All Alone

[Joe]

I use colored lines also..... for the vang, preventor and downhaul.
i didnt mean to give the impression no one should use colored lines, but i meant to say there are other places to spend the money to make it better for single handing.... such as properly placed cam cleats, anchor roller, tiller pilot and other helpful electronics..... once its set up for single handing, then splurge for the colored lines
and I will respectfully say that I know for a fact, if you have a novice onboard who is eager and wants to learn about sailing and learn the lingo, its better to have the lines with their proper names than it is to have the lines colored. start them off by knowing what the downhaul does, rather than what the green line does..... they will learn quicker and can use what they learn on the next boat they crew on... i do realize its harder to say "ease the jib sheet on the left" than it is to say "ease the green line over there" but if they have no interest the names of the lines they are dealing with, they probably have less interest in dealing with the lines at all......

my unsolicited opinion is that there are enough boat owners that dont know what to call all the lines on their own boat without teaching others that its the "red line over there that does that.... and the blue one does this"

but I still maintain that it's a matter of personal preference.......its all good

I do not use colored lines in my boat to make it easier for newbies......... I use them because it makes it easier for ME and my experienced crew. Whether you use solid colors or flecked.... it makes so much sense to have easily identified lines I'm somewhat perplexed that anyone would recommend otherwise to a new sailor, just to save a few pennies.

BTW there are many chandleries that don't charge extra for solid colors http://www.apsltd.com/c-1503-polyesterdoublebraids.aspx
And there are many manufacturers that don't either........ you're just used to New England Sta Set, I'm thinking.

Besides, if one single hands all the time......one isn't doing a lot of instruction.... but even if they were, easily identifiable lines are a teaching aid... if students aren't bright enough to understand that it's just a way of quickly identifying and organizing the rigging then perhaps they should take up GOLF. heh heh.

Oh yeah, white lines will start looking dirty much faster than solid colors.

 

[Doc_holiday]

I'm probably not the guy to say, so lets make it a question. Would you really want your halyards on a cam cleat versus a clutch? Sure sheets are fine. Just asking in caution.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Stu, do you agree good quality cam cleats w/ fairleads that have a working load of 300lbs or 500lbs would work for lines ran back to the cockpit?

Ward, I think Doc's heading in the right direction. I prefer sheetstoppers (clutches, whatever one calls them). They could be considered "overkill" for lightly loaded lines. Here's what we have:

Sheetstoppers:

-- mainsheet (the reason is that the clam cleat that came with the boat, and all Catalinas for that matter, required two hands to tighten the mainsheet: one to hold the line down for a good fairlead, the other to crank the winch; I saw a sheetstopper on a bareboat Beneteau we had in the BVIs and installed one immediately when we came home; when sailing the sheetstopper is open and the winch holds the mainsheet; when done for the day, it's nice to have the mainsheet tight to keep the boom from moving without using any other methods to keep it in place)
-- four reefing lines (we have double line reefing; the tack lines really don't need them, but the clew lines do)
-- main halyard (I would be more comfortable with a sheetstopper than a cam cleat for this application on a larger boat; cam cleats are hard to release sometimes under load)


Cam cleats:

-- lazy jacks
-- cunningham
-- rigid vang

I have removed the jib halyard from running back and leave it on on horn cleat on the mast. We have roller furling and use a tack low stretch line to tighten the jib luff. I see no reason to ever run a jib halyard aft if you have roller furling.

 

[mark_swart]

I sail singlehanded quite a bit, to include racing sometimes. While I would prefer to have company, sailing by myself is definitely better than not sailing at all! Plus it really helps you bond with your boat and get your techniques down.
Echoing some comments above - autopilot is the best upgrade you can do. Then after that running your halyards to the cockpit. If you don't have roller furling, an old-school headsail bag makes it much easier to raise and quicker to stow the genoa.

 

[Joe]

Joe, you mention cam cleats for lines brought back to the cockpit. Would Harkin 150 cam cleats be adequate for halylards, vang, etc or maybe the larger version?. I like the idea of the cam cleats better than buying rope clutches.

