A tether keeps your tools aboard
Issue 49 : Jul/Aug 2006
I’ve lost quite a few items during my years of sailing to the aqueous, gravity-enhanced environment. It all began many years ago with my first daysailer that I kept on a mooring. During one particularly dry summer, I needed to adjust the length of the mooring chain in order to reduce the circle of swing. I attempted to accomplish this task while leaning precariously over the transom of a rowboat. With a little too much applied pressure and a little slip, I watched helplessly as one of my wrenches unceremoniously flew from my hand, did a one-and-a-half somersault that would have made Greg Louganis proud, and slid beneath the murky green water.
I had read somewhere that as soon as an item is inadvertently dropped over the side of a moored boat, you should lower a weight on a line to the bottom. The weight will settle exactly at the lost item’s location. A swimmer can then quickly make the recovery. After repeated attempts, all that I achieved was a greater proficiency in my surface diving technique. Not to worry, technology to the rescue! I replaced the weight with a hefty magnet and tried again. You’d be surprised at what’s down there!
Since that eventful day, I’ve tried to tether my tools with all sorts of line, string, and twine . . . if tethering material was readily at hand, that is, and if I took the time to use it. I’ve had mixed success at this, but the aesthetics of bailing twine knotted about my tools is not what I’d term nautically acceptable.
Aware of my dilemma, my wife presented me with a Tool Leash made by Fastening Solutions, Inc., of Tarzana, California. This little beauty consists of a pair of self-coiling lanyards, connected together with a carabiner on one end and swivel snap hooks on the other. The lanyards stretch to 4 feet and can handle tools or accessories weighing up to 30 pounds. To make tool attachment easy, this leash comes with 10 adjustable tool rings (cable ties with eyes); additional rings are available at electrical supply houses. Once a tool ring has been fastened to a tool, the tool can easily be snapped on/off the leash. Since I’ve equipped my most frequently used tools with tool rings, my contribution to Poseidon’s tool chest has ceased.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
