"I'm Wired"................!

A couple of blogs ago, if you remember, I made a promise to try and minimize my lambasting of West Marine and their prices that send my wallet into twitching like a dumb kid in a spelling bee.....and, you must admit, my promise held true........till now!!  When ZOSHA first came into my stewardship she had ratty old frayed lifelines fabricated from 5/16" nylon three strand that were lashed to the stanchions ......the lashing part is OK.......matter of fact, the Offshore Racing Council or whatever that offshore sailing guru organization is prefers life line lashings over turnbuckles. The old nylon three strand is what has to go. Now, what to replace them with ? First a few HA measurements......mmmmm lets see....28' on deck another foot or two to accommodate the midships deck curve and to clear the outboard shrouds and then 3' up the bowsprit to the terminal end on the pulpit and figure a 10% fudge factor ..........mmmm my figuring according to the semi-marine calculator  in my $8 cell phone indicates  36.3' per line times 4 lines equals more or less about 145 ft of life line material....I think ?  OK....now what?  There are a number of acceptable choices here in no particular order....first: solid life line fabricated from welded stainless steel tubing like our friend did on Namaste  in Australia.....my wallet is convulsing as we speak so this option is not for me.....second: get on the AMSTEEL/ DYNEEMA bandwagon ....soft lifelines made from the newest, greatest, most powerful, awe inspiring, gift to nautical cordage since Kevlar.....13,700 lbs of breaking strength for 5/16 "! this line is fantastic. Riggers are using this stuff for lifelines, running backs, lazy jacks, and complete standing rigging set ups !! its truly a miracle product....I bought 200' of it from Defender on sale for 99 cents a foot....BTW its $2.71 per foot in the current West catalogue.

This stuff is great but, at least for me its a bee itch to splice....my Locking Brummels come out looking like Whoopie Goldberg dreadlocks!! crappy.....the local rigger  does beautiful Locking Brummel's...for $13 each!!  Plus $75 per hour surcharge to come to the boat to custom splice around the stanchion holes..

OK plan C...... standard wire lifelines..... first question..."covered  or uncovered" ? 

7x19....3/16".. uncovered....$2.83 per foot in current West catalogue 

7x7..3/16" covered wire size, 5/16" OD....$3.56 per foot in current West catalogue

7x19 ...3/16" stainless wire from Home Depot.....125 ft for $59.77.... 48 cents  per foot!!

N

Now lets go back to West Marine......look what I found in another part of the store away from all the lifeline stuff................ 5/32" ....316 stainless rail cable.....100 feet for $87.99 !!

My purpose here was not to price out a complete lifeline set up but to look at the costs of a major component of the system.....the fittings and terminals are going to cost the same regardless of what wire you buy and are probably comparable in cost to all the Locking Brummel's and thimbles you'll need. if you go the AMSTEEL route....unless you can master the splice yourself!!!

I was all set to go with the AMSTEEL....stronger than steel cable, won't rust, it stretches less under load than steel cable , its lighter and easier on hands, butts and other body parts that inadvertently tackle it....then someone on the dock.....Radio Free Darryl  if I remember right said "yes but you can cut it with a knife or scissors or some kind of sharp instrument"....this comment started me thinking....!  

Take care my friends.....HAPPY THANKSGIVING.....Peace to you all......