New Halyards; material, etc.

[Markst95]

I also color code and think its helpful, expecially when your in a hurry.

My setup:

main halyard- red
mainsheet- flecked red
jib halyard- green
jib sheet - flecked green
boom vang- black

I would stick with the same color for both the port and starboard genoa sheets.

[Neil Gordon]

At present I am thinking of the following:

Main halyard - red
Genoa halyard - green
Spinnaker halyard - blue
Topping lift - white

If you're going to color code your lines, I'd be consistent in keeping the red ones to port and the green ones to starboard.

[bottomscraper]

I am not all that thrilled with Stayset X, it is stiff ugly stuff that is hard on your hands. I still have some on Mahalo I will buy something else in the future. I do like Samson XLS for halyards on our cruising boats. Yale Cordage also has ULS which is fine also. Our line are different colors but I'm not sure I would use the words "color coded" because there isn't much coding involved.

[Neil Gordon]

Our line are different colors but I'm not sure I would use the words "color coded" because there isn't much coding involved.

Sounds like my dock lines; I get a good percentage of them from the dumpster. More often than not, all it takes to return them to service is to make them a bit shorter, i.e., cut off the chafed part and whip the end. Less often the line needs a new eye, in which case I usually only rescue it if it's three-strand.

[Sea Hunt Video]

First, I want to thank everyone who posted comments, suggestions, etc. For a guy like me, who knows very, very little about this stuff, it is very reassuring to have the many, many years of experience on this board offering valuable advise.

Robert,
If you're going to color code your lines Port and Starboard, it's the perfect time of year to also ask Santa to consider a pair of "sailor socks" in your stocking, all in the interest of the safety of the vessel, of course.

Neil, my friend, I must confess I do not understand the term "sailor socks" for vessel safety. Could you explain Knowing your personality and "proclivities", if the explanation is risqué, send me a PM. Thanks.

[Dick Kobayashi]

I had good results with cajunropes - ck the web site

Seriously now. There are only three halyards which could possibly be confused by guests, crew or captain

-main
-jib/Genoa
-Spinnaker

Well, actually two - if you never plan to use a spinnaker or similar asymetric sail.

So all you need are TWO colors.

Topping lift - I use a solid color because I tie it off to a small cleat mounted on the stern rail with hose clamps. I use the solid color so I can see it (unlike white/grey) You need a little extra length for this but it enables you/crew/guests to adjust from the cockpit. This line is only 1/4"

I will continue to follow this thread as I may replace my now brittle main halyard and perhaps even my jib halyard this spring. They function but are abraded and brittle.

Which brings me to the question of - has anyone given new life to their halyards by soaking in a solution containing fabric softener or other agent?

[Sea Hunt Video]

Dick:

I used a fabric softener on jib sheets and main sheet on my Ty Weekender. It worked very well.

I am sure you know this but if you put the sheets in the Admiral's washing machine you must first put them in a mesh bag (preferably 2-3 mesh bags). Otherwise, they will wrap around the shaft. Not good. I know this because ................. oh, never mind.

My topping lift is attached to the aft end of the boom. It runs up to the mast and then down to a small cleat on the mast. It is admittedly a thinner line that the other three (3) halyard lines but it is still sometimes confusing to me.

Why do you run the topping lift back to a cleat on the stern rail I am assuming you do this AFTER the main is raised and then reattach before the main is dropped. To be honest, I just leave the topping lift in place 24/7- attached to the stern of the boom. I never really touched it before. I will now have to work with it because of the new Bimini installed. To deploy the Bimini I have to temporarily raise the mast up about 1 ft. AND disconnect the mainsheet block.

[Dick Kobayashi]

Robert,

I never used the washing machine - I use the bathtub. My father was a professor of textile chemistry and he advised that detergents, softeners, etc. mostly do their work in a few minutes. So cloth needs to 1) get wet, 2) be penetrated by the agent, and 3) be agitated to loosen the dirt, etc.

This can be done in a bath or other kind of tub or sink or bucket. Just make believe you are crushing the grapes with your feet. Sails and other canvas items can be washed in the same way.

Topping lift: The boom is not much of a load so 1/4 inch is fine. Tying off to the rail with the TL running from the boom end to the mast top and down to the rail gives you a little mechanical advantage, an opportunity to put this control line nearby but also out of the way. The TL is always attached to the boom end - sometimes with a little slack, sometimes pulled taught for headroom at anchor/mooring.

