Safety On-Deck... Other than Lifelines, Jacklines, and Non-Skid

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Gaia

Other than lifelines, fair enough. But what about the seldom seen high and preferably solid rails and super strong stanchions? Most lifelines and the dinky stanchions that go along with them are a joke.

We made them belly button high on GAIA, 38 inches for us with 1.25 inch diameter heavy wall stanchions and a one inch tube on top. 1.25 or 1.5 would have been even better. Marvelous security.

We have heard people say 'please do not pull on the lifelines or the (knee high) stanchions'!!

Jim

Agreed, with two caveats:

• If you get low, like you should be, they are high enough. But yeah....
• You can pull UP on lifelines. This does not loosen them and it holds your feet down. But not to the side.

You are right; most are underbuilt. Also beefy handholds along the cabin and dodger, and anywhere else you need them.

[slug]

The longer the Stanchion , lever arm ..the more highly loaded the Stanton base

Stainless tube lifelines are very hard to live with because they are vulnerable to docking and sail handling damage and they can’t be easily removed for service activities

In general a bad idea

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by slug

The longer the Stanchion , lever arm ..the more highly loaded the Stanton base

Stainless tube lifelines are very hard to live with because they are vulnerable to docking and sail handling damage and they can’t be easily removed for service activities

In general a bad idea

I think this is a case of "one-size-does-not-fit-all." Different boats, different choices.


High Lines. May sailors rig high lines from the pulpit, up to waist level or higher on the shrouds, and back down to the stern rail. I had one boat where it really helped (center cockpit, so funny deck heights). They don't interfere with sails because they are low near the bow, and can even improve tacking in some cases, by lifting the sheets. All true in my case. Effectiveness also varies with shroud locations. Definitely fits some boats better than others.


Slippery Hatches. No, you are not supposed to step on them. They are always slick. Does this have to be? On my last boat they used regular deck hatches on two bow lockers that were right where you wanted to walk. I considered replacing the glazing with FRP and puting non-skid on them. There was no need for light. Never got around to it, but it would have been better.

[hpeer]

This year I replaced the 35 year old team handrails with SS tubes. The handrails were pretty shot, not attached well and some of the wood split easily. I want handrails I can trust, that I can tie stuff to, and that I can snap onto.

I got lucky and found some over stock 20’ lengths of 1/2” nominal schedule 80 316 grade tube for dirt cheap. The OD is 0.86” with an ID of 0.5”, serious stuff. I love them for all kinds of reasons. They are welded solidly to the coach room and incorporate some loops to facilitate tying.

I have run chest high 1/4” dynema lines from the shrouds to the arch, they have snap hooks and can be taken down easily. Great for moving around on our CC.

Up forward we cut the jack lines short and sewed loops into the ends which land on inboard defy hard points. So one can move from the cockpit clipped to the high outboard lines to the shrouds and then transfer to the low inboard jack lines that run to the winch. The inboard lines have tethers permanently afixed, so if you don’t have a gut er you have a tether. No excuses.

Our antiskid is an rare old method. Put down your paint or epoxy then, while wet, coat it with sugar. Rinse off the sugar when dry. Amazing grip surface, don’t try to skid on your but. I made new seats for the Porta Boat and did this to the resin, fantastic! A little tricky to do and make appealing.

We have “fanny packs” for our dingy trips, a pull tab inflation pouch and a purse. We have sewn water activated strobes into the webbing.

For our PDF’s we have seen loops into the inside of the vest to accommodate a personal EPIRB. If you go in the water the self inflating vest should open exposing the beacon. It is out of sight, out of mind, always present.

[Mahayana]

Originally Posted by gamayun

Always wearing knee pads. I am not adverse to dropping to my knees and crawling or kneeling when I have to do something at the bow especially when I'm getting doused with water and there's not much to hold onto.

+1! Started wearing knee-pads while skiing too! Although, they didn't help when I broke my ankle this year. 53 years of injury free skiing down the drain!

