Michael wrote:
So the question is: ""What is the right length?" Consider fore deck,
stays'l area, mast, vang, cockpit and stern areas.

Do you have to go out on a stern deck, or just in the cockpit & forward?

It's nice to have a padeye to secure to in the cockpit, but it should
(on most boats) be possible to lead a jackstay aft well enough to hook
on as you're standing in the companionway, and stay secured in the
cockpit. It's true that many boats are not practical for this, but then
many boats are overly praised as being super-seaworthy without attention
to detail like this.


... I have two on my harness
but the idea of one on the mast at least in the much shorter length needed
appealed to me.

"Much shorter" as in about a foot or so? That might be nice for working
at the mast, but it wouldn't give you much range of motion. If you have
to stop & unhook & rehook (or vice versa) every time you have to reach
for something, then every deck evolution will be very slow & cumbersome.
Stupid fiddle-faddle like this is why so many people give up on
harnesses... and a certain percent of them are lost...


That's the new question. How many? What length? Is there a perfect length
for all situations? If not . . .what is your recommendation?

I'd recommend one just slightly longer than knee length, and jacklines
from a point well aft to within reaching distance of the bow. Sweat them
down really tight. Yes your tether hook will bang up the deck, but you
can't have everything.

The one time I wore a harness with two tethers (both about 6' long, too
much IMHO), it was necessary... and the second tether was a total PITA.
It got tangled on everything. Eventually I tucked it into my bibs. I
have (and have used on a few other occasions) a harness with one
tether... just a bit shy of 5' long, including a shock-absorbing gather
(which IMHO is a frill.. part of the reason to have a shorter tether is
so that you don't go flying or falling anywhere).

"Nav" wrote in message
The idea is to be able to clip onto a new work point before you unclip
the last point. Anyone who has worked in rough weather on an open deck
knows how wise this is!

"Open deck" as in an Etchells?


Actually, one good use for a second tether would be to hook onto a pad
eye right at your station, so that if the bow goes in hard you won't be
swept the full length of the deck. But that's a rather special case of
"rough weather" and would, for a cruiser, show bad planning more than
anything else IMHO. Admittedly my opinions are not 100% orthodox but I
came by them after a long period of trying to make theory & old wives
tales work as well in practice as they do on chalk boards & story time.

FWIW the vast majority of passagemakers spend less than 5% of their time
in wind over 30 knots... most never see more than 40. A 40 knot blow
ought not be stuffing the bow unless the boat is really unsuitable or
very badly handled. This BTW is fact rather than my opinion.

And there you have it... basically, it's a good example of the old
saying, "if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough."

Fresh Breezes- Doug King