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Call them what you will, jacklines, jackstays or safety lines, but these deck lines are essential for any cruiser/passagemaker. They are two lines running on your deck, bow to stern, port and starboard to which you can clip your harness snap shackle when you exit the cockpit. There are many arguments for and against as to when a sailor should or should not 'clip on' when out of the cockpit - I am not going to go into that now, suffice to say that anytime you are in adverse weather and especially at night and anytime during night watch, it is a golden rule to 'clip on' when leaving your cockpit. The best lines are made from nylon webbing 25mm wide. Do not use plastic coated wire as this can easily roll a foot when stepped on when going forward in a hurry. When cruising they are going to be in position 24/7 and therefore constantly exposed to the suns' rays. Black is best as it discolours less quickly and is least affected by uv action. ‘Tere Moana’ had a black aluminium toe rail with scupper holes the full length, so there were plenty of attachment points near the bow and across the transom to choose from. I wanted as straight a run as I could get so I planned on attaching them as far forward as possible and run them right aft and attach to the outside corner of the toe rail at her stern. This is what you need: Black nylon webbing 25mm wide and cut to length, four D-shackles, four quick link shackles. Lay the webbing out on the deck, outside everything. This is so that when clipped on, your harness shackle can travel freely the full length of the line unobstructed. Measure how much webbing you need. Go to your local sailmaker and have him double sew the D-links onto the ends of the webbing. Back on board lay out the webbing flat again, secure the stern ends first with their quicklink. Go forward and find a suitable slot in the toe rail for the forward quick link and pull the webbing snap tight before linking onto their respective quicklink shackle. By having the webbing flat and snap tight on your deck you will never catch unsuspecting toes under it - but it is still easy enough to slip a finger under to secure your harness snap shackle. This is done from inside the cockpit, so that when you exit you are already hooked on. Now you have a real neat set of jacklines which you will be really pleased with(having made them yourself) and which will serve you well on your voyage. All you need to do now is to rinse them occasionally with fresh water and every two years have the stitching at the D-links renewed - the thread used for stitching will deteriorate more quickly than the webbing. For those belt and braces types, you can make short nylon fabric sleeves to slip over the sewn turnbacks at the D-links. If you have teak decking you may have to clean accumulated dirt from under the webbing from time to time. You can do this when you rinse the webbing. You can read more about jacklines/jackstays and how effective they are in a 'situation' at sea in my ebook 'Voyage of the little Ship 'Tere Moana' and my '101 Dollar Saving Tips for Sailors' downloadable from my sailboat2adventure website website for sailors
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