What’s important is to use a short tether to ideally keep you in the boat or if you do go overboard to keep you out of the water as much as possible.ĭissecting A Tether. Personally, I still think tethers are a critical piece of safety equipment. Since this accident, some people have argued that if you go overboard, you’re more likely to survive if you aren’t tethered to the boat. One of the contributing factors to his death was the length of his tether which allowed him to be washed overboard where he was dragged along the side the boat while his head slid underwater. He had been wearing an integrated PFD/harness and a tether. In 2011, Christopher Reddish, a well known sailboat racer went overboard during a nighttime sail change and drowned before he was retrieved. Fortunately, Not As Controversial As Gun Control. The key takeaway is that a tether can save your life.

After an ordeal like that, you’ll definitely be needing a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies. If you fall off the boat, you’re still attached to it which makes it easier to get you back on the boat. A tether is basically a leash which is attached to a harness that you wear (either integrated into a PFD, aka personal flotation device, or separate) and then attached to the boat. One of the ways to prevent this is to be tethered to your boat. But, occasionally I have to put the cookies down and think about dreadful stuff - like one of us falling off of the boat, floating away and drowning. I try not to think about it too much because dwelling on my fears causes me to eat too many chocolate chip cookies. So here’s the deal – sailing can be dangerous in far too many ways. Really, really long.Ī Safety Tether Could Save Your Life. If you do decide to carry on and read this, go get a snack first. I know my eyes always glaze over and I start to search for pencils in need of sharpening when I read detailed blog posts and articles about boat equipment.īut, as safety tethers are designed to save your life (at least that’s the theory and even that’s up for debate), this might be worth a read if getting a new tether is on your list of “extremely dull but important things” to do and you’re pondering what kind to get and whether you should make it yourself. Even if you’re into boating, you may find this dull beyond belief. You’d be better off shutting down your computer and doing something more fun like sharpening pencils with an emery board. If you’re not into boating, then you’ll find this blog post extremely boring.

Make your own sailor scout