180 seamanship secrets
Cover meathooks with duct or rigging tape to protect hands and legs. Make
a note to replace meathooked wires at the next opportunity.- Stay and shroud integrity. Nautical bobby pins, called cotter pins, keep your
mast up. On deck, they are used in turnbuckles at the bases of shrouds and
stays. Take your time when checking these. Also inspect the cotter pins in
lifeline terminals, tackles, sheets, and shackles. Replace missing or broken
cotter pins right away. Use a pin that fi ts into its hole snugly. Shorten the legs
so that they stick out 1^1 / 2 times the diameter of the fi tting. Bend the legs to
form a “V” shape of about 25 degrees, but no more than that. Th is makes the
cotter pin easy to remove for replacement or in an emergency. - Deck hardware. Deck hardware—such as winches, blocks, and the
mainsheet traveler—represent your boat’s throttles and gears. Like a fi nely
tuned sports car, they need to operate smoothly to give you the ability to
tune and trim your sails for acceleration and power. For instance, you can
slide the headsail sheet block forward on its track to provide a fuller, more
powerful headsail shape in a light to moderate breeze. In heavy weather,
you can slide it aft to depower the headsail. (See “How to Shape Headsails
for Power and Speed” later in this chapter.) Check screw pins or plungers
Check the integrity of the standing rigging on a regular basis. Th is includes checking the
cotter pins in the turnbuckles and looking for signs of wear and bending on the stays and
shrouds.