Although they passed load testing last week, our ratlines are slipping. Amanda is trying to dissect one of the original lines. Next, we will try glue over the newly lashed lines; a technique of a local rigger. On the port side, an electrical tape wrap under the lashing is recommended in several publications. We shall see...
1 comment:
Hi...I've got a Seawind with ratlines (Hull #35, 1963) going up the portside lower shrouds. I too had slipping ratlines when I first put them up. The problem is, of course, that stainless steel is much more slippery than the traditional standg rigging on old square-riggers and such.
My fix was to put stainless steel wire-rope clamps (with the wire-nuts facing towards each other, so that sails will not be ripped) below each point where the ratlines attach to the shrouds.
I've had these ratlines up since 2001, and use them all the time, with no slippage yet. I've got folding mast-steps that go the rest of the way from where the ratlines stop at the spreaders, up to the masthead. Also have folding steps going up the mizzen mast.
You can also try painting the places where the ratlines
meet the shrouds with a mixture of 40% tar, 60% varnish...that is the mixture that the traditional schooners an square-riggers still use now...I forget the name of it, but it may help with slippage too, and be more traditional than the wire-rope clamps I use. Good luck.
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