All of these videos are outstanding. The shared personal experience adds so much depth and breadth to the subject matter and the real-world examples make it both interesting and enjoyable. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.
I find that there was not one minute in this video that was just "fillings" to "make time", that was sooooo refreshing! Thank you. 23 minutes of useful information. I love my Plastimo too and had it for 10 years. I do have reservations about jacklines and tethering yourself, especially if you sail solo. I vividly remember a sailboat being brought into Nanaimo by CCG and no one allowed to approach. The sails were rags, the boat was in terrible condition and what was not to be seen was the apparent solo sailor that had been dragged by his boat when he fell overboard with his tether hooked up. One trick with jacklines is to soak them in fresh water before installing them as tights as you can , and when they dry dry they shrink! :-) I went with Steiner commander 7x30. I find the quality was worth it and (7x) is enough mag to keep us out of trouble! LOL Sailing gloves are very useful while racing but while cruising in the PNW they help keeping your hands warm! 🙂 thanks
Thanks Alain. I appreciate the kind feedback. Tethers and jacklines are a very hot topic, almost as hot as lazy jacks and preventers. My personal belief is to rely on a tether while single handed only as an absolute last resort and use one that can be released under load or always carry a knife and nowadays a PLB
On every boat I've ever been on I'm the first to put on a PFD, the only one with a rigging knife/marlin spike, and my tether is always attached. I've read the accident reports. Most drownings are of people not wearing a life jacket. They were 'within reach,' which is the US Coast Guard requirement, but whatever happened the person in the water couldn't reach it or was unconscious. What I did for my own 46' sailboat which I usually sail solo is my jacklines are high up. The previous owner was a fire fighter, so good safety knowledge and thinking. I liked it so I've kept them up high. They don't get in the way of anything. My double tether is a bit long.... After seeing a RU-vid video where they discussed What happens if you go over the life lines and your hanging there? Can you pull yourself up? I think I can, but what I've done is to DIY 1" webbing to make a 4' (1.2m) tether. It's sewn correctly. At one end is a loop where I use a carabiner to attach it to my PFD, but at the other end the loop extends back about 16" (40 cm). There's a loop right at the end, but then about about 12"(30cm) there's a bulge to make another attachment point ( then enough webbing to sew all the rows of stitches to make it strong). So there are two carabiners at this end. This is specific to my boat. If I fall, I won't go over the life lines but I have enough slack to do almost everything I might need to do. The second carabiner allows me to have a shorter length so a bit more secure, but it also gives me the needed secure transfer around the shrouds where my jacklines are attached. For headlamps what I've learned is that all of the inexpensive ones are too dim to be of much use. Get a good one. I have a Black Diamond. I love the rechargeable battery (you don't need one with a monster battery at the back of your head. I can use mine on deck, working on projects, reading a book.) I always carry a >2000 mAh lithium battery and charging cords. If say my iPhone drains I can loop the cord around my neck, plug my phone in and tuck the battery in a pocket. I've also found that really bright LED flashlights are small enough for a pocket, but bright enough to shine around rocks and things on moonless nights. I always have one that goes up to 1700 Lumens in my pocket (nerd with emergency training...) But I've got another one on board that's even brighter maybe 3000 lumens. You want these to have multiple light levels, a strobe, red light, and a rechargeable battery. This one replaces a huge 6 or 12v one that has something as big as a car headlamp on it. Always on the back end of my flashlights I wrap that stretchy silicone tape. Now I can securely hold it in my teeth without damaging my teeth. You also want a good waterproof rating. A salt environment can be really hard, even on waterproof electronics. (First step when anything electrical doesn't work is Contact Cleaner.) Binoculars. Great advice. They need to work at night, so 7x50. I also have a pair of Fujinon 14x40 TSX1440 Image-Stabilized Binoculars. These cost about U$1300. Absolutely brilliant. Unlike the stabilized Canons these don't 'fuzz' out when stabilized. They're tack sharp. But what you see is only about one quarter as bright as 7 x 50s; so at night? Pretty useless. I've had a pair for a few years, love them. I've read more sides of ships and identified more 'stuff' far out in front of the boat with them. But these are only in addition to 7x 50s. I've got the Spinlock PFD, added a personal EPIRB (I am almost always the only sailor on board, even when there are other people. If I go overboard I can't count on my friends remembering what to do. The Mustang is a lot more comfortable (at the neck). I made crotch straps for the Mustang, then made a bunch for friends. 1" webbing, a loop stitched on one end. This gets carabiner'd to one side of the PFD, then the webbing goes under a leg, then up and through the vertical back strap and then down under the other leg. At this end I have slide adjusters and a carabiner. This way it can be adjusted. What I know is that if anyone in that vest is dropped a hook from a helicopter all they have to do is clip in, they are not going to fall out of that rig. The Spinlock came with a strap. PFDs with crotch straps can be a little fussy to put on... but wearing it is comfortable. You put them on like a pair of pants. The Gerber knife looks really good. One thing when buying a knife for use at sea. Check the reviews. Does it hold its edge? I've got a kayaking knife that I thought was pretty good, but whenever I went to use it the edge was gone. To cut Kevlar, and Dyneema for making soft shackles I bought a pair of Claus Shears. 8" Really useful and not too expensive. Better than any pair of scissors. Do those ceramic knives shatter if they get dropped on something hard? If so get two. They're cheap enough. For gloves. I have terrible circulation in my hands and feet, so I needed gloves to keep my hands warm. For a very long High North Pacific ocean crossing I stepped onboard with a pair of lined rubber janitor gloves. Everybody had a good laugh. They were brilliant (the gloves, not the knuckleheads. They also laughed at carabiners and paracord. I hid my stash of Vietnamese aluminum clothes hangers - until I started using them.) What I have now are heavy duty rubber gloves that go up my arm a bit, and merino wool liners - two pairs. This way I can swap out the liners to dry. The rubber gloves cost like $10 and liners? $30. They work almost as good as sailing gloves, they might get damaged but they'll protect your hands. For general safety mind set I follow aviation accident analysis. Once flying was one of the most dangerous things anyone could do. Commercial aviation is now safer than driving to the airport. There's an expectation of every pilot that if they do something wrong, they need to report it. There's no penalty for reporting it. The FAA wants to know, what you think you did wrong, and why do you think you did it? I always say, I will be the dumbest guy on the boat, but I will learn everything I can. Checklists. The best most experienced pilots always use checklists. It's too easy to be interrupted by something, another person, a thought, almost anything, and then not remember a step. (This is why my engine keys are kept on my engine thru hull. I once opened that hatch, and closed the valve. I'd forgotten to close it after the last time I went out. My brain was not 'it has to be open,' but 'reach in and turn it.' I've been using ball valves for over 40 years at that point. Stupid mistake? That's what nitpickers would say. Human mistake. What someone else did, I might do.) Stay safe. Sorry to go on and on.
