Page 401 - Brion Toss - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

snaphook
1-inch 3 ⁄4-inch
webbing webbing
strips

wood or spaced
plastic disk same as
stanchions
wire rope

chart table or taken right out on deck, where the
plastic cover will keep the wet out. You can even
install a strip of track in the cockpit to keep the
pouch in place there.
In the, um, decades since this book was
originally published, paper charts have become
Nicopress eye with thimble
something of a rarity in sailboats, and this Bright
Idea might strike some as obsolete. Two thoughts:
Figure 12-13. Hasse’s jib-taming octopus magazine. 1. In the course of the same decades, we’ve

seen numerous instances of complete failure of
CHART STOWAGE electronic charts, due to lightning, bad software,
mechanical failure, corrosion, etc. Paper charts,
Here’s an idea that brings sailboat hardware into a kept dry and handy, make for cheap insurance.
completely unrelated area: chart stowage.
You start by screwing lengths of boltrope track 2. You can hang moisture-proof Faraday
to the underside of the chart table or the top of a bags on the same sail track setup, to stash at
designated chart locker. Then you get your friendly least some of your electronic gear in during a
local sailmaker to sew lengths of the appropri- lightning storm, and to keep backups in.
ate-sized rope to the top edges of zipper-opening,
clear-plastic chart pouches. You now have the most
compact, easily accessed, tidiest method of stowing LIFELINES AND TETHERS
charts ever known. Keep at least two charts in each
pouch (one facing out on either side, others in the Get your tether line off deck so you don’t fall.
middle) and arrange the pouches according to your
sailing territory. The pouches can be laid on the Flat Tether Lines
Some sailors prefer flat tether straps to rope or wire,
because the straps won’t roll underfoot. That’s true
Stevedore Grip
if you want your tether line on deck, but it makes
When handling slings, get in the habit of holding more sense to get the tether line off the deck: it’s eas-
them with your fingertips—the “Stevedore Grip”— ier to attach to; it’s less likely to be in the way as you
instead of wrapping your fingers around the line. move fore and aft (it’s not, in other words, under-
You’ll avoid getting your fingers caught between
the sling and a load. foot); and it is an extra lifeline at the same time.
So, how do you get it above deck? First, seize a big

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