Rigging a hammock; advice needed!

[aljazz]

Hi everyone

I started talking about this in another thread but I thought it would be useful to repost, this time with an image and try to really nail down the best way to rig a hammock on a boat (in my case specifically; a 40ft Cat).

Excuse the shoddy diagram, I'm on holiday right now and only have my ipad available to sketch with (a lot harder than I thought it would be!). If anyone's interested I used SketchBook Pro for iPad.

As illustrated I'm planning on hanging the hammock between the mast and the forestay. To do this I'm planning on using a Klemheist knot (similar to a prusik knot) to secure para rope to both the mast and forestay (the rope will be between 3.5 & 5mm thick, unless anybody has a better suggestion).

Both ropes will lead to carabiners on the front and back of the hammock, tying to the carabiners using a figure of eight knot, though perhaps a sheet bend knot or an adjustable knot would work better?

And there we go! I'd be grateful if anyone could either tear this method a apart (productively!) or provide some productive affirmation. Cos I really want to spend some quality time relaxing aboard in my new hammock!

[MysticGringo]

I rig mine in a similar fashion, but slightly different setup. My hammock has a cord with a little loop inline right after the hammock (on each end), and then a double bowline on the end of each cord. I have another piece of cord that I tie a kliemheist, or prussic knot on the cord and clip my biner into from either the end or from the loop at the hammock, depending on the position of the anchors. This gives me infinite positions to clip too, and easily adjust tension.

Right now I rig it off the boom and forestay with the boom swung out over the water so you're actually hanging beside the boat... won't work on a cat of course. Eventually I'm going to rig a system to allow me to adjust tension once in the hammock so I can lower myself into the water to cool off, or raise myself out... but that's a different topic.

[ohdrinkboy]

I have a small boat so a full hammock doesn't work. I use a hammock chair suspended from a halyard and tie a line off from the top of the chair to the forestay.

[Bash]

I don't see why that wouldn't work IF you're tying directly to the forestay. If, conversely, you would be tying to a foil, I would advise against it. A better system would be to rig the hammock to the spinnaker halyard, combined with a downhaul or foreguy, combined with a reaching strap such as are used with asymmetrical spinnakers.

[malbert73]

Originally Posted by Bash

I don't see why that wouldn't work IF you're tying directly to the forestay. If, conversely, you would be tying to a foil, I would advise against it. A better system would be to rig the hammock to the spinnaker halyard, combined with a downhaul or foreguy, combined with a reaching strap such as are used with asymmetrical spinnakers.

Correct. Would be great if you actually were looking to kink your aluminum foil. I agree that supporting the downward weight with a halyard and using strap would work, but many foretriangles are just a bit snug for full length hammock.

I have roller furling, but use my spinnaker/whisker pole extended out beyond headstay and lashed to RF foil (to keep it from swinging out). Support the pole with both topping lift and spinny halyard to feel safer against a sudden drop.
Hammock spans from mast to end of spin pole, hanging over foredeck. nice.....

[Bash]

Originally Posted by malbert73

I have roller furling, but use my spinnaker/whisker pole extended out beyond headstay and lashed to RF foil (to keep it from swinging out). Support the pole with both topping lift and spinny halyard to feel safer against a sudden drop.
Hammock spans from mast to end of spin pole, hanging over foredeck. nice.....

That's a better system than the one I advised. I was assuming an A-kite system, but if you have a system with a pole, this would be the best setup.

[bruce smith]

Coupl o rolling hitches here and there works for me.

This goes on main boom and mast, under boom .
What the heck you need a hammock on a cat for, doncha have one of those net thingies?

[aljazz]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

Coupl o rolling hitches here and there works for me. This goes on main boom and mast, under boom . What the heck you need a hammock on a cat for, doncha have one of those net thingies?

He he, fair point, but there's going to be about 10 people on board for an upcoming trip, & many of them will be lounging on the bow trampoline. I'd much rather be rocking lazily above!

