Laying on ones boom

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Roy M

Not to be overly pedantic, but lying on your boom is one thing that you can do alone, laying on the boom implies your accompaniment by another agreeable companion. thereby doubling the weight. And, from some experience, the sails can have a very beneficial consequence for the experience. Especially if you have "bed rails".

That would be like having a root in an old folks' home but outdoors.....

Feliz Navidad

[Roy M]

Something for us to look forward to in our dotage, heh-heh.

[tinkrman69]

The only real danger of lying on the boom is falling off ;-)

[TrentePieds]

The physics of the matter is simple. A topping lift supports the boom better than a solid vang, but either should be able to hold the weight of a man lying on the boom anywhere along its length. If the boom buckles you need a better boom, so consider a snooze on the furled sail one of your "safety tests".

IMO no boat should be without a running topping lift, for having one makes the boom not just a boom for the sail, but ALSO a cargo boom. As someone said you can hoist your engine out with it if needs be. My Vetus M3-10 wight 350lbs plus the tranny, and for that very reason TrentePieds will by and by become bereft of her mast furling main and standing topping lift, in favour of a running topping lift.

The other reason I like the cargo boom facility is that heavy stuff can be brought aboard from the dinghy with the greatest of ease, and - heaven forfend that it should ever be needed - a cargo boom is just about the only way IMO certainly the best) to get a man back inboard after he goes over. MyBeloved would NEVER get me back up over the rail if I went in UNLESS she had the boom, and the falls of the topping lift taken to a winch, to assist her.

So, OP, go have a snooze on your boom and think carefully about all the exigencies that may occur in the future and in what manner the boom, if properly rigged, will keep you cope with them :-)

TrentePieds

[colemj]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

The physics of the matter is simple. A topping lift supports the boom better than a solid vang,

IMO no boat should be without a running topping lift, for having one makes the boom not just a boom for the sail, but ALSO a cargo boom.

Well, a topping lift doesn't support the boom better when a weight is on the middle of the boom...

The main halyard can always be used as a topping lift for cargo, etc. If you mean that a topping lift should always be rigged, then this is wrong and not a good setup for large roach mains like on a catamaran. Yes, many with these sails use this, but it is much better to use a vang to support the boom.

Mark

[colemj]

Originally Posted by tinkrman69

The only real danger of lying on the boom is falling off ;-)

Lying on it is perfectly safe. Apparently, the danger is in laying on it...

Mark

[StuM]

Originally Posted by colemj

Lying on it is perfectly safe. Apparently, the danger is in laying on it...

Mark

<pedant mode>
Lie is intransitive. Lay is transitive.
You lie on something. You lay something on something.

So correct:
lying on the boom.
laying yourself on the boom.

Incorrect:
laying on the boom.
lying yourself on the boom.

</pedant mode>

Edit: So it depends on what you are laying on the boom whether it is safe.
If it's your GF, it's probably OK. If it's her sister, it's not safe.

[groundtackle]

Although lay is also past tense so can't you say "I lay on the boom" in that context.



Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[TrentePieds]

The past perfect tense of "to lie" is identical to the PPT of "to lay" i.e. I "I was laid on the boom". And that's no lie. Take it anyway you like.

TrentePieds

[Roy M]

In any case, it's safer to have "bed rails".

[TrentePieds]

If there were no ladies here I would tell you what befell a former shipmate of mine, ex-RCN, when he was stationed in Halifax during 1942 :-)

TrentePieds

[Scaramanga F25]

I am french and bad English grammar bugs me.

Lie and lay both have many definitions, but they’re most often confused where lie means to recline and lay means to put down. But the distinction is simple: Lay needs an object—something being laid—while lie cannot have an object. For example, you might lay a book on the table, lay a sweater on the bed, or lay a child in her crib. When you feel tired at the end of the day, you may lie down. But you can’t lie a book anywhere, and you can’t lay down (no object) at the end of the day.

The devil made me do it.

Sans rancune, 30 Pieds.

[TrentePieds]

@Scaramanga #27

Mais naturellement sans rancune :-)

And of course you are right, the exchange regarding "lie"/"lay" was obviously just a game of sillybuggers.

The PPT ("Pluperfect" as you French call it) for "to lie" (in the sense of being recumbent) is, strictly speaking, "had lain" in all persons both in the indicative and in the subjunctive. The "lain" pronunciation is considered totally pedantic among "ordinary" people", and "laid" tends to be substituted in vernacular speech. For "to lay" (in the sense of "place upon") the correct form is "had laid" in all persons, indicative and subjunctive.

One reason English has become the lingua franca is that scant regard is paid to the formal grammar. You can bugger up most fearsomely in English and still be perfectly understood. If you bugger up in German (or in Danish for that matter) the response will be "was???" or "hva???" respectively.

As I'm sure you already know, if, in idiomatic English, you substitute "was" for "had" in the pluperfect of "to lay", the sense changes entirely and that was the gist of the sillybuggery :-)

I'm not sufficiently conversant with French - dommage - to play sillybuggers in that language. As a denizen of this 'ere multicultural, bilingual colony called Canada I really ought to do something about that :-)!

Joyeux Noël mon ami :-)

TrentePieds

[hamburking]

Best seat on the boat (see pic).

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Always tie your sails to themselves, not with the tie downs going under the boom.

On many booms, that is not possible, since some are bolt rope foots. I am curious why you think it is incorrect to tie under a boom.

For the OP... I have been known to hang out for awhile on the boom while on one tack or another.