To tether or not, that is the question

[scottydaum]

Being that over the years I have TWICE found myself in the water, I ALWAYS wear my inflatable PFD when on deck, and when Single handed am Always hooked in. If you don't believe me, just go jump in the water, and watch the boat drift away.
Yes under certain circumstances you could be dragged and drown, but under other the boat may just round up and stop. I have my swim ladder rigged with a release line I can reach from the water.

[Briney Bug]

I suspect that the answer to your question is the same answer that pertains to reefing or putting out a storm anchor... you should do it when you first wonder if you should.
Rudy Sechez

[Mal Reynolds]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

big front just blew through - probably some folks in the bay who dragged anchor - hope all are safe.

Re the OP . . . . there are some things to consider with solo sailing and tethers - because (arguably) you are more likely to die if you go over tethered than not tethered. There is no-one to pull you or help you back on board.

If your tether/clip points are such that you can not go over board - then great - but most are not set up that way. If you have the upper body strength to say do a bunch of one-armed pull-ups, then great - but most can not.

The Bay water is reasonably warm. There is a lot of small boat traffic. If you had a pfd and a waterprrof handheld vhf - you are (arguably) safer than with a tether. Your boat will (probably fetch up on a mud bank somewhere).

Listen to Evans, he is a smart, thoughtful man with many 10's of thousands of miles under his keel, and has thought about this topic deeply. Some additional thoughts to consider:

• If you run jacklines, keep them near centerline as practical to limit risk of going over lifelines. I'm planning to run mine in 2 segments, Cockpit centerline to mast, mast to inner stay.
• Use hard clip points at work stations with short tether
• Think about higher risk areas such as moving around the dodger and having adequate handholds.
• In addition to a VHF, consider a PLB in your pocket.

For me and my boat, when the wind hits 20 during the day, the foulies, pfd and tether go on, loose items below are stowed, hatches are closed. I will crawl forward of the mast when I feel necessary. At night the threshold is lower. On a smaller boat I would imaging the threshold is also lower.

[alansmith]

There is nothing on this planet that would keep me from going on this trip. If I had to tie spaghetti noodles together to make a jack line......smile.

Pros and cons both sides of the debate. I hate tethers. When I was racer back in the 80’s no one wore tethers. No one ever went overboard. We pushed our boats hard and in some pretty good wind and all sorts of situations. Me thinks that people have gotten too self aware or whatever you want to name it. You are an Army guy....Go Army...have a good time...wear your inflatable...floatable radio...personal locator beacon....and enjoy the heck out of your time off in one of the best sailing venues on the east coast.

Common sense is your most valuable asset. One thing....if you do go in the water....do you have some sort of ladder rigged that you can deploy from in the water?

[Caliber40]

Estarzinget....perhaps the smartest no BS answer I’ve ever seen on this site!

Bravo!!!

[JPA Cate]

If you go without the tether, consider Alan's question above, ".do you have some sort of ladder rigged that you can deploy from in the water?" Jim used to singlehand ocean race. There was a rope ladder with reasonable flat "rungs" , that he could reach from the water, to deploy. Afaik, he never had to use it. I'm sorry, I don't know if he wore his tether all the time--I wasn't there to see. Our practice has always been to wear it if you need it. For me, "needing" it was if I was avoiding going out on the foredeck to make a sail change, or whatever", then i put it on, and went and did it.

Incidentally, we used our old lower shrouds for jacklines on our previous boat. More than strong enough. Reached from outside cockpit to foredeck. For me, the downside to tethers came from my mistake in not getting all of the tether into my pocked before going below, and I tripped on it, and fell down the companionway. Be warned.

ArmyNavy, maybe this is one of those deals where if you are worried about the issue, it would be better to lose one day of the vacation, than to worry throughout it? Any line you have around that is long enough you could use for a jack line, you don't have to buy something special for just one trip. The harness is a standard item, and when you want it, it would be there.

I'm not familiar with Chesapeake B., but one of the guys said he hardly saw anyone where he was sailing there. So perhaps you need to fold that in along with estarsinger's sensible advice.

Ann

[KiwiKen]

"Had a separate Jackline in the cockpit so it was possible to clip on while still in the companion way."


Sound practice, especially if there is a chance of being caught off balance if the yacht lurched or rolled suddenly while coming on deck.