@malbert & bash Thanks for the really great suggestions. Definitely don't want any kinks, will be rigging directly to the forestay. I might lash to something else to prevent too much lateral swinging motion though. Don't have a spinnaker pole so my options so can't really follow yor whole setup there.

@mysticgringo your setup certainly sounds like it affords you more options than mine, specifically with regard to tension... Using two pieces of cord makes send In that respect. But how do you tie off your second piece of cord after fixing it to the mast/forestay with a Klemheist? Also with a double double bowline?

Thanks for the responses guys!

[MysticGringo]

Originally Posted by aljazz

@mysticgringo your setup certainly sounds like it affords you more options than mine, specifically with regard to tension... Using two pieces of cord makes send In that respect. But how do you tie off your second piece of cord after fixing it to the mast/forestay with a Klemheist? Also with a double double bowline?

Thanks for the responses guys!

The klemheist is for the second cord to attach the carabiner to the main cord coming from hammock. Clip the biner into either loop (depending on length, if distance from hammock to anchor is longer than half the length of your main cord, it'll be the end loop, if it's shorter, it'll be the loop at hammock), put cord around your anchor, tie the prussic or klemheist to the other side of main cord, and tension as needed. This is why the second cord needs to be same size or a bit smaller (I prefer smaller so it has less chance to slip). It's not as complicated as writing it sounds, I'll see if I have a photo.

[Canibul]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

What the heck you need a hammock on a cat for, doncha have one of those net thingies?

Ah, a common misconception. Not all catamarans have nets on them. Ours doesn't. But we do have a large cockpit.

[aljazz]

Originally Posted by MysticGringo

The klemheist is for the second cord to attach the carabiner to the main cord coming from hammock. Clip the biner into either loop (depending on length, if distance from hammock to anchor is longer than half the length of your main cord, it'll be the end loop, if it's shorter, it'll be the loop at hammock), put cord around your anchor, tie the prussic or klemheist to the other side of main cord, and tension as needed. This is why the second cord needs to be same size or a bit smaller (I prefer smaller so it has less chance to slip). It's not as complicated as writing it sounds, I'll see if I have a photo.

Great, thanks, that seems pretty clear to me (though some pictures would definitely be great!)

Any recommednations for rope? some people have warned me off using 3mm 550 paracord due to the vector forces generated by a weighted hammock. Others have said using 10mm polypropolene rope is absolutely perfect for hammock hanging. Amsteel rope of course would i assume be superior to all but a little bit pricey for hanging a hammock.

Cheers!

[videobear]

Originally Posted by bruce smith

Coupl o rolling hitches here and there works for me.

This goes on main boom and mast, under boom .
What the heck you need a hammock on a cat for, doncha have one of those net thingies?

This shows why you need spreader bars at the head and foot.

[tbodine88]

Originally Posted by ohdrinkboy

I have a small boat so a full hammock doesn't work. I use a hammock chair suspended from a halyard and tie a line off from the top of the chair to the forestay.

I'd like to see a picture of that.

[MysticGringo]

Originally Posted by aljazz

Great, thanks, that seems pretty clear to me (though some pictures would definitely be great!)

Any recommednations for rope? some people have warned me off using 3mm 550 paracord due to the vector forces generated by a weighted hammock. Others have said using 10mm polypropolene rope is absolutely perfect for hammock hanging. Amsteel rope of course would i assume be superior to all but a little bit pricey for hanging a hammock.

Cheers!

I forget what size it is that I use, might be 6mm. The climbing shop I bought it from had its tensile strength and I bought stuff rated for 500 lbs I think (been a while). My hammock is 2 person, and sometimes a dog. I use it backpacking do I wanted smallest gauge. Thicker can't hurt for a boat setup.

I also have a hammock chair that I suspend off a halyard, and a line going to a forward cleat to keep me off the mast. It's another great napping spot.

[bgallinger]

I use a hammock that has spreader bars at each end with handy D-rings to attach 1/2" lines to. One end ties to the mast and the other to a rolling hitch over my furled jib. Works great.