[C320-list] Lifeline hardware specs

[Jack Brennan]

Hi Scott:

I did dyneema lifelines on my last sailboat. I’m wavering as to whether to do it on my 320 or stay with cable.

Use ¼-inch dyneema 12-strand. Amsteel Blue is fine at $1.16 a foot. About 130 feet or so will be right for the 320.

Hardware depends on your tolerance for spending. Johnson makes nice hardware for this, but it’s not cheap. You can find marine-grade snap shackles with eyes and eye bolts/eye nuts that will accomplish the same for considerably less.

A nice setup is eight snap shackles, on each end of the lifelines. Use eight sets of bolts/nuts so that they terminate outside the farthest stanchion in each direction.  This will keep the lifelines intact in the center of the boat while allowing you to have gates on both sides of the stern and bow. 

The thing about dyneema is that it’s not pre-stretched. So you will set up the lines perfectly, and your lifelines will be sagging a month later. It also doesn’t handles knots well; a cow hitch works best, according to tests.

A good approach is to tie the lines with cow hitches at the start, then drape wet towels and things on the lifelines to stretch them. Tighten them every week or so until the stretch stops.

At that point, you want to use Brummel splices to create eyes in the dyneema. Youtube has wonderful videos that show you how to do this easy splice. Some people use double braid to lash the eyes to the hardware; others splice it directly. Your choice.

Dyneema has incredible strength and good resistance to UV. However, the early consensus seems to be that you need to replaces the dyneema every five years. Guard against chafing at the stanchions.

This seems to be the way everyone is going. It would work better is someone designed a decent cover for the dyneems that also gave you as niver grip.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320, no. 528
Tierra Verde, Fl.
Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay




Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Scott Thompson
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2019 12:49 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Lifeline hardware specs

What terminals and hardware did you use? What size Dyneema? Some 
detailed pictures for the website would be welcome as this job is coming 
up for me.

On 6/3/2019 11:11 AM, Ray Taylor wrote:
> We just finished changing our lifelines to Dyneema and couldn't be happier.  The only hardware we reused was the pelican hooks.
> West Marine or Seco will be happy to sewage new wires at a reasonable cost.  I'd consider sending them the old lifelines, but that puts the boat out of service for a couple weeks.
> Good luck,
> Ray
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On May 31, 2019, at 4:46 AM, Scott Thompson <surprise at thompson87.com> wrote:
>
>>    Following up on the email below: I'm having trouble finding the exact
>>    part numbers that apply to my boat. However the manufacturer of the
>>    lifeline hardware on my 1999 boat (hull # 653) is Hayn. You can find
>>    their details here:
>>    [1]http://www.hayn.com/marine/lifeline/pelican.html.
>>
>>    See also various parts sold separately at:
>>    [2]http://www.hayn.com/marine/replacement/index.html
>>
>>    Finally, my recollection is that I got good customer service when I
>>    contacted them directly. They sold me just the parts I needed, even
>>    though not in their catalog. I would definitely call them to discuss
>>    reusing parts while replacing (for example) just the y did a good job.swage studs. You
>>    will need different swaged studs if you change the wire size, but you
>>    want to make sure that threaded parts are compatible with the ones you
>>    are reusing.
>>
>>    On 5/28/2019 9:56 AM, Scott Thompson wrote:
>>
>> I’m out cruising with no access to boat records. But I did identify the brand us
>> ed on our 1999 boat a few years ago when I had to replace a spring in a Pelican
>> hook. I’ll try to circulate that in a few days after we are back home.
>>
>>
>> On May 28, 2019, at 7:26 AM, John morrison [3]<sail-ability at sympatico.ca> wrote:
>>
>> I would seek out a boat fitter who does swaging. I know that once swaged on fitt
>> ings cannot be re-used. The parts which are screwed on obviously can. I would al
>> so look at using bare cables. All the new boats are using it and it is easier to
>> inspect and clean.
>> John
>> 1999#574
>>
>> On May 27, 2019, at 7:22 PM, Jack Brennan [4]<jackbrennan at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>>
>> Hello all:
>>
>> Does anyone know what the specs are for the swages on our lifelines?
>>
>> My lifelines are looking past their due date, but it seems to me that the pelica
>> n hooks, gates, etc., are all in good shape and that I don’t need to buy the ent
>> ire kit from Catalina Direct.
>>
>> So if I could find a way to sources swaged fittings that work with that hardware
>> , I would only need to buy some 7x7 wire and the swages to redo the lifelines. U
>> sing one piece of hardware, I did a cursory check at West Marine and couldn’t fi
>> nd anything that matches.
>>
>> So, obviously, my next step is to ask whether anyone else has walked this path b
>> efore me and knows the answer.
>>
>> Jack Brennan
>> Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320, no. 528
>> Tierra Verde, Fl.
>> Dolphin Cruising Club of Tampa Bay
>>
>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Scott Thompson
>> Surprise, #653
>>
>> References
>>
>>    1. http://www.hayn.com/marine/lifeline/pelican.html
>>    2. http://www.hayn.com/marine/replacement/index.html.
>>    3. mailto:sail-ability at sympatico.ca
>>    4. mailto:jackbrennan at bellsouth.net