Stashing Emergency Line

You’re out on the water and a line breaks.  Inhaul, outhaul, downhaul, uphaul, harness line…something you need snaps.   You’ll be happier if you’re carrying a piece or two of downhaul line to put yourself back together.   In twenty years of windsurfing  this has only happened to me once (I’m fanatical about checking and replacing worn line) but the time it did I was two miles from the launch and my harness line tore off.   Yes I could have flipped the boom (that’s fun to do in deep water) but instead I pulled out a piece of line, tied it on, and had an improvised harness line  that worked just fine to get me back home.

When I bought a new harness recently I didn’t make a point of stashing emergency line on it (I usually have two downhauls taped behind the bar).  But after Christian’s adventure at sea a few months ago I made a point of correcting that situation (as did Christian).  He and I opt for behind the bar storage, but you can also stash line in the back pocket of your harness if you have one (I don’t want to take my harness off if I don’t have to) or put a piece in the luff sleeve pocket of every one of your sails (requires sails with pockets, and line in each sail).

Do this.   And while you’re at it, replace all your downhaul lines for cold weather sailing (now is not the season you want to use your emergency lines).  Cut off the worn portion of your downhauls and make them your new outhauls.  Check boom inhauls (how often do you do that?)   For super stud status, replace your lines with Formuline if you haven’t already, and glory in easier downhauling and longer line life.

(Looks a little silly, works great.  My purple tape and Christian's blue line both call more attention to the set up than perhaps is necessary.  I'm going to switch to electrical tape in the name of fashion!  Note the orange bit on my rig...that's a safety whistle...less than $5 at Amazon.    Photo by Jeff.)

Comments

[Brian S]

Good tip. I also put duct tape over the vee part of the hook. This prevents the knot in my adjustable harness line from dropping through and getting caught in the hook. Scary thing to happen if you're under water and under the sail.

[Michael]

Good point, Brian. We did a post on the dangers of an open hook years ago. I don't sail with adjustable lines so I don't worry about it personally, but it's good to remember.

[Christian]

The emergency whistle is another thing we'd discussed adding. Mine is sitting in a jacket waiting to be taped to my spreader bar. Not doing much good there!
Thanks for reminding me to get that done.

[Michael]

I forgot to mention the whistle! Just amended that.

[george]

i always wrap an extra pc of downhaul line arond my harness in case something breaks. And once i even used it as an uphual when the wind died on me
live2sail

[s kielt]

we might need it for thursday...i hope!

[Dennis]

I have a couple spare downhaul/outhaul lines in the front velcro'd pocket of my.....wait for it.......pfd!!

I also have an emergency whistle on a lanyard in that pocket.

Thanks for the reminder to change out downhaul/outhaul lines this time of year.