Guard wires and pelican hooks

[Gin]

I must replace my guardwires(4) this winter- they are shackled to the pulpit anchor points and terminate just short of the pushpit attachment points and connected to them by multiple lashings of thin braid, which can be cut free in an emergency.

I have always understood that this arrangement also acts as a barrier to setting up a complete loop of steel around the perimeter of the boat which could prevent good vhf transmission/reception- why that should be possible with the aerial some 30ft above deck I wouldn't know.

I should like to dispense with the lashings and replace them with pelican hooks which I think would be quicker to release BUT will I then experience a problem with the radio?

So, is there anybody on here who has adopted this setup and if so what has been your experience- is it to be recommended?

 

[oldsaltoz]

The lashings are normally aft so you can get to them in a hurry, leaving the forward end fixed.

A couple of boats ago we had one set up with fixed points at the bow and pelican clips aft, no radio problems at all, in fact we had better than average TX/RX.

We later took the pelican clips off and installed lashings, safety requirement for racing and safety inspection back then.

Hope this helps.

Avagoodweekend......

 

[ebbtide]

No lanyards nor probs with pelican hooks either - but the little split rings always seem to catch my shorts!!

 

[Gin]

Thanks- application understood, and in the belief that in a panic, having to get a knife (which is stored nearby) and having a sharp blade in a lumpy sea is probably slower and more dangerous than being able to release a pelican hook, I intend to try the pelican hook way.

However, I shall have to check the racing rules as this is a point I hadn't considered.

Your experience of such a system is encouraging, and thanks for taking the trouble to respond.

Thanks also to Malaprop and Graham for their thoughts

 

[graham]

If you attatch the pelican hook to the guardwire with a lashing you then have both options to release.

 

[25931]

The pelican with spring loaded pin is safer than the one secured by an s.s loop.
Jim

 

[lw395]

I believe the issue with a wire loop around the deck can be significant when you have shortwave or MF transmitter. As you say, it won't affect a VHF aerial 40ft up.

 

[mikejames]

I would guess the need for a lashing rather than a pelican hook is more because there is a slight risk of the pelican hook coming undone by itself.
This risk would be increased by the racing trick of not making the wires absolutely tight, to make it easier to wriggle round them to sit on the rail, or comfortable to lean back on them in the cockpit..
It could be possible to imagine the pelican hook losing pressure and just flopping undone as the little ring falls off, when the boat hits a wave. Next wave people start falling off..

 

[Searush]

I changed to pelican hooks for the guard rails 3 or 4 years ago. No radio problems and the hooks are very convenient when boarding from a dinghy or lifting heavy stuff aboard like batteries/ outboard etc - especially when solo or with SWMBO only.

A very useful & cheap improvement IMHO. But I don't race for anything these days, I'm even quite happy to accept an ugly camel as I would be too knackered if I rushed to get a cute one. (very old joke reference)

 

[Gin]

I shall definitely go for the spring loaded type, which I expect is the type Graham's had trouble with.

I shall replace the split pins, as I have done with the spinnaker sheet shackles ,with the neat little cord and plastic toggle zip pulls from worn out fleeces. These are easy to grip with gloved or wet hands, won't unwind and won't snag

 

[awol]

IIRC the radio problems with continuous guard wires was with RDF sets and obtaining nulls.
For our younger readers RDF refers to an ancient method of position divination used before GPS made it obsolete.

 

[Gin]

Sadly I remember rdf only too well.

I was once trying to triangulate mid-channel when there was a bloody great bang but no impact. I shot up out of the companionway, like a rabbit from its warren, with the headset still on and receiver in hand- much to the mirth of the rest of the crew who told me it was the first super sonic flight of Concorde after taking off from Paris- I suppose that dates me very accurately

 

[VicS]

[ QUOTE ]
radio problems with continuous guard wires was with RDF sets

[/ QUOTE ] Thats right.

It was probably DECCA that made the RDF obsolete. GPS in turn made the DECCA obsolete.

(Anybody need a Seafix RDF. Invaluable bit of kit that is NLA but can still be used for the odd position line from the Aero beacons. )

 

[brianhumber]

Replaced my lashings with hooks several years ago as wanted to prevent damage from launching heavy dinghy and no radio problems as a result. Still able to talk to Solent and them hear me from just off Cherbourg as have a tall rig. Also benifit from not worrying about the guy bending a staunchion when spinnakering and I muck it up.

 

[Gin]

Thanks for that and I reckon that all the positives settle the question in favour so that's another job on the list for winter.

Thanks again to all contributors

 

[TamarMike]

One of the first things I did before commisioning the yacht I bought last winter was to replace the guardrail shackles (!) with pelican hooks at the stern end. I don't know how I would cope with boarding dogs, children etc. and with launching the inflatable dinghy without them (My previous boat had bulwarks which a fibreglass dinghy could just be slid over with removable sections alongside the cockpit for boarding dogs etc. which was an even better option)

 

[ianabc]

Yhere are a new type of pelican hook, the stainless steel spring held pin is of the over the top kind in that the force applied to the horizontal wire tends to increase the locking pressure.
I'm using the Johnson Marine, C. Sherman Johnson co. Inc. manufactured stainless steel hand crimp life line fittings. BUT the crimper has to be the special compatable kind.