Cheap and effective, they don’t wrap or slide
Issue 108: May/June 2016
I sail my Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2, Quee Queg, on lakes and reservoirs in Arizona, where accurately discerning wind direction can be especially tricky. I like to use shroud telltales and have used everything from yarn to ribbon to old cassette tape. The trouble with them all is that, as well as deteriorating quickly, they tend to get wrapped around the shrouds or slide down. They constantly have to be unwrapped or pushed up. In frustration, I developed an improvement.
After selecting a point on each shroud for its telltale, I cut rubber adhesive-backed tape (something like chafe tape or sail tape will do) into 1⁄4-inch-wide strips. At the spots I selected, I wrapped the tape in two places about 5 inches apart. These built-up tape wraps limit the telltale’s movement up and down the shroud.
I then cut two 1 1⁄2-inch-long pieces from an ordinary drinking straw, slit them lengthwise, and slipped them onto
the shroud cable between the tape wraps.
For the telltales, I cut the plastic drawstring out of a Hefty trash bag into two 18-inch lengths. I smeared Liquid Nails on the surface of one end of each telltale, then folded that end gently around the applied straw segment, being careful not to squeeze the straw. With an office stapler, I stapled this folded area to add strength and stability until the glue was dry. I like Liquid Nails glue, but any good glue will work.
This telltale is light enough to follow the wind and its ribbon shape helps it fly. With the tape delimiters, I never
have to push a telltale back up the shroud; it stays in the same place all the time. The straw and telltale, being plastic, are rugged enough to last 3 to 4 months before they fully deteriorate in the mile-high Arizona sun.
These telltales are cheap and easy to make. Best of all, I never have to unwrap them.
Pete Begich has been sailing for about 45 years and, as an ASA-certified instructor, taught basic keelboat and basic coastal cruising at Marina Sailing in Newport Beach, California, to more than 500 students over five years.
These days, he teaches in and sails his 1983 Boston Whaler Harpoon 5.2, Quee Queg, on nearby reservoirs in northern Arizona.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