[jewt]

I am with Gaia! I just finished fitting m Morgan/Catalina 44 with 30 " tall, 1 inch, heavy duty Stanchions from Whiter Water Marine with 1/4" backing plates, 7/8" lowers and all junctions riveted w/SS 3/16 rivets.

Had the same setup on my Morgan 41 K/CB sloop for 34 years and really enjoyed the feeling of safety offshore when one had to go forward at night. The wife insisted on have them on our new(to us) vessel

jewt
S/V Bifrost
New Bern, NC

[SRQsailor]

I've often found a deck light mounted on the mast useful when handling sail changes at night.

[conchaway]

Two suggestions: 1. Crawl. 2. Send wife on fore deck.

[dfelsent]

Oh yeah. Can’t believe I forgot. Toe rails. All the way around.
I was on a boat that had no toe rails except the foredeck. Legs over the side in a heartbeat. Scary.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by dfelsent

Oh yeah. Can’t believe I forgot. Toe rails. All the way around.
I was on a boat that had no toe rails except the foredeck. Legs over the side in a heartbeat. Scary.

Interesting the Off-Shore Rule only requires them forward of the mast. They are uncomfortable to sit on when hiking. Not that cruisers care about that.


I agree with you.

[Sailnav]

Knee pads, yes, but Soft ones. The high-end stuff they sell for construction workers have hard caps on them...guaranteed to slide on a fiberglas deck.

How about extra hand holds on the sugar-scoop stern when getting in and out of a dinghy?

[Gaia]

Originally Posted by slug

The longer the Stanchion , lever arm ..the more highly loaded the Stanton base

Stainless tube lifelines are very hard to live with because they are vulnerable to docking and sail handling damage and they can’t be easily removed for service activities

In general a bad idea

Everyone has a right to their opinion although this one amazes me. Imagine foregoing safe high life lines and stanchions for the dinky floppy ones because the bases are not strong enough to do it right! I suppose that is one of the advantages of a steel boat. Easy peasy to make them as strong as they need to be. We also have high scuppers. You would have to work at it to fall overboard.

And solid rails? Ours can be removed faster than the lines we had when we started our circumnavigation. And that includes the stanchions. Not that we ever had the need. They continue from the pulpit, look really nice and feel fabulously secure. And vulnerable? To docking and sail handling? Geez everyone to their opinion I suppose no matter how wrong others opine them to be. Our solid rails help sail handling and they have never been damaged by docks. Why would they be? Even here in Marina Hemingway the ugly concrete docks are at high water, and it is a full moon right now, four feet away from the solid rails. Often times in commercial ports or with very high tides like the Canadian maritimes, then yes the dock reaches above them but so what? Never damaged a one.

Must assume the writer is joking.

Jim

[waterman46]

Attitude. Every time I leave the cockpit in rough conditions especially, I tell myself "Hold On, if I go overboard.I WILL die."

[Differentroads]

Originally Posted by waterman46

Attitude. Every time I leave the cockpit in rough conditions especially, I tell myself "Hold On, if I go overboard.I WILL die."

Me too. Its what I tell new crewmates too. And warn them that I give myself only a 50% chance of recovering them alive if they go overboard. The photo shows how this cheers them up no end.
It also shows one of my best safety modifications. A waist high grab rail running to the aft lower shrouds. I can now go forwards to the mast holding on to something strong all the way.
I've also adopted the practice of attaching jackstay tethers to the port, starboard and foredeck jackstays rather than each of the crew carrying one around attached to their pfd. It's more comfortable this way, very convenient and we find we clip on more often.

[jalmberg]

I’d say choosing a safe boat is the first thing. One with an ‘easy’ motion, plenty of un obstructed deck space to move on, high bulwarks, really strong lifeline stanchions, sails that aren’t too big to handle, proper reefing setup, easy to rig preventers, good handholds from bow to stern, and really agressive non-skid.