Telltail Locations

 Add enough and your sails will look like something from a wind tunnel lab. Yes, you can do well through experience and looking at the shape of the cloth, but they do remove some of the guesswork from sail trim. I've been doing this for over 40 years and I still appreciate a full set.

 The main leach tell tales can suck around behind the sail intermittently at the top when trimmed for peak power. The jib telltails should never suck back. Jib stall is worse than main stall since it will reduce the flow over the main.

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Tying Up a Wide Boat

 Tying up a wide boat can be complicated. I can only reach one piling from the dock.  The slip does not fit the boat.Currently, I use the black lines in the illustration, but as my legs get old I wish I could tie it nearer to the dock (a big step). But I must tie it well off to allow for tides.

I'm considering putting a pulley or low friction ring on the port bow line piling and lead the tail back to a cleat on the dock so I can adjust it from there. But I worry about chafe. The strong winds and wakes come from aft, so I can probably just keep an eye on it.

Gulls and Halyards

 Some attest they love the sound of gulls. It reminds them where they are. I think they havn't been around the water long enough to get sick of the screaming vandals. All the noise tells me is that I'm in a messy harbor. The Little Mermaid had it right.

"Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine ...."

As for halyards, I have no problem with stepping on an unoccupied boat and tying them off. They left a nuisance behind, so they have no reasonable expectation that someone board to fix it. When they see it tied off they might learn from that. 

[Once 40 years ago someone tied mine off. When I came back I saw the string and I was immediately chastened. It never happened again, not because I'm a great guy, but because it was an embarrassing lesson I didn't want to repeat.] 

 

Line Hangers

Whether halyard tails or docklines, sailors always have ropes to hang. A few ideas. Bags are good to, when there is room (the lines will grow more algae in a bag).

 Button Line Holders from United Yacht Manufacturing are my favorites for halyard tails. Easy to adjust or replace the string. Nothing snags on them. Comfortable to lean against.

 

 

For dock lines and other spares, I like these DIY aluminum non-snagging holders installed in a locker. I can hang multiple lines on one hook by slinging the coils. I've used them on several boats without a failure. Strong and light.