Originally Posted by
Christian
For example at the end of a rope (instead of whipping)
Whipping with waxed line takes 1.5 minutes to do, per end, and gives a most satisfactory personal feeling of accomplishment, wisdom and superiority. Also, it impresses visitors, who will immediately see you as more than a melted blob, and very much more than a piece of limp plastic peeling in the breeze.
Nobody uses black electrical tape for anything on deck, even temporarily, because when you take it off acetone is required to remove the awful stain and you feel bad about yourself, and lazy, and not attuned to detail, which once offshore makes for growing doubt about all your preparations, and it becomes more and more clear that, having checked the keel bolts with the same haste you electrical-taped the line end, the keel is sure to fall off any moment.
It's the little things that keep us psychologically afloat on our solitary ship-in-a-bottle.