Good episode, lots of equipment options! Could you elaborate more about the binos with compass? I’m trying to find out if my next set will have to be with or without compass. I particularly dislike to have technology to back up technology but many people say I have to buy one built in. Could you tell me more about your experience? Thank you!
Thanks for the comment Dan, I did briefly touch on this in my video. When I bought my binoculars I thought the built in compass would have been a desirable feature. In retrospect after twenty plus years of heavy use I have not really used the compass so if I was buying today I would probably go for the Fujinon Polaris or Steiners without compass. As mentioned in the video the built in compass is not damped enough and is actually hard to use on a small boat to get an accurate reading. My Plastimo hand bearing compass with glow in the dark illumination has been fine. Hope this helps your decision making.
Where did you find that blue basic tether Marco?...short of sewing one. I'm not big on all the gizmos that get in the way and make clipping in and out more difficult than it needs to be. Wack and she's on, that's what I need
Its now yellow but essentially the same www.westmarine.com/west-marine-orc-specification-single-safety-tether-11878709.html?queryID=9c2bea9c5ee9e3568e94c07052adf3da&objectID=11878709&indexName=production_na01_westmarine_demandware_net__WestMarine__products__en_US
@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine See, that's what I mean. All the 'new' ones have a snap shackle and safety carabiner. I don't want that junk... just a good ol simple one like you have there. Pretty sure I'm going to have to sew one. Cheers
14:47] Sailors' rigging knives? You want a proper sailor's rigging knife? Get one from Mudd Sharrigan in Wiscasset Maine - you can look him up in Wooden Boat's archives. He's over 90 years old, still making his knives, but he won't be doing this for a whole lot longer. Get your order in now, you are going to have to wait a little while, but the price is half of what they ought to be.
@@CarpeDiemSailingMagazine Mudd? his real name is seldom remembered, he's Armenian. He's actually my sister's father-in-law. One man, one knife, one at a time.
Hand bearing compasses are fine, but the iPhone app, Compass Eye, is just as handy, and the iPhone is always in your pocket. And Compass Eye is cheaper, too.
Thank you for the comment. I will check it out but like I said in the video, I’m personally not big on electronic backup to electronics. The benefits of my hand bearing compass is that it will work no matter what and does not not need batteries or software
Marco, Very interesting video with a great assortment useful gear. Your tip about the ceramic knife is quite something. We look forward to watching your future videos, in particular testing the SeeArch!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Nice presentation and camera work. I was particularly interested in your recommended binocular sizing recommendation as this is not obvious unless you have a lot of experience (as you clearly have). So thanks a lot and keep those video coming. Greetings from France 🇫🇷
6:50] I'm taking a deep breath here to calm my nerves. "Fail safe," technically means 'fail to safe,' or if a system fails it will fail to a safe condition. Which is different than mere redundancy. Alone, sailing single handed, being drug to death over the side of your yacht by your tether and harness at say six or seven knot is not a safe condition, it is only slightly less lethal than the alternative. Your second "fail safe" is to cut away from that? Think about that statement. You really don't ever want to go overboard. When I was a very small child, like three or five years old, sailing aboard my families Pearson Ariel, I was forced to wear this little monkey harness - I hated it. I didn't even wear a life jacket. I could hold the lifeline and look over it, but it was impossible for me to fall overboard. Just the way my parents arranged it. That was fifty years ago - more than.
I have tough hands, long time hay farmer, but I do wear gloves especially while racing. I can use the glove the let a halyard run while storing the sails (20 ft boat, I should add). After this video, will purchase a knife, great advice.
Great tips. I agree. I bought the plastimo and use it also when I go flying. Definitely a must have. I also have the marine binoculars and enjoy them very much. I also enjoy being in the kitchen and definitely recommend the ceramic knife. Great tips, Marco. Thank you so much. Very much interested in the sea-arch. Looking forward to your video. Once again thank you so much for these videos. Thoroughly enjoy them.
Great, concise info. Thanks. Some of those cheap kitchen knives can cut. I still have a couple I bought in Switzerland some years ago. The arch looks like a good thing where you can spot people in the sea. I'd really like to see it demonstrated by an objective person. Thanks again.
On the 2021 vendee globe, few sailors wore harnesses or lifelines because they felt it gave them a false sense of security, & if they fell overboard they would never get back on board at the speed the boats were travelling.
6:10] Yes, you could be drug to death and drowned by your safety harness and tether if can allow you to get into the water. Sail single handed that is the risk you take. How many times has this actually happened??
Yes I agree it is a risk and people have to be aware that the harness and tether are not a guarantee of safety. I've heard of several incidents where this has happened and people have died.