There is a strong argument for having a quick release on the wearers end of the tether, being dragged especially if one's head is frequently underwater may not be survivable. ( a parachute landing in water unless one can discard the canopy carries a high risk of fatality if the parachutist is dragged)

[thomm225]

It all depends on how far down he sails.

Near Annapolis, the bay is maybe 5-6 miles wide.

As you go South, the widest part is about 30 miles

When you get down here near the ocean and the bridge, it's quite different with the ocean waves affecting the bay waves plus lots of tankers and other ships and sometimes super strong current.

In other words, you don't get seasick until you get down to the lower bay

http://goldenwestway.com/Live-Marine-Traffic.php

[Peeew]

The tether question discussion has been great. I will add that I do carry, and clip to me, a handheld vhf with a built in gps and distress signal mode. It is registered so the data is available if activated. Not instead of anything. But another tool.

[mowerandy]

I have a length of stout line that I tie in a slack loop to the mast down in the cabin and to the mast above decks. The line runs out through the companionway, allowing clipping in and out below decks.

With a harness tether of around 2m I can reach all parts of my (31 foot) boat without unclipping from the loop.

Over the side (yes, it is long enough to go over the fence amidships) there should be just enough length to put me on the stern ladder if the boat hasn't rounded up by then.

I always clip in at night, or single handed when leaving the cockpit.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

...If your tether/clip points are such that you can not go over board - then great - but most are not set up that way. If you have the upper body strength to say do a bunch of one-armed pull-ups, then great - but most can not.

The Bay water is reasonably warm. There is a lot of small boat traffic. If you had a pfd and a waterprrof handheld vhf - you are (arguably) safer than with a tether. Your boat will (probably fetch up on a mud bank somewhere).

I'm going to half disagree with you on this. Only half. This is stuff we have talked about before.

Sailors very seldom fall when moving along the deck. They fall when working on something. Thus, it is quite practical to secure yourself short at a work station. I sail multihulls, so most of the fall off the side problems are small (wide with jacklines inboard), but let me give an example.

example 1. On my new tri (not the boat in the avitar), if I need to work at the bow (for example, taking a reacher off the bowsprit) in rowdy conditions it is quite skinny. I can get there easily enough, and then I can strap myself in with short tethers in such a way that I cannot fall. And I take that seriously, because falling in at 15-20 knots on a tether would probably be immediately fatal due to the impact with the tether/harness/hull. If that is the risk, yeah, it's better to just fall.


example 2. I often use a tether to land a big fish on the sugar scoop, even in fine weather with crew. Anchored high and forward, so I can't reach the stern. No lifeline. The idea of falling into a swarm of hooks isn't dangerous, but it ain't appealing either.


example 3. Sailing in fine weather at double digit speeds with good crew. I would rather just fall. No tether. If it's winter. I'll be wearing a dry suit, so I can wait for them to come back I once spent 6 hours in the ice in a dry suit for a test--boring but warm).


---

Another point which was skipped over. Jacklines should end nearly a tether length from both the bow and stern. The dock cleats do not achieve this. I hope the reasons are obvious; you can still reach the ends and you don't want to go off the ends.


---


What is best is very situation specific. Boat. Weather. Crew (or solo). Task. Lots of variables. I do not adhere to one method and don't believe anyone should.

[Lihuedooley77]

Cannot tell anyone what to do, only how we would handle the situation.

Do not go over board in the first place.

When single handlng storms, rough weather, night sailing, long passages, standing single person helm watch. We would wear wear a harness with a tether, no longer than from my armpit to the deck. Keep it short, do not go overboard.

And if I did go overboard, and not tethered, lets say whizzing off the stern, and a wake or wind shift or just lose my balance. Is some one going to be there to fish my sorry bones out. Not likely.

It is very difficult to haul a person out of the water , or for them to even haul themselves back on board. Especially in a seaway .

Long years back, we were an escort boat for a paddle board race contestant. Two Harbors Catalina to Hermosa Beach, coastal southern calif. After a few miles, his physical and mental strength was gone. Yep, we got him and the board on to the vessel, but he would not have had the strength to do it on his own. Not a chance.

Obviously , we are in the harness and tether group ,

Our thoughts are, mother nature can rise up kick your okole or kill you.

