Threading lifehack 1: Electric reefing tube helps to pull in new reefing lines
After receiving the new mainsail, I decided to replace the reefing lines as well. Because of the new sail, the reefing line guide had to be changed and I had neither an old line nor a guide line to hand to pull the line into the boom. As the boom is almost five metres long, good advice was expensive. When I was remodelling a house, I had noticed the empty conduits that the electricians lay in order to pull the actual cables through at a later date. That should also solve my problem, I thought to myself. So I bought a five metre long empty conduit with a diameter of 25 millimetres. This was easy to insert into the tree. It is stable enough not to snag or kink anywhere. I was then able to push the reefing line with a diameter of twelve millimetres into the empty tube just as easily. Using a small metal hook, I was then able to pull the reefing line out of the boom at the mast and guide it around the pulley located there.
Ralph Erhart, Lugnorre/Switzerland
Threading lifehack 2: Clamping and pulling
Every spring when rigging, the sometimes tedious task of threading various lines into the halyard stoppers is repeated. However, with the help of an anti-chafe braided hose from the electrical accessories trade, this work is very easy. The stiff hose can be easily pushed through the halyard stopper. The end is then widened to the maximum diameter by compressing it and the rope of the halyard is inserted. When the braided tube is pulled back, it becomes thinner and grips the halyard, allowing it to be easily pulled through the stopper. The principle is similar to that of a textile constrictor clip.
Peter Hoeck, Stockelsdorf
Threading lifehack 3: A case of fishing
If a sheet or halyard is to be pulled in with a pilot line, we use the following trick: fishing line is used as an auxiliary line, the connection to the rope can then be made with a small fishhook. The line can now be pulled very easily through blocks and trap boxes, and with a little feeling the fishhook follows and with it the rope. A model without large barbs is recommended so that the hook can be easily removed from the line.
Moritz Richter, Cologne
Editor's note: A good and proven alternative for attaching the pilot line is a rigging with an eye or a loop sewn into the rope with strong rigging twine.
Threading lifehack 4: Claw gripper for many things
Although this topic has already been covered many times, here is another tip for conveniently threading traps through a lever clamp. We use a flexible gripper, which you can buy for a few euros at any DIY store. Of course, the tool also provides other valuable services, for example to fish a lost screw out of the furthest corner of the engine compartment, to grab a cable or to pull a pilot line out of a mast or tree. The only disadvantage of these flexible helpers is that they are not rustproof, so they age quickly on board and need to be replaced regularly.
Wolfgang Majdic, Hilden
Do you have any advice for other sailors?
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