lifeline stops?

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Banooma

Banooma

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Nov 30, 2007
271
Hunter 36 Forked River, NJ
I saw something on a sailboat some time ago that impressed me with its practicality....if I imagined its purpose correctly. A boat appeared to have been rigged with ball-shaped stoppers on its lifelines that would keep the line taught while an end was disconnected. Do these exist? What are they called, and where might I find them?
 
31seahorse

31seahorse

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Aug 2, 2005
1,155
Pearson 33-2 & Typhoon 18 Seneca Lake
Hello Banooma,
The name of those rings I do not know. They have set screws in them that clamp to the lifeline. However, the ones I've seen need to be installed as you build the lifeline so they can slide on from the end before the hooks and threaded ends are applied.

Cable clamps could be used if you are attempting a retrofit of this type of line holder. Wrapping the small clamp with rigging tape would make it look a bit more nautical and limit the chance of catching on the exposed threads.
Best Wishes.
 
Mulf

Mulf

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Dec 2, 2003
400
Hunter 410 Chester, MD (Kent Island)
Light Line

I have used 1/4" light line wrapped tightly around the lifeline at the stanchion hole. Use three or four wraps and tie it tightly. Works fine, and does not puncture the white vinyl covering on the lifeline (which would create a source of corrsion of the lifeline under the cover).
 
catsailor

catsailor

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Jan 10, 2009
590
PDQ 32 Deale, MD
Mulf said:
I have used 1/4" light line wrapped tightly around the lifeline at the stanchion hole. Use three or four wraps and tie it tightly. Works fine, and does not puncture the white vinyl covering on the lifeline (which would create a source of corrsion of the lifeline under the cover).
Click to expand
+1, except I found that marline line worked better (smaller diameter).

A good safety upgrade. A loose lifeline is a hazard; someone grabs it for a little balance, even a seasoned sailor, and then falls hard.
 
Ron20324

Ron20324

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Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
Banooma said:
...ball-shaped stoppers on its lifelines that would keep the line taught...
Click to expand
Not sure about the ball shape, but if you look at that basic reference manual, The West Marine catalog, on page 956 you will find "gate stoppers".:doh:
 
Erieau

Erieau

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Apr 3, 2009
209
Oday 25 Erieau
I removed the lifeline stops that the PO had installed; he had used depth-stop drill bit collars for the job. I've also seen them called shaft collars. They're a common item; check out your local hardware store. With the lifeline end-fittings removed, these collars easily slide over the lifeline's swaged threaded end.
Good reason to not have these: with the collars in place, a guest of the PO must have sat on the taut portion of lifeline while the pelican hook was disconnected from the sternrail, so the rear-most stanchion got bent all to $h1+ from the tension, creating a leak at the base and necessitating a repair to the stanchion.
When I'm at the dock, I disconnect the pelican and fully slacken the lifeline, pushing it all the way to the deck behind the toerail so it's not a trip hazard.
 
gpd955

gpd955

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Feb 22, 2006
1,164
Catalina 310 Cape May, NJ
A friend's solution. Stainless clamps and u-bolts. 4 of them cost him under $5. They are mounted at the gate and when the gate lines are down all the rest are tight. Easy to adjust as well.

He's had them on there for years now with no problems.
 

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anchorclanker

anchorclanker

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May 27, 2012
1,152
Oday 222 Beaver Lake, Arkansas
Ive got a scar on my thigh from shoving a 1/4 inch threaded rod into it. I was 10, and put mirrors on the handlebars of my bike, leaving about 2 inches of rod hanging out the bottoms of the clamps. I spun out on gravel and THUNK. Mirrors came off as soon as I got home with my stitches.

Those cable clamps look pretty scary to me. Hate to see someone's face go sliding past em.
 
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