Mostly I don't take the tension off the TL until the sail is raised, in fact it is almost the last thing I do before casting off - as the head room is useful when preparing to get underway. I raise the boom whenever I furl the sail - so I have the head room advantage when I am motoring or even sailing under headsail alone.



Previously the TL was cleated on the mast which was irritating and for a while I had just a line from mast top to boom end cleated there, so I had to lift the boom with my shoulder to gain slack in the line - not a good system.

Personal preference is a factor here. I know nothing about biminis but I think I'd kinna like the to have the TL out of the way and cleated to the mast base or stern rail and not to the boom end.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Dick:

Thanks very much for the topping lift info. I will be ordering a new topping lift (1/4"). The owner's manual says 60' but I will lengthen that in order to run it from the aft end of the boom up the leech end of the main to the top of the mast, around a block and back down to a cleat I will install on the rail. Sounds like a good system. And, for a dummy like me it eliminates a line cleated near the base of the mast that I won't have to look at and wonder what the "HE double hockey sticks" is this line - main halyard, jib halyard, spinnaker halyard, extra halyard, ......................

As for washing lines in the tub, that is also a good idea. I guess I got lazy with the sheets (no pun intended ) on my Ty Weekender and just thought I would dump them in the Admiral's washer. I am still "taking incoming" from that fiasco.

Here are the measurements I got from the CD owner's manual for halyards:

Main 3/8" diam and 70 ft. length
Jib/Genoa 3/8" diam and 73' ft. length
Spinnaker 3/8" diam and 73 ft. length
Topping lift 1/4" diam and 60 ft. length

I am assuming these diameters and lengths are still good, however the numbers are 32 years old.

If there are recommended changes in either diameter or length for any of the above, please advise. I am pretty sure I am going to invest in the Samson XLS lines for the halyards and something less expensive for the topping lift.

What is the recommended snap shackle or other part to splice into the halyard to attach to the head of the sail

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions. For a guy like me, this is an invaluable website and discussion board.

[Dick Kobayashi]

Just one thought

Since your boat is in the water you can actually measure how much TL line you need by taking the existing line make toward the aft rail and "seeing" how much it is short and then adding it to the 60 ft specification plus a little extra. Remember the TL in my configuration approximates the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the mast and boom - but it is actually longer than the hypotenuse.

A super conservative measure would be the length of the aft stay times two. You'd need to trim a little but so what?

Since you are able to measure, I'd do so.

[Sea Hunt Video]

TL in my configuration approximates the hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the mast and boom - but it is actually longer than the hypotenuse.

Ah yes, the Pythagorean theorem and equation. C (squared) = A (squared) + B (squared)

What fun it was to be exposed to geometry in my GED classes. I did not pass - not yet , but I did learn about the "P" equation. Yea for me.

Dick K., that was my plan. Thank you very much. You have helped me to feel confident in what I am doing - all of which is pretty new to this "tadpole". I am grateful to ALL on this board.

[Neil Gordon]

Previously the TL was cleated on the mast which was irritating and for a while I had just a line from mast top to boom end cleated there, so I had to lift the boom with my shoulder to gain slack in the line - not a good system.

Perhaps the ideal system is to run one end to a cleat on the boom and the other to a cleat at the base of the mast. That would allow for adjustment from either end. Also, with 1/4" line it's easy enough to add a couple of small blocks at the boom end, to give you more purchase.

[Steve Laume]

If you are really worried about you or a guest not knowing which line goes where I would not leave it to a guest as there is far more to know than "pull on the red one". If you have trouble remembering where things go, it would seem far easier to put labels near the cleats than to have a bunch of different colors. Raven does have a red main sheet and labels on the main and staysail sheet cam cleats. I rarely ever have anyone on board but I do feel safe telling someone to pull on the red one a bit, in that case. No way I would send someone to the mast who didn't have a pretty good understanding of what was going on.

Sailor socks usually come in a pair of pairs, unless you buy real fancy ones, Steve.

[Neil Gordon]

Sailor socks usually come in a pair of pairs, unless you buy real fancy ones, Steve.

I suspect that a pair of pairs can be had for a lot less $$ than "official" sailor socks. And for sure they can be had for a lot less than the sailor stud earrings!

[Sea Hunt Video]

I am looking at this Ronstan locking shackle to have spliced onto new main and Genoa halyards.

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?pat ... 4&id=89660

I think this is OK but want to check. I have made enough dumb mistakes over the past several months. I would like not to add to the total.

Thanks.