PROBLEM WITH SPREADERS

[albion]

HI all. Has anyone found a place to buy safety lines ( the wires to stop you falling overboard) why do the ones that come with the Macs only unclip at the rear, I would like to be able to unclip the middle wires so that I dont have to wrestle with the spreader each time I put the mast up or down when towing and rigging the boat. Has anyone told Roger Macgregor about this nagging problem or is it a boating law to have the middle safety wires so that we cant undo them?

[TonyHouk]

Everyman,
If you put a set of clips at the front you can disconnect the lines there and it will allow enough slack to let the speaders out easier. Have fun, Tony

[LOUIS B HOLUB]

Everyman...thanks for a great idea (it makes a great deal of sense). In my opinion, your idea is better than spreaders that are modified to "unclip" for towing.

[David Mellon]

I still stand by my mod. I removed the two 1/4" machine screws which hold the spreaders to the pivot arm and replaced them with these:



I only need to remove one spreader, I rotate the mast so the other is on the high side and I'm done. It takes less than 20 seconds to remove the spreader or clip it into place. Total cost of this mode was less than $5, I really can't recall it was so cheap. Another benefit of course is safety, it is best to think twice before roaming the foredeck with your safety line down.

[Scott]

I have the same mod/ solution.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

As the boat comes from the factory, at least the X and I think also the M, none of the lifelines can be released. Many dealers have added options that make them releasable.

There is no rule that they cannot be released. There's no rule that you even have to have liflines at all. Just because the factory made one choice (almost always the cheapest), doesn't mean you can't choose something different.

I simply replaced the ring ding shackle at the aft end of the forward lifelines with a key pin shackle. This let's you slack the forward line in 5 seconds or less. With them slack you can lower the mast right onto the lines without any need to mess with the spreaders. No mast rotating or "get the spreaders under the lines dance" on deck required. You just roll the mast to the bow pulpit and lower it down. The key pin shackle keeps the lines from slipping through the stauchion hole so even slacked nothing dangles over the side. This is about a $10 mod for both sides.

I also have releases on the front end of the cockpit lifelines. They are the larger kind as these are constantly being released everytime we dock on a trip. Here is a picture of the cockpit ones. They required no mod to the factory cable to install.




As far as I'm concerned, I'd never want to mess with removing the spreaders, it"s just too much trouble do do every time. I have pulled them a number of times (they're out right now as a matter of fact) when we store the mast to go out mastless. Mainly I would not want to deal with the wire still in the outer tip. This tip is the most fragile part of the whole system. Un-screwing the tip to free the wire is just more hassel.

[David Mellon]

I never removed the tip myself, never had to mess with it in any way. Removing the spreader from one side takes seconds. Then I just roll the mast into place in safety.

[Night Sailor]

I installed fastpins in the front and rear terminals of the life lines for fast access or replacement. The fastpins are tied to the boat so they can't be dropped overboard when boarding at the dock at a raftup, or when detensioning for laying down the mast.

[Frank C]

This is a Ford/Chevy debate, but slightly favors the Chevy (or is that the Ford?)! Either drop the lines - or - drop the spreaders, pick yer poison. (Chip will say, "Why bother with either?!" - Dodge)

I feel it's better to drop the lines since it makes for a quicker hoist to get underway. I frequently reattach the upper lifelines after I'm already cruising away from the dock - can't do that w/the spreaders. This discussion recurs, last time I posted a picture of my Ronstan quick shackle. (search on "dance" ??)

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

There are also times where it is handy to be able to slack the lifelines besides placing the mast in the trailering position.

It's nice to be able to get them out of the way when getting the dinghy on and off the bow. (We store our 10' air floor inflatable rolled up in front of the mast across the front windows. From there it's easy to un-roll and inflate it on the bow.)

It's also handy to get the low trip hazard out of the way if you are going on and off via the bow. Stored on the trailer we keep our boat in a canopy and I just keep a ladder at the bow for easy and dry access onto the boat.

Bluewater used to install pelican hooks at the bow end of the lines, but I like having the release at the aft end of the forward lines. This lets you slack them easily yet when they are slack nothing is hanging over the side.

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

"Why bother with either?!" - Dodge)

Good call Frank. I have two 1953 Dodge M37's, and drive a '97 Dodge van.
On my 26X's, I put pelican hooks on the lifelines.
On the 26M, I don't. Why bother.

[Andy26M]

I added tensioning/detaching devices to the front end of the lifelines so that they can be slacked for loading the mast/spreaders. The side benefit is that when at anchor you can also move the lifelines out of the way up on the bow so the "kids" can jump off the side of the boat.

- Andy