Hi Brad, I single hand a lot of the time and have harness that I use religiously. I have two flat web jack lines (rated for this very purpose) that run from the aft leg of the pulpit back to the stern cleats on both sides of the boat. The through hole bolts at the pulpit are backed by thick stainless washers inside the cabin. The stern cleat is re-enforced on the underside of the u-joint with a 6 inch long 3/8 by 1/2 aluminum bar. The jack lines are attached at the pulpit via a through loop in the web, similarly a web loop is threaded through the underside gap of the stern clean and then back over both ends of the cleat. The web length is adjusted so the belly of the jack line at mid span sits about 8 inches below the toe railing. I have a 6ft tether on my harness with a good quality D Ring (an old mountaineering carabiner back from the days when I was young and immortal) that I clip onto the jack lines with. The rig pops me out 6ft back of the boat when I go overboard which is pretty much the max distance I would want to be from the boat. A final note the webbing degrades with UV and needs to be updated regularly depending on where you sail, up here in Vancouver I am thinking every 3 years or so ... Keith *Keith R. Martin, P.Eng.* *Burnaby, B.C. Canada* *Serenity, M17 #353* On 7 April 2018 at 07:48, brad kurlancheek <bkurlancheek@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello Montgomery Sailors, I finally bit the bullet and shelled out the dough y'day for a West Marine sailing harness and tether. The harness has double D rings, and the tether is double, one 3', the other 6'. My question to the group is to see what if any Monty sailors in the 15 or 17 sail with a harness, and if so, to see what on the boat they attach themselves to. I was out on the Choptank last year having the time of my life, literally, in my M15, on a galloping exhilarating beam reach, but felt a tad bit insecure not being connected to anything. If anyone's ever been tossed (out of the cockpit, into the deep, blue sea) feel free to relate your experience, with or without wearing a harness & tethered to boat. Thanks! - Brad