Tied Line releases rudder-Duane Dunn
Tied Line releases rudder-Duane Dunn
Duane, you mentioned a way to tie down the rudder line to the cleat so that it releases when you hit something. I looked in the search section and could not find it. I tried it once and it worked when I hit some seaweed but forgot to write it down how it is tied. How do you tie that again? I am leaving in a couple of days for Puget Sound and plan to use that method at the extreme low tides up there. Thanks
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Duane Dunn, Allegro
- Admiral
- Posts: 2459
- Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 6:41 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Bellevue, Wa '96 26x, Tohatsu 90 TLDI and Plug In Hybrid Electric drive
- Contact:
It's a pretty simple approach that some find works, others don't.
You lead the hold down line through the hole in the center of the cleat between the bolts. Pull it tight. Then take the tail of the lift up line and wrap it around the cleat under the horns a few times. Just go round and round until the line is pinching the hold down line against the deck. You are not cleating the tail of the hold down line at all. It is captured under the cleat by friction of the wrapped lift up part of the line. There should be a free loop on the tail of the hold down line.
This should hold your rudders down in normal conditions. When the rudder hits and object, because the hold down line is not cleated the rudder can swing up out of the way once the force is greater than the friction keeping the line in place.
Keep a close eye while you are up here next week. The lowest tides of the year are on June 4th at 12:26pm and July 2nd at 11:25am. They are both -4.1 tides. There won't be tides this low again until 2008. It will be a great time to explore parts of beaches rarely seen.
You lead the hold down line through the hole in the center of the cleat between the bolts. Pull it tight. Then take the tail of the lift up line and wrap it around the cleat under the horns a few times. Just go round and round until the line is pinching the hold down line against the deck. You are not cleating the tail of the hold down line at all. It is captured under the cleat by friction of the wrapped lift up part of the line. There should be a free loop on the tail of the hold down line.
This should hold your rudders down in normal conditions. When the rudder hits and object, because the hold down line is not cleated the rudder can swing up out of the way once the force is greater than the friction keeping the line in place.
Keep a close eye while you are up here next week. The lowest tides of the year are on June 4th at 12:26pm and July 2nd at 11:25am. They are both -4.1 tides. There won't be tides this low again until 2008. It will be a great time to explore parts of beaches rarely seen.