String or turnbuckle for lifelines?

[Just_sayin']

Friend has a boat where the lifelines terminate in turnbuckles.

I used to have string looped round and round, the idea being that I could cut it if I needed to get someone on board.

His argument is that if you cut those lines the crew on board are then at risk of going over the side as they try to rescue the casualty.

Good point.

What do you think?

 

[Poignard]

String!

 

[pmagowan]

String

 

[bbg]

String.

 

[Woodlouse]

Personal preference.

Back in the day they used to be string because having a conductive connection all the way round the boat would have a faraday cage effect and cause RDF nav equipment to function less well. These days it's less of a consideration. I suppose you could cut string to get an MOB aboard, alternatively you could just have a gate. Modern boats would use the transom with a ladder anyway.

 

[Gin]

there are other choices- so ignoring adjustable pelican hooks on grounds of expense only, how about snap shackle secured at the becket by string for adjusting tension- thereafter no cutting needed just pop the shackle to drop the guardwire(s).
Just as quick to refasten when the casualty has been brought aboard

 

[Lyndsey Doyle]

Good morning Mr G, what an excellent suggestion, that's going on my deck improvements list.
Thanks, enjoy the sun, LD

 

[Deleted member 36384]

As long as your plan and technique for recovering a person from the water is tried and tested then it may or may not demonstrate that guardwires need to be removed. On my Rival with a 3' to 4' freeboard I have settled on lifting the casualty over the lifelines using the windlass, hence do not need to remove the guard wires. In fact as other crew may be on the side decks helping, then having the guard wires in place is a good idea. My guardwires are still removable but I just pull the stanchions out after removing a split pin and drop them flat after opening the gate.

 

[mjcoon]

I suppose you could cut string to get an MOB aboard, alternatively you could just have a gate. Modern boats would use the transom with a ladder anyway.

Lovely in a dead calm, but then why fall overboard then? Not many boats have such a well-immersed transom that it won't batter anyone in the water if there is a swell.

Mike.

 

[Tranona]

Pelican hooks on last boat and snap shackles on current. String a cheap and convenient way of achieving the same thing. so, personal choice.

 

[michael_w]

String at both ends. Far less chafe on the genoa, an idea from the Figaro fleet.

 

[dylanwinter]

string

and

knife by companionway

 

[alant]

Friend has a boat where the lifelines terminate in turnbuckles.

I used to have string looped round and round, the idea being that I could cut it if I needed to get someone on board.

His argument is that if you cut those lines the crew on board are then at risk of going over the side as they try to rescue the casualty.

Good point.

What do you think?

Clip onto the jack stays then.

 

[alant]

Personal preference.

Back in the day they used to be string because having a conductive connection all the way round the boat would have a faraday cage effect and cause RDF nav equipment to function less well. These days it's less of a consideration. I suppose you could cut string to get an MOB aboard, alternatively you could just have a gate. Modern boats would use the transom with a ladder anyway.

The idea, is to roll any casualty to prevent hydrostatic shock, not smple drag em thru a gate.

 

[Seajet]

The only excuse for using string was in the old days of RDF when a metal link all round was said to cause quadrantal error.

I have pelican hooks, and adjusted the tension by spending an hour or two with the bucket of spare shackles; the pelican hooks have an over-centre effect so the lines are tight when the hooks are clipped up.

Not just for MOB, extremely useful when boarding from a tender, and at pontoons one can usually clip the upper line back to the centre stanchion, making boarding a lot easier - the lower line usually staying in situ for fenders.

String to cut is a nasty cheap way to value one's crew, as said if one does that in conditions likely to cause a MOB in the first place, one does not want to be left without guardrails.

Two types of pelican hooks are available,

with an eye to shackle on, or swaged onto the wire.

Pelican hooks are the best single thing I've ever fitted on the boat.

 

[Bav32]

Definitely string!
On my previous boat I had an occasion where we found two men in the water,clutching on to a semi submerged boat, well offshore.
Long and upsetting story how they got there but it took five fit men to lift each of them on to the side deck of the boat after removing the string at the end of the guard wires,
Even if the boat had a suitable transom, we couldn't have got enough people in position to lift; you just don't realise how much extra weight there is in wet clothing etc.
There is also a serious risk of inducing heart attacks if you lift vertically when a casuality has been in cold water for some time.
I forget the "thermia" but no doubt someone will advise.
Basically by lifting vertically , gravity allows the blood in your core to drop to your very cold feet, and is pumped back into your heart as very cold blood and can start a heart attack.
Horizontal lift reduces the chances of this.

 

[alant]

Definitely string!
On my previous boat I had an occasion where we found two men in the water,clutching on to a semi submerged boat, well offshore.
Long and upsetting story how they got there but it took five fit men to lift each of them on to the side deck of the boat after removing the string at the end of the guard wires,
Even if the boat had a suitable transom, we couldn't have got enough people in position to lift; you just don't realise how much extra weight there is in wet clothing etc.
There is also a serious risk of inducing heart attacks if you lift vertically when a casuality has been in cold water for some time.
I forget the "thermia" but no doubt someone will advise.
Basically by lifting vertically , gravity allows the blood in your core to drop to your very cold feet, and is pumped back into your heart as very cold blood and can start a heart attack.
Horizontal lift reduces the chances of this.

As mentioned #14, hydrostatic shock.

 

[lw395]

String.
Pelican hooks need to be taped up on any boat where people or kite sheets or whatever might get near them.
Also, how about a new bit of string for this season?

 

[Seajet]

String.
Pelican hooks need to be taped up on any boat where people or kite sheets or whatever might get near them.
Also, how about a new bit of string for this season?

I don't know what pelican hooks you've seen but mine have a sliding locking ring ( well, rectangle actually ) and there is zero chance of knocking them undone, people and sometimes sheets have been near mine for years.

The person saying ' use string to avoid heart attacks lifting casualties ' would have been a lot better off with pelican hooks so he could quickly secure the wires rather than risk depositing the recovered bods and /or himself & crew straight back in - unless you are worried enough about cost to put crew safety a dim second, pelican hooks are a no-brainer obvious solution.

 

[alant]

I don't know what pelican hooks you've seen but mine have a sliding locking ring ( well, rectangle actually ) and there is zero chance of knocking them undone, people and sometimes sheets have been near mine for years.

The person saying ' use string to avoid heart attacks lifting casualties ' would have been a lot better off with pelican hooks so he could quickly secure the wires rather than risk depositing the recovered bods and /or himself & crew straight back in - unless you are worried enough about cost to put crew safety a dim second, pelican hooks are a no-brainer obvious solution.

Well, I've known pelican hooks fitted with 'locking rings', come adrift without outside assistance, which is not good, when you have a gap instead of a guard rail at an entry port.
The recovery crew in your scenario, would be back in the cockpit attending to the casualty, so safe from falling back in. Probably fell in in the first place, because of the bloody pelican hook.