To tether or not, that is the question

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by Sailmon

Another critical factor is challenge of setting up jack line(s) and teather in a way that makes going overboard impossible while clipped in . Going overboard while singlehanding and dragging through water while boat sails or motors on auto pilot has high likelihood of ending in drowning.

Under normal circumstances the tether in hand gives me a handhold where none exists, that I do not have to let go of while moving (like a handrail, shrouds, etc).

This gives a 3 point balance vs just two point, which is vastly superior.

A tether, used like this, has helped me from falling countless (well more than a hundred) times, several of which I would likely have gone overboard and been lost.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, that I am here to write this due to connecting in, whenever remaining crew would have difficulty coming back and picking me up. I simply don’t want to put my wife in that scary a situation.

PFDs are good in any type of boat. Harness is even more important than PFD in a keelboat. PFD with Harness is the ideal in a keel boat.

[ramblinrod]

Originally Posted by ramblinrod

Under normal circumstances the tether in hand gives me a handhold where none exists, that I do not have to let go of while moving (like a handrail, shrouds, etc).

This gives a 3 point balance vs just two point, which is vastly superior.

A tether, used like this, has helped me from falling countless (well more than a hundred) times, several of which I would likely have gone overboard and been lost.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, that I am here to write this due to connecting in, whenever remaining crew would have difficulty coming back and picking me up. I simply don’t want to put my wife in that scary a situation.

PFDs are good in any type of boat. Harness is even more important than PFD in a keelboat. PFD with Harness is the ideal in a keel boat.

On our mono, we rig 1” wide flat jack lines on pot and starboard from the back
Of the cockpit along each side of the cabin, inside outboard shrouds tohardpoints at the bow.

Our tethers (Spinlock 3’ / 6’ combo, allow use of the 3 foot tether for going fore aft on the jackline on the high side. This allows clipping on at the mast or other centre points (not bow) with the 6 foot before unclipping the 3 foot. This way we are never disconnected and always have a tether (handhold) in hand when moving to help keep balance.

I watched my wife crawl on hands and knees to go forward to secure a dowsed foresail, unconnected from the boat to gather it up, ONCE. Since, jackline and tether in any condition I say so.

So much easier to clip in, and learn the benefits, when you have one rigged and ready to go.

I’ve watched so many fools racing around the cans come inches from going over, it is ridiculous. Admittedly I have never seen one actually over except during drills on my and other boats.

[thinwater]

I've never had a slip that would have been dangerous, though it could happen. These are the things I actually use them for:

• Landing big fish. Sometimes I'm on the sugar scoop, lifeline down. The tether, however, will not let me fall in.
• Fooling with the dinghy on davits. It is used as a brace.
• Reefing at the mast. I lean against the tether as a third leg (work station tether). The roof of a catamaran can be a little scary when it's rough (you are much higher than the lifelines).
• Testing drogues and see anchors. I did a lot of testing in gale conditions, and when working with drogues it is really handy to have two hands free. Again, the tether was rigged as a brace.

The notion that a tether slows work is incorrect in my experience. This can only be true if the system is not rigged for efficiency, or is not used often enough to build familiarity. For most things, in bad weather, it makes the work go faster, because you can move with confidence and because you can use the tether (and work station tethers) as braces, allowing easier two-handed work.


Singlehanding I will always rig the jacklines (they are fixed), I will generally wear the harness (it will always be out), and I may or may not actually clip-in. The need is VERY boat, weather, and activity dependent. I may not use it on a blustery day, but I may clip in on a flat calm if I need to do something awkward (lean way out for some reason).


No fear mongering. I don't believe in fixed policies. But I do believe very strongly that you can and should build a system that is easy and convenient to use. You would not accept a make-shift seat belt in your car. The same applies here; engineer something that works.


(On my F-24 the jacklines run along the cabin sides and end 5 feet behind the bow and 6 feet before the transom. It's fast to run forward and hard to fall off. They also safeguard folks hiking on the windward hull.)

[jimisbell]

Waste the day!!!!! ANY risk is too much. If you were not alone I would be less emphatic, but even then, what is one day if it isnt the LAST ONE OF YOUR LIFE?

[PAlter]

Sailing alone - you should have the harness and jacklines - no question about it

[Caliber40]

What a thread ! You have heard everything from you will die if you do and you will die if you do not. You are a lousy sailor if you do not. Some say you should hang on your boat with a trapeze and a wire connectEd to your auto pilot.
Others say just wear a PFD it’s only the Chesapeake!
We even got to hear some trash talking about who can beat who in a race!

Good luck and smooth sailing!

[jimisbell]

Originally Posted by alansmith

There is nothing on this planet that would keep me from going on this trip. If I had to tie spaghetti noodles together to make a jack line......smile.

As a pilot I learned to avoid this attitude. This is the attitude that makes you ignore marginal weather and die.


There is NO TRIP worth dying for unless you are on a mission of passion (religions or patriotic). All other trips can be aborted.

[exMaggieDrum]

It would be prudent to rig a jackline and stay tethered of course.
But, not overly endowed with intelligence, we put 15,000nm on our boat where we only wore life jackets (inflatables) some of the time when sailing and rarely tethered. If one of us had gone overboard it would have most likely been fatal if it was done on night watch with the other down below, but in fact, most likely during the day in rougher weather.
Our cockpit was enclosed with solid over-height rails which went from bow to stern and a high center-cockpit with high coamings. I decided that sailing everywhere with more freedom enhanced the adventures. Others may disagree and I understand. But sailing is a risky adventure not worth taken at all by many (most of our relatives). You have to set your own parameters and not be 100% ignorant and manage your risks.

