Aja
Well-Known Member
I've sailed on a boat where every line aboard, and I mean every line, is black.
Donald
Donald
I’ve forgotten the recommendation for colour coding of halyards...
- Thread starter Kukri
- Start date
Kukri
Well-Known Member
Some of the best advice I have read came from John and Phyllis at AAC. It was “with a big boat, reef earlier than you think you need to”. This is quite different to handling a smaller boat. A small boat will tell you when she needs a reef. A big boat won’t. A big boat isn’t bothered. But try “snapping a reef down” on 500 sq ft of mainsail with the lee rail under on 26 tons of boat and you have given yourself Mission Impossible.
Each evolution must be planned in advance to keep the risk of injury to a minimum.
I had decades of gaff cutters where “which rope does what” was not only traditional but obvious. A “modern” Bermuda cutter with each rope disappearing into the mast is a whole different thing.
So I do have a use for colour coding.
Each evolution must be planned in advance to keep the risk of injury to a minimum.
I had decades of gaff cutters where “which rope does what” was not only traditional but obvious. A “modern” Bermuda cutter with each rope disappearing into the mast is a whole different thing.
So I do have a use for colour coding.
Star-Lord
Well-Known Member
2nd reef is red for danger.
3rd reef is black for death.
1st reef is grey for boring.
3rd reef is black for death.
1st reef is grey for boring.
Kukri
Well-Known Member
I see it differently:
“The deep deep peace of the third reef and the number two staysail after the hurly burly of the Number One Genoa!“
Star-Lord
Well-Known Member
Btw I liked your thread about Shamrock!
Seajet
...
All my lines are colour coded, but to my own system - it's worked for the last 42 years.
It doesn't just apply to halliards etc though; I was crewing a friends' grp Varne Folkboat years ago, setting off from the trot berths at Bucklers Hard; I let go one end of the doubled line to the uptide post and pulled the other one in, only to have it jam solid - my yells went unheeded and soon we were swinging downtide performing a High G turn a jet fighter would be proud of.
A chap on the deck of the boat on the next raft of boats saw us coming and sat on the side deck, feet out to fend us off; then he saw the speed we were approaching at and scampered backwards out of the way - we ' T Boned ' his boat very hard - everyone was knocked off their feet - but amazingly the Folkboats' bow just rode up, no damage.
It turned out - I hadn't been told - the doubled line to the post consisted of two lengths of identical line with a knot in the middle !
It doesn't just apply to halliards etc though; I was crewing a friends' grp Varne Folkboat years ago, setting off from the trot berths at Bucklers Hard; I let go one end of the doubled line to the uptide post and pulled the other one in, only to have it jam solid - my yells went unheeded and soon we were swinging downtide performing a High G turn a jet fighter would be proud of.
A chap on the deck of the boat on the next raft of boats saw us coming and sat on the side deck, feet out to fend us off; then he saw the speed we were approaching at and scampered backwards out of the way - we ' T Boned ' his boat very hard - everyone was knocked off their feet - but amazingly the Folkboats' bow just rode up, no damage.
It turned out - I hadn't been told - the doubled line to the post consisted of two lengths of identical line with a knot in the middle !
srm
Well-Known Member
As this thread is drifting a bit here is another useful tip.
When I ran a charter yacht rules were kept to a minimum. Mainly along the lines of "don't fall over the side, the sea temperature is ten degrees C.", and "anyone who looses a halyard up the mast (hank on sails in those days) has volunteered to go up and bring it back down".
No one ever fell over the side and only one halyard went up the mast. The culprit was happy to be winched up, recover the end but delayed being lowered so he could take some photos.
When I ran a charter yacht rules were kept to a minimum. Mainly along the lines of "don't fall over the side, the sea temperature is ten degrees C.", and "anyone who looses a halyard up the mast (hank on sails in those days) has volunteered to go up and bring it back down".
No one ever fell over the side and only one halyard went up the mast. The culprit was happy to be winched up, recover the end but delayed being lowered so he could take some photos.
Kukri
Well-Known Member
I am particularly keen on matching the reef points to the reef pendants. I am aware that some will say “why bother”, but the effects of shaking out a reef with a point still tied in can be as spectacular as the effects of getting the top of a wave into the bunt of the sail if you haven’t tied the points in.