still to cross together. Whew! that was a close one....
So, with lots of time on my hands here in New Zealand waiting for other countries to open and seasons to change, over the last few days I put together something I have been thinking about now and then for the last several years. ....a different and non-tangling version of a safety harness/tether.
Although I haven’t seen of heard about this before, it is so simple and obvious that other people elsewhere must have come up with the same idea too. A guy of the dock here took a short video of it in action that I will include.
So .... the general idea is instead of jacklines along the deck that you clip in to with a short tether, that fouls and tangles on everything as you try to move about, why not rig a line (one on each side of the boat) that attaches to the mast under the lower spreader that allows you clip in before leaving the cockpit and move forward inside and above all the sheets, furling lines, boom control lines, preventers etc? Better yet, make it retract as you move about.
So, I drilled a hole for an eyebolt in spreaders close to the mast, then spliced a line that reaches from there back to the cockpit which will also allow you to go as far forward as the bow. . ......I used dyneema line which being hollow, allowed me to insert a bungee cord into it so it retracts as you move around so won’t wrap around your arms and feet (or, hopefully, your neck) .
I know....it’s a brilliant idea!!!
And actually, alongside the dock at least, seems like a practical solution. Not sure I will actually ever use it now that I have made it, but at least I know it is there is if I want to....and it was a fun project to put together ideas that have been percolating in the back of my mind for years.
Total cost for both safety lines, with eyebolts, shackles,snap-shackles, 8mm dyneema and bungee cord was about $200kiwi
By this time of year most cruisers have headed north to the islands, but all the island nations in the S Pacific have closed their borders, so everyone is more or less resigned to spending this ‘cruising season’ here. And then the following cyclone season as well, of course so hat pushes most departure dates out into Mar/Apr/May 2021. Kind of a long time for planning, isn’t it?
There may be a possibility to cross back to Australia, if and when the Aussies and Kiwis form a trans-tasman bubble at some point on the coming months. But who knows how that will work out. In any case the soonest I can see for Haulback and I hitting the big water again would likely not be until Feb/Mar of 2021……so will have to wait and see what the world situation looks like then.. In the meantime am enjoying my time here in NZ.
Bye for now….Jim
_____________________
Here are Jim's bungee-jumping videos, eh:
https://vimeo.com/430417474
https://vimeo.com/430417663
.
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