In rough weather we put on jackets and tethered to our jacklines if going forward. We had in the mast reefing for the main and roller furling on the jib so we rarely needed to go out to work the sails or rigging.

I'm probably ignorant enough to do it again but it would depend on how "safe" I felt in the cockpit. For some that might mean never going out in the cockpit in rough weather which is a sarcastic something to say but you get the meaning.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Caliber40

What a thread ! You have heard everything from you will die if you do and you will die if you do not. You are a lousy sailor if you do not. Some say you should hang on your boat with a trapeze and a wire connectEd to your auto pilot.
Others say just wear a PFD it’s only the Chesapeake!
We even got to hear some trash talking about who can beat who in a race!

Good luck and smooth sailing!

This totally sums it up!

And btw, the guy I was trash talking to has written a few articles for Cruising World and has a pretty interesting website

Sounds like each sailor is going to do what he wants or believes in regardless. OP get to choose or....... go with his gut instinct

The Chesapeake was rockin' yesterday btw when I came over the bridge.......CBBT.

There were probably 8' plus breaking waves at Nine Foot Shoal. It can get as low as 5' there a couple miles offshore and the wind and current can provide some beautiful (and dangerous) scenes especially when a heavy wind is opposing tide when near low

Chart 12221

[Ozifrog]

Should I dare share my experience?
I have circumnavigated this planet twice. I have never once worn a harness or a PDF. Ask sir Robin Knox Johnston. He is allergic to them also.
I have seen people get tangled and trip up as a result of wearing a harness.
But... I am like a monkey on a bouncing deck. So it depends on your profile I guess.
The principle of precaution is becoming too prevalent in my opinion.
Or maybe I'm just lucky.
Just the same it's your call.
Happy sailing.

[philiosophy]

I tell everyone who ever crews on my boat and there is always just the the one crew and myself...“ If you go over the side in the ocean chances of rescue are very slim because...1st of all nobody will know you went over the side and if they do know it they will have a nearly impossible job spotting you. And if we do find you the danger of getting you aboard in rough conditions without injury are slim at best”.
My boat is almost always sailing in ocean crossing situations or in remote locations. I believe common sense should be used each time you make a decision regarding your safty aboard.Thinking because you have practiced MOB drills and using a saftey harness will keep you safe is a fools errand. We use Jack lines and safty harnesses oboard Philiosopy most of the time. I dont always hook to the Jack line tho. There are many things that can be done in an emergency situation to make the situation less dangerous. I almost always start the engine before reefing. Changing course can frequently make it safer to be on deck. There are times when a tether can get tangled up in what you are doing so its placement can be very important. So when a problem or situation arrises, take a moment to asses the situation and deal with it according to the situation at hand. Having a crew on watch awake when a problem arises, makes responding to problems faster safer and smaller.

[wingssail]

Our rule is, at sea, at night, we wear the harness and clip in as soon as we climb up the ladder to the cockpit, and you wake another person if you go outside of the cockpit. But, in 38 years, neither of us have fallen off.

Originally Posted by Peregrine1983

Hey Gene,
If you fall off at night and the boat sails away without you, chances are good that's all she wrote.

However, John Svoboda fell off Joliga II while sailing across the Pacific from Mexico. He was alone and naked. He watched his boat sail away. "That's it", he thought.

But a cruise ship came by and he yelled and yelled, (swearing, actually) and they heard him and stopped and picked him up. After he was on board and clothed he said, "Thank you, can you now find my boat and drop me off?"

Which they did.

[Mike Banks]

Make a harness by tying a bowline on a bight, with two unequal long loops in the rope formed thereby, one goes under your arms, the other goes under your behind. Have the knot in front of you, so it can be grasped in the hands in the event of a fall. Tie the other end to a cleat, or if you need to move, rig a line and shackle the end to it so it will slide along the line. Falling overboard from a moving vessel when alone aboard is usually death.

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by Sailmon

Another critical factor is challenge of setting up jack line(s) and teather in a way that makes going overboard impossible while clipped in. Going overboard while singlehanding and dragging through water while boat sails or motors on auto pilot has high likelihood of ending in drowning.

I have a bright red jack line for port tack, bright green for starboard tack. The jack line is blocked by the mast, preventing a fall over the lifelines on the "downhill" side of the mast. In the good ole days, we would tie our rock climbing seat harness from webbing. There's no reason the jack lines or the harness "must" be commercially made for that purpose... grab some line or webbing and start tying knots

[waeshael]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Won't you swing out under the mast head, which is likely 10-15 feet from the boat when heeled? On the other hand, if a sail is up, you will fall between the rail and the bow wave, like any tether system and be stuck there. Have you tested this underway?

Well, I have never fallen off the boat, only jumped in at anchor to test that I could be pulled back aboard by the crew by pulling on the block and tackle. It is just a precaution. If I fell off it would be right at the life line which I am sure I would grab if I could. The spinnaker halyard would keep me above the water level, and as long as I could grab the line which hangs low to the water and is the entire length of the boat, I could release the autopilot and the boat would round up, so I could climb on board with the boat almost stationary. But it's just a guess based on engineering insight.

cheers