Hi Steve, and Gene,
...I'd go out and fish them out of the lazarette and have a look, but it's damn cold outside here tonight (grin)...
I use a climbing rope with a bit more "give", but I doubt it makes much difference with so short a length... I simply trail them back, and drape the ends back over the cockpit coamings into the cockpit... The one on the foredeck I usually just take a single wrap around the base of the babystay, it doesn't go anywhere... They live in the lazarette to hide from UV whenever I'm not going anywhere - one of the things I don't like about jacklines made from webbing, they take a bit of time to set up, and I'm afraid on many boats they're exposed to UV to a much greater extent than they need to be...
Steve, looking at your boat, I'm not sure a setup like mine would be the best option... With your pilothouse, the run back from the mast to the cockpit would result in an awfully long tether... I think this idea works best on smaller boats like mine, or larger boats with center cockpits...
best regards,
Jon