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Thanks for the replies everyone.

John  I will check the thread that you mentioned. The decision gets a little harder/urgent for  a couple of reasons. 
1) I was out on my last sail for the year today, leaning my elbow against the mainsail at the boom. The boat bounces over a wave and my elbow puts a 6 inch rip in the main.
2) I received a followup email from Lee sails, the quote has dropped to 1000$.

Time to get off the fence.

John

Virago

For what it is worth....
I have never pinned my mast. I drop it into the recess and set the stays/shrouds. You have me thinking I had better take a close look when I drop the mast this fall.

John
1979 co 26

suzeh

Great article, the sentiment  of it is something I have given some thought to. Let me play devils advocate for a moment. I sail primarily alone  so if it is a choice between dragging along side the boat or treading water as the boat sails away I'll take  dragging along side.
Not really the point of the article or yours I think. The point being,  I think, that jack lines need to be installed as close to the centre line of the boat as possible used with a short tether. I will be running mine along both sides of  the cabin deck, ending  just forward of the hatch. I will also be tying  a short line of webbing to the forward cleat to clip into. As to the cockpit I am planning on installing two u-bolts on the port side only, 2-3 inches above the floor. Port side only because the engine throttle prevents me from running a webbing line down both sides.
The tether will be a dual tether and as short as possible.  I am thinking that it will be sewed from hollow webbing, using elastic to make it "stretchable" with a max length of 4 feet.
As well I will be developing the habit of strapping a blunt-ended knife to my body, for reason mentioned in the article. The idea of un-doing a quick release buckle when loaded up with my body weight seems doubtful to me.

All of the pieces I need to install will be here by the end of the week so  I hope to have the jack lines installed before season end.

Any thoughts you, or others have on my approach would be welcome.

Thanks again for posting the article, it got me to thinking in more detail about my proposed setup.

John

Carolyn, seeadler

Thanks for the replies. At this point I think  I will go with webbing  I was going to order from sailrite but the outdoorspirit website looks promising. When u-bolts were installed did you install backing plates or just use washers? At this point I am considering installing ss or aluminum plates to help spread the load(on both the deck and under side). When I drill holes in the cabin roof/deck I am considering drilling the holes  slightly over-sized and filling with epoxy. Then re-drill for the u-bolt. All in an attempt to prevent deck rot, any suggestions?

I had a great day of sailing today 20-25+ knots, warm wind and blue skies, very nice. Many people may be wishing for a warm summer, me? I prefer what we are getting, un-settled weather means more wind

Thanks,
John