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3 Responses to “How And Why To Use Jacklines, Tethers and Nettings”

1. Jerr Says:
   January 4th, 2010 at 8:35 pm

   Few sailors use jacklines and tethers well but you can if you think about their purpose – Keeping you onboard or at least chest-high at the toerail if you do fall over the lifelines. That is only possible if:

   • You wear and secure a properly-fitted, appropriate harness, which can be built into jackets.
   • The jackline is far enough from the toerail.
   • The tether is short enough to keep you from falling into the sea.
   • The lifelines have strong nettings.

   This last point is very important, as the distance from the boat’s jacklines to the toerail is the same as from the jacklines to the upper lifeline but going over the top gives you an extra 2-1/2 feet of length for your tether. In other words, holding you 2-1/2 feet higher when you fall overboard. From the water, grabbing the toerail, it’s amazingly hard to climb the freeboard to get to that last bit, over the rail: Only fairly athletic people can generally do that. It is possible for most people to get from outside the toerail onboard alone, though. Tethers that are too long, jacklines that are near the sides and lack of strong lifeline nettings are literally the difference between life and being dragged to a drowning death for the person overboard.

   I like to leave one deck clear to the bow for quick access, even though this gives more windage on one side than the other and I’ve not got a choice of staying on the high side. I run my jacklines as close to the center of the boat as I can reach, to prevent me from falling overboard. Sure, it’s easy to run jacklines on the deck but if you fall over, they will only hold you half in the water, pinned to the side of the boat. Have you ever tried boarding your boat on the side, from the water, with soaked clothes? It’s nearly impossible. Properly run and used jacklines will keep you out of the water, at worst, dangling from the lifelines with your chest at deck level. Here is how to manage jacklines, tethers and padeyes:

   (1) Mount padeyes at every entrance: By the companionway, at the forward end of each cockpit coaming and just forward the dodger, either side and inboard, if your cabin rail does not extend within reach from the cockpit with your tether stretched.
   (2) Run jacklines as close to the center of the boat as can be reached.
   (3) Keep your tethers short – One four feet and one six feet.
   (4) Keep tethers ready and clear of entanglement, clipped to your chest harness when not in use.
   (5) Always clip the new tether in before unclipping the old one, to get around objects.

2. rgscpat Says:
   July 22nd, 2010 at 7:41 pm

   Have there been issues with some people leaving their harnesses too loose?

3. Jerr Says:
   July 23rd, 2010 at 11:43 am

   Yes, loose harnesses can have two principal problems: riding up too high, pulling by the armpits and possibly strangling or even slipping off – Slipping out can happen quite easily, as the jerk is amazingly strong, when your tether pulls. It’s really the worst of all possibilities, as you’re left without your PFD and are no longer attached to the boat – Just swimming with your clothes on. To make sure your harness fits well, tie your tether high (to the boom when you’re in the cockpit, perhaps) and hang from it. The harness should not creep up your body, or another way of putting it is that you should not be slipping out of it. You don’t need to have the harness tight to achieve a good fit – Snug, with room to breathe and move works great.

   I like the PFDs with integral harnesses and 2″ tubular webbing, which doesn’t chafe and is wide enough not to dig in painfully when supporting my weight.

   I actively use my harness by connecting my tether quite close, allowing me to lean back when I’m working. By using a wide stance, I’m firmly supported at three points and can reef a sail in rough weather without having to hold on to anything except my work – Two hands free! Once you start looking for places to tie yourself in, you will find you are much more stable and your deck tasks are vastly easier and it’s even fun!

   The most effective harness is both a seat harness and a chest harness – Tie to the seat harness and run the line through a carabiner on the chest harness. The force of a fall is taken up by the seat and the chest harness orients your body up. There’s really no way to fall out of it, too, though you can tie a knot wrong and that can fail.

   Always tie a substantial follow-through knot for your harness, if you’re not using a spliced line. I use a traced figure-8 knot because it’s so obviously tied right and a bowline can be tied wrong, at night in a storm, failing when it’s needed. If you’re using carabiners, make sure you’re using two, as it’s all too easy to rub a carabiner’s gate on something, opening it and allowing the line to fall out. If you have two tethers, you’ve got your two carabiners for safety, so you don’t need to do anything else, there. If you only have one tether, line both carabiners up the same for attaching and then flip one around 180° – It’s easy and very safe.

   If you are working on your mast, please wear a seat harness and attach that separately to something safe. A bosun’s chair really isn’t a safety device – It’s a support and it’s far too easy for stitching to fail or something to go wrong and slip out, to fall down the mast.

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