[Rhodes22-list] Cowl Vent

[Ronald Lipton]

Hi,

  I singlehand a lot and always wear a inflatable with a built-in harness. 
I run the jackline between the bow cleat and the port rear cleat.  The 
harness/jackline
is supposed to be set to keep you on the boat, but I am not
sure that it can really be setup to do that on such a small boat, but it 
at least keeps the boat from
sailing away.  It would also be difficult to get back on the boat once 
off, since the jackline
runs inside the outside stay.    It can also be a bit awkward to 
maneuver at times - and
sometimes I think it may be more trouble than it it worth, but the 
alternative could be real bad.

Last weekend there were at least two deaths near Chicago, one on on a 
fishing boat the other on
a sailboat.  No lifejackets in either case.  There are conflicting 
stories about the sailboat.
One puts the boat in DuSable Harbor, the second in neighboring Monroe 
Harbor (where I
am).   The latest story said that the sailboater drowned while trying to 
retrieve a suitcase
that he dropped into the lake.  I assume this was while they were under 
sail, but it is not
clear from the story,

Ron


Mary Lou Troy wrote:
> Rick,
> I agree with you on the bow pulpit and I also love the fact that the 
> boat has a solid well designed toe rail to brace against. My issue 
> with the foredeck is the lack of handholds forward of the mast. It 
> doesn't matter in the usual conditions when we are anchoring but it 
> can be downright scary in heavier conditions.
>
> Where do you fasten your jacklines? We don't singlehand but if we 
> did, harnesses would be on the list. When it comes time to replace 
> our old inflatable pfds we may want to look at the inflatables with a 
> built in harness.
>
> Mary Lou
>
>
>
> At 09:04 PM 6/28/2009, you wrote:
>   
>> Hi Mary Lou,
>>
>> Well, I never have to look for my anchor since it hangs from the bow
>> pulpit.  Once I get myself cozy in the bow pulpit, there is minimal physical
>> effort to dropping or pulling up the anchor.
>>
>> You're right about jacklines, tethers and harnesses.  Even in the best
>> conditions, I wear my harness and tether to the mast or bow cleat when going
>> forward single handed.  When I know it might be rough, I deploy jacklines.
>>
>> Rick
>>
>> On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 8:10 PM, Mary Lou Troy <mtroy at atlanticbb.net> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> Hi Rick,
>>> Count us among those with the anchor in the cockpit. Under the
>>> conditions you describe, I would be unhappy with anyone on the
>>> foredeck for any reason. There simply aren't enough handholds and few
>>> of us have jacklines rigged and harnesses. It would seem to me that
>>> the safest approach to those conditions would be to prepare for them
>>> before leaving the dock which would involve snubbing the anchor rode
>>> to the foredeck cleat and leading it back to the cockpit so that the
>>> anchor could still be deployed from there. It's not an ideal solution
>>> and we've never done it. We've only once been out in really heavy
>>> winds and fortunately while it was sudden, it was very brief and
>>> waves did not have time to build.
>>>
>>> We have deployed the anchor under emergency conditions (motor failed
>>> current sweeping us back towards a drawbridge) but it didn't involve
>>> waves. Under those less extreme conditions it was easy enough to take
>>> the anchor forward, snub the bitter end and deploy it. It was
>>> probably as fast or faster than fishing out the rode and connecting
>>> it to the anchor. We do make sure that the anchor is available in the
>>> lazarette with nothing stowed on top of it before we leave the dock.
>>>
>>> Best,
>>> Mary Lou
>>>
>>>
>>>