Yes those would work quite well, you might check out Ronstan and Shaeffer products... they're not as pricey and just as good http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreNum=50045&subdeptNum=50083&classNum=50085 Size will depend on your halyard rope diameter..... but I would not go larger than the mid size cleat, as pictured in the link.... I would stagger them if your have two or more adjacent... that will save you a lot of space. A fairlead is not necessary for a deck mounted application... but if you want to use them fine.....I never did because I would often uncleat the halyard, hold it in my hand or stand on it, go to the mast and pull the sail with a controlled drop... less easy to do if the halyard is captured at the cleat.. but not that much more difficult....in any event fairleads can be added or removed on all the cam style cleats. If you look at dinghy and small boat racers, they will often have a myriad of control line cleats on a bar across the hatchway.... in this case, it makes sense to use fairleads to keep the color coded lines organized.

Never use a capture device, such as a fairlead, on your jib or spinnaker sheets....

You mention safety harness and tether. How about the Mustang auto inflating PFDs with sailing harness built in? I plan on buying one for each of us.
Any advantage to just the harness?

I honestly think the harness and tether are way more important.... it was one of the first things I purchased when I began single handing out in the ocean. A few years ago they had a sale at West Marine on inflatable PFD's and I bought two.... so.... I wear it....but the harness makes me feel much more secure... it keeps me from doing something stupid. Staying attached to the boat is way safer than floating around in the cold water watching your boat sail away from you. If you're sailing with crew you can just wear the PFDs... so I'd buy two separate pieces.... perhaps, you wear the harness and let your wife go with a pfd only.... a bit more comfortable that way.

I like the West Marine equipment ..... don't know anything about Mustang.

Last night I read Seldon's document on rig tunning. Link was posted by Rick H. Seldon color codes their lines on there products.
On my first boat I used solid color lines. Maine Halyard was on starboard so it was green. Jib halyard was on port so it was red. Jib downhaul was blue. Reef lilnes were black.
The admiral really liked the color coding instead of having to learn the lingo. The halyards helped her learn port and starboard and the other terms are coming to her slowly but in the meantime we can easily communicate.
I plan to use the same color code on our O'day.

Okay, Ward.... I'm going to agree with Centerline here and strongly recommend your wife learn the important terminology asap... the color coding is NOT a substitute for good seamanship..... and it would be unacceptable to get in the habit of calling the jib halyard a red line instead of the proper term. What happens if you go sailing on another boat and the colors aren't organized the same as yours? I recommend you NOT put your colors the same way on this boat..... how else will she learn? Where the colors are doesn't make any difference.... you can look a the telltales to tell port from starboard.... they are there to make a particular line quickly identifiable when bunched with others. If you have one jib halyard and one mainsail halyard on opposite sides of the boat.... they don't really need to be coded anyhow, unless your crew doesn't know left from right....in which case, I would definitely stay clipped on to the boat.... always... for your own safety.

I would like to get the tiller pilot this spring but the Admiral doesn't not want to spend the money. Hoping she sees the advantage once we get on the water again.

Really good thread and timely as I begin my spring buying.

yeah, uh listen.... if your wife's having trouble learning sailing terms I'm thinking it's your responsbility to decide what's important and what isn't...... so.... this may seem harsh... but you should insist on the small tiller pilot... it will be the best $400 you spend on your boat and will allow you some cuddle time with the little lady.

 

[Joe]

I'm probably not the guy to say, so lets make it a question. Would you really want your halyards on a cam cleat versus a clutch? Sure sheets are fine. Just asking in caution.

I can't think of any safety concern... if one is really worried about the halyard disengaging.... tie it on a horn cleat. Clutches are convenient is some cases but inconvenient in others. Their big avantage is they are narrower than a cam cleat, they allow your to tighten while the device is closed (the clutch effect) and can be disengaged under load. The disadvantage is they cannot be thrown off in an emergency like a cam cleat, they are very abrasive to the line(unless completely open) and, of course, cost a great deal more.

The absolute biggest advantage of a rope clutch is the convenience it offers to a single winch servicing multiple lines...... but safety advantage... not really.

 

[Ward H]

Thanks Stu and Joe. All good suggestions. I got time to give it all some more thought before I start running the lines.
And I'll put the auto tiller on the list of safety items.

Thanks