Practical Boat Owner – September 2019

USES FOR A TARPAULIN

2 A-frame

This is the classic shelter. You can rig it in
two ways:

A. String a ridge line cord between two
trees and use the trucker’s hitch (see
page 70) to tension.
Drape the tarpaulin over it and peg out
the edges – either through the tarp’s loops
or use guy lines for a more open and
elevated structure.
Use the friction hitch to adjust the guy
lines and tension the tarp on the ridge line
cord using Prusik loops.

B. If there are no convenient trees, copy
hikers and mountaineers who use trekking
poles as supports at each end of the ridge
line. You can use the oars from the tender
or kayak paddles instead of poles and it’s
a lot easier with two people – particularly if
there’s a breeze!
Use a clove hitch to secure the middle
of a length of cord to the paddle and peg

Just the job to keep the sun off at lunch
time or dew later in the evening and ideal
if you have more crew than bunks and
someone (let it be the snorer) has chosen
the short straw and is sleeping in the
cockpit.
Fix one end of the ridge line under (or
over) the boom and the other to the
backstay. Use the guy lines to stretch out
the tarp to the lifelines and use a friction
hitch or clove hitch to secure. Depending
on the boat, you may find you need to
extend the stanchions to give adequate
headroom and some creativity is required
if you have a split backstay.

out the ends – it should free stand like a

tripod. Repeat with another paddle and

leave a gap of about 3.5m between the

two. Use your ridge line cord to join the

tops of the paddles together and adjust

the tension in the guy lines – you should

now have a taught, freestanding structure.

Like method A, drape the tarp over the

ridge line cord, peg out the edges and

tension the ridge line with the Prusiks.

If you’re feeling brave you can rig a

hammock in the same way, and a single

paddle can be used to rig the wind

cheating plough configuration.

Four ways to rig a tarpaulin

1 Boom mounted

sunshade/tent

RIGHT A tarpaulin rigged as a sun shade
on a friend’s Jeanneau 40.9

A simple tarpaulin shelter hitched

between a tree and a kayak paddle

Freestanding

tripod of

lines and oar

Use Prusiks

to tension the

tarp on the

ridge line

A-frame, low set-up The wind cheating plough set-up

A pair

joined with

a ridge line

D

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id

L

M

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A

K/

Al

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Prusik knot

Sl

ide

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