Sunday, October 21, 2007

I Can Tie Knots With My Feet







Help please.


Team Gherkin said...

I dont know an immediate answer. I'm one of those who ties the end of the main to the back of the hiking strap... so I can't throw the trailing end overboard to iron out the kinks [as I read somewhere]. My little Laser 'quirk' is to keep my sheet at the back of the cockpit - but on the starboard side! Why... I really don't know! There's no logical reason for it other than familiarity, probably. heh heh
Mal :)

EVK4 said...

one guy who sails with me can cleat a line with his "behind"....I think the technical term is a butt cleat. Maybe I'll do a video instruction on it some day, basically, you get the tail end of a line and sit on it. Works like a charm every time.

PeconicPuffin said...

I have become fairly competent at dropping components that really shouldn't be dropped (carbon fiber thingamajigs) and slowing their descent with my foot, catching them just before they hit hard. It's easier than bending over and laying something on the ground. Also I can pick up marbles with my toes.

xxxmax said...

i'm a frontender.....but i found the macrame' elf in my cockpit and i killed him....slowly, with great joy.....
trick is to flake out your sheet prior to getting to the weather mark, it isnt like the mark is sneeking up on you, so as you approach the top of the course, think about the rounding and make flaking out your sheet another item on the checklist, usually the first and done the furthert away from the mark, just semi pull it out and flake it in the cockpit in your preffered location, 9 times outta ten it'll work like a charm and when it doesn't, the know is minor at best.

Tillerman said...

Butt cleat?? Picking up marbles with your toes??? If there isn't a picture it didn't happen.

Inquiring minds demand to see photos of these superhuman feats on your blogs.

Tillerman said...

xxxmax tell me more. You might have the secret. How exactly do you flake the sheet? And what if it's already in a knot?

Carol Anne said...

I got Bzzz line for the mainsheet on my boat about a year ago, and when it was brand-new, it was a nightmare of kinks. It got much better with time, although it does still occasionally create the annoying tangle, usually when rounding a windward mark.

Something that worked for me ... start at the end of the mainsheet that's closer to the boom. Clasp the sheet with your right hand, with the boom end of the sheet to your left and the majority of the sheet, leading up to the loose end, to your right. Using your left hand, pull the sheet through your right hand, keeping your right hand tightly enough clenched to press kinks out of the rope. Repeat this task gazillions of times.

To keep the task from getting boring, it's good to find someone with whom to maintain a conversation. Or find a small child who thinks the whole thing is a lot of fun, especially if it means she gets to spend time with the world's greatest grandfather.

Post a Comment