When in, on, or above, an alien Enviornment, ie: scuba diving, snorkeling , swimming, sailing, power boating, flying air planes or skydiving, hiking, etc, we put every thing possible in our favor.

Not having enough time to make sure that happens could be a tremendously poor decision on my part.

Example " You are single handing the wind pipes up and you have to reef down, maybe tie in a double reef, or change a head sail or roll in on the roller snarller and that requires changing the position of the sheet blocks. A jib sheet gets fouled, you are backwinded, it may be caught on the forward hatch cover, or cleat, or whatever, I have to clear it. - we are heeled over, bounding thru a seaway, and I am up on the fore deck with no tether. Not a good situation. The list goes on and on.

Truth is that we have our own ideas and procedures and personal rules, and we can elect to do whatever we wish.

I have been sailing and /or flying airplanes professionally for about 40 years, and never had anyone overboard. But we have done many, many MOB simulations and practice.

Also never crashed an airplane or even declared an emergency. Have I had situations occur, you bet, but we handled it .

Yahoo, still alive and well. However , we do our best to be professional, think ahead, follow procedures, and respect all aspects of mother nature, and the ocean.

Again, these are our thoughts only, others do not necessarily agree with the above. That is entirely their choice.

We also are heavy into skippers responsibility......we believe that is :

1. Safety of the Skipper, crew and passengers
2. Safety of the vessel itself

After all that, have a great and safe and fun cruising experience.

Snug in at night, and prepare to splice the mainbrace.

[Benz]

People, the guy is daysailing in a landlocked bay! He should wear board shorts and perhaps long sleeves if it's sunny.
Tethers are for offshore work when it gets rowdy. PFDs are for when the boat is sinking. To tie yourself up with harnesses, PFDs, lights, whistles, bangles, and radios while DAYSAILING IN THE CHESAPEAKE makes you the world's biggest weenie.
What's the world coming to?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Benz

People, the guy is daysailing in a landlocked bay! He should wear board shorts and perhaps long sleeves if it's sunny.
Tethers are for offshore work when it gets rowdy. PFDs are for when the boat is sinking. To tie yourself up with harnesses, PFDs, lights, whistles, bangles, and radios while DAYSAILING IN THE CHESAPEAKE makes you the world's biggest weenie.
What's the world coming to?

That's pretty true up near Annapolis, but if he gets down here near the bridge it's a totally different Bay. And btw, the bay is not landlocked and gets as wide as 30 miles .

The bridge can be thought of as the divider between the Bay and the Atlantic.

I almost got pulled into it last weekend by the current/tide and had to run the engine for a while. Wind was near 7-8 knots and I was sailing near downwind to get off the bridge

Sailboats have hit the bridge islands and been destroyed in this area. Sailboats have been found without people on them. The sailor would later be found but it would often be too late

It's a slot (where the Bay meets the Atlantic) that the wind and water can come into strong and it gets way rough. The water depth there is going from very deep to very shallow quickly and can cause very steep and closely spaced waves

Then there's the shipping traffic. If there is a squall you better know where you are because a tanker or container ship simply cannot stop from 14-18 knots if you happen to end up in the shipping channel during a squall because you can't see.

Also, keep your radio on channel 16 because if you are in the wrong place or miss a ship the pilots will let you know. (if you don't follow their instructions they will call the police boat, or a CG 23) Same with the Navy and Coast Guard. If an Aircraft Carrier is coming out, Nuclear Submarine, or Coast Guard Cutter they'll want you no closer than 500' to the sides and 1500' ahead and they will be escorted by patrol boats that insure this. Sometimes they will approach you at top speed …….especially if you interrupt and exercise. They will turn you (have you alter course) whether you want to be turned or not

Carrier headed to se with escort pictured

Those 20 ships are still near Cape Charles/Kiptopeke also so be watchful one doesn't come out of the group when you are there close by

http://goldenwestway.com/Live-Marine-Traffic.php

[Benz]

^^I have been in the bay, north to south and side to side. It's a landlocked bay. There's no chance of huge breaking seas that would warrant a tether offshore.
Because something could theoretically happen doesn't mean ridiculous measures have to be taken against it. Reasonable caution and situational awareness are far better at preventing calamities.
Wearing a PFD at any time ever, unless there's water gurgling over your bunk mattress, is ridiculous.