Cockpit padeyes

[Joe Sankey]

Joe,

My stern mounted ladder is 36" long, has 4 steps and made of 1" stainless tubing. It is from West Marine, Model 115550, $149.99. I do plan to add wooden steps to it this summer. The 1" tubing hurts your feet.

ABI Marine sells a bronze Boarding Ladder Hardware set for making a teak ladder. See the link below, or http://z16.zland.com/ps/ABIndustries/Customer.nsf. Plans for making a ladder are shown in FINELY FITTED YACHT VOL I&II by Ferenc Mate. This project should cost ~ $100.00 total.

Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC

Thanks, Olli: I used the same ladder on our earlier 22'CD. The link was helpful, too, as I'd tried to find their site before.
Joe Sankey
Slow Dance
CD 30 #311



sankey@gulftel.com

[Catherine Monaghan]

Dick,

The emergency boarding ladder on Realization is a "Captain Al's" boarding ladder. It is made of webbing and PVC tubing. The tubing covers the webbing rungs of the ladder. The whole thing stows nicely in a bag. The bottom of the bag is secured by Velcro but you leave the "tail" of the ladder hanging out so that it can easily be grabbed. All you have to do is pull on the tail and the ladder is deployed.

Cathy
CD32 <a href="http://www.hometown.aol.com/bcomet/real ... ization</a>, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

Catherine Monaghan has a boarding ladder attached to her "Realization" which stows in a bag with a line trailing overboard. The line releases the ladder from the bag by a person in the water. I'm not sure, but I believe the ladder must be a web-type which stows in the bag. How 'bout some specifics, Catherine?

catherine_monaghanNOSPAM@merck.com

[Catherine Monaghan]

Warren,

Is your wife amenable to learning to sail?

I don't think she would be quite as worried if she knew what to do in the event that you, God forbid, went overboard. You may want to practice man overboard drills with her, using a mooring or a fender or something. Teach your wife how to maneuver up to a mooring and stop that boat even if that's the only thing she's willing to learn. (Having her sign up for a class would be better. Husbands and wives don't always make good student/teacher combinations. But she should do it on her own, don't force her.) Womanship has produced a video called "Sail Yourself Safely Home". It may be worth investing in.

Anyway, the cockpits of Cape Dorys are not overly large and it's an easy reach from side to side. Personally, I find running jacklines from the bow cleats to the stern cleats adequate onboard Realization. I haven't had any problem clipping in or moving about in the cockpit or on deck. You just have to remember you're attached to the boat and be mindful of where you're putting your feet (should be doing that anyway) so as not to trip over the tether or the jacklines. You should also remember to always leave one hand for you and one hand for the boat -- in other words, hold on.

I have actually been in a position where I was holding onto the boom with the tips of my fingers in the sail track and with only my toes on the toerail, shoes under water, being tossed around in a steep chop. And I can tell you I was very glad that I was wearing my inflatable PFD/harness and attached to the boat. If you're sailing alone, or in dicey weather or sea conditions, it's a must.

Just my 2 cents.


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

Just a little more of my thinking. I prefer to get my attachment point for my harness ( one of the sospenders inflatables and harness in one) as close to the centerline of the boat as I can. My tether is a standard size...not very long and thats good. But my wife and I had the jacklines set up one day from the bow to the cockpit, along the deck flush where the coachroof meets the deck. We had them pretty tight. But my wife was very upset because I lost my footing at the mast and started to fall back. I regained my balance but my wife said that there was no way I wouldn't have careened over the the life lines and over the side with that setup. I would have been hanging by my tether over the side of the boat. Now perhaps the jacklines were too loose, but I don't think so. My idea of safety with these devices is to be yanked back by the tether before I even come near the lifelines. The padeyes near the center of the cockpit (on the locker walls) should accomplish that. I also think that I have to route the jacklines from the bow, down the centerline of the boat, onto the cabin top and secure them up there somehow. Running along the deck along side the cabin just won't preven me from going over the side. What do you think!

Warren

catherine_monaghanNOSPAM@merck.com

[Dan VanWinkle]

I use jackline onboard from bow to cockpit but have worried about dangling overboard, outside the lifelines with no way to get back to the boarding ladder on the stern. I'm going to rig a second set of jacklines from bow to boarding ladder, outside of the lifelines on my 25D. If overboard I should be able to hook a second tether on to the second jackline, unhook from the onboard jackline and slide back to the boarding ladder. Boarding ladder will be held up by velcro and have it's own teher to pull to release and lower.




e been following this thread with great interest. I've always felt that jacklines on my 27, while necessary equipment, still wouldn't prevent you from trailing along in the water if the autopilot were set while singlehanding. And even if not on autopilot, you may round up into the wind, but how do you get back on the boat? (I recall earlier threads about singlehanders who rigged boarding ladders that could be deployed from the water.)

Anyhow, I like the idea of clipping into the windward jackline, and the idea of cabintop padeyes. On the 27, one or two cabintop padeyes would probably give you scope enough to do all deck chores. Cabintop Jacklines would also be nice, but may be overkill if a couple of padeyes would work. In the cockpit I like the idea of a centermounted padeye forward, down low, to keep you in the cockpit.

When singlehanding, I'd consider using double tethers. Goung from the cockpit to the deck, first hook one tether to the deck jackline, then unhook the cockpit one. When on deck, hook the loose one to the cabintop jackline or padeye and maybe to other to the windward deck jackline. Going back to the cocpit, reverse the procedure, therefore never being unhooked. The only drawback is possible getting tangled!

Nice topic.

Best,

Bill Goldsmith
CD27#173
Second Chance

.As said, the key when singlehanding is not going over. hen sailing alone, or in rough weather, or with the autopilot engaged, many sailing safety gurus advise wearing a harness and clipping in to something substantial to keep you aboard....just in case. They suggest this even if you remain in the cockpit. I've got jacklines that will run from the bow down both sides of the deck to the cockpit. I really don't want to bring anymore lines into the cockpit to clutter things up. I have read where some sailors have padeyes strategically located throughout the cockpit to clip in to. Obviously the number of padeyes necessary will depend on the size of the cockpit. I have a CD27 with a tiller. I was thinking of installing a padeye on each side of the cockpit on the vertical wall of both the port and starboard cockpit lockers. I'd put a big backing plate in to spread out the load. I might even put one thru the wall of the stern cockpit locker, the same way, thereby allowing me to place the port and starboard padeyes a little more forward in the cockpit. A couple of questions. First, do you think good, solid padeyes are a good idea over running jacklines into the cockpit? Second, do you think the walls of the cockpit's lockers are strong enough for this purpose if a large backing plate is also installed? Third, are there any drawbacks to doing this? I anxiously solicit your comments or alternatives!

Thanks guys,
Warren Kaplan
Sine Qua Non
Cd27 #166 1980

dwinvan@aol.com