What is this mystery line?
- Thread starter nightowle
- Start date
Personally, I do not favor the use of harnesses and tethers unless one must go out a bowsprit in heavy weather, or work forward when the deck is awash. And only then if I have someone on the end of the tether, tailing the line.
The idea of trusting my life to a line and some fittings has never set well with me. The old adage, "one hand for me and one for the boat, and if more hands are needed, call another crew member to help." has always worked well for me. I'm certainly not too proud to slither up the deck on my belly to go forward, if the need arises.
Of all the ends a sailor could possibly experience at sea aboard a sailboat, being bashed against the hull and broken up into bits and pieces inside, is the least desirable to me.
The idea of trusting my life to a line and some fittings has never set well with me. The old adage, "one hand for me and one for the boat, and if more hands are needed, call another crew member to help." has always worked well for me. I'm certainly not too proud to slither up the deck on my belly to go forward, if the need arises.
Of all the ends a sailor could possibly experience at sea aboard a sailboat, being bashed against the hull and broken up into bits and pieces inside, is the least desirable to me.
Somehow, ""a dislike for deep water" does not seem out of place for a dog bred for farm and ranch work. lol
Bing bing bing! We have a winner. I still have one of those in my garage (part of what my wife calls my “hardware store”
). I bought it in the 1980’s as a tether line (maybe even late 70’s) from Defender (when it was in New Rochelle NY). The harness I bought at the same time was equally crude, with unpolished stamped buckles.
Ours is not liking water either. We took her to a city park pool party for dogs this past summer - she ran around the perimeter playing with the other dogs but it was a 'no-go' getting her into the pool. It's hilarious seeing about 100 dogs running, splashing, and playing in 2 adjacent pools.
As a rock climber (as many hours in the air as sailing, and that is a LOT of both) I have a completely different view of jacklines.
- Climbers rely on rigging for life every day. I understand it, I trust it, and if it is not 100% trustworthy, I fix it so that it is. There should be zero questions about the rigging. None. You should be relaxed about being caught, knowing that it is sure. I certainly do NOT want a sailor tending the line; he might be struck by the same wave ... obviously.
- There seems to be a common practice that you use the 6' tether and stand tall. No. You use the 3' tether, or even shorter, and crouch or crawl when prudent. The 6' tether should be use only when the greater length is safe. Climbers always use the shortest practical tether, often a foot or so.
- Some say center line. Some say near the rail. I say it is boat-specific and that the cleats are almost never the correct anchor points. I always provide dedicated jackline anchors where I want them. Also, work station tethers or anchor points are smart. Something at the mast. Something at the bow. Keep one tether on the jackline and clip short with the other.
- You also hold on and maintain situational awareness. Very few sailors have fallen when moving. It is usually when they stop to work (and lose awareness and are not holding on).
- If there are places that are very bad to fall (lee bow wave), position your anchors to you won't fall there. Obvious, but sailors are not climbers.
I worked on a tall ship that had the worst harnesses I have ever seen. In fact, they were not harnesses, they were just the tether similar the one pictured in the original post, a 3-strand rope with an eye splice with the end passed through the eye splice to form a loop and a clip at the end. We were expected to wear these with the loop around our bodies any time we went into the rig. None of us ever clipped them in. Beyond the obvious hazard of having a slip knot cinch up around your waist, using any harness was not viewed as improving safety aloft. The most likely time to fall would be when climbing or descending the ratlins and you obviously can't continuously clip and unclip while doing this. While working on the yard a proper harness might help in some cases but dangling from a rope didn't appeal to anyone. The backline was a very good second line of defense while on the yard.
When the captain explained the use of the "harness" he said the insurance company required anyone going aloft to wear a harness. He knew no one used them anyway.
When the captain explained the use of the "harness" he said the insurance company required anyone going aloft to wear a harness. He knew no one used them anyway.
Chest harnesses of any type (used alone) have not been approved for recreational or industrial work at height for about 50 years. The change to seat harnesses was on the 70s. At the same time, shock absorption was introduced into tethers (I believe that was the invention of Simon Yates).