Going forward at sea, particularly on a boat without shrouds (like the Freedom 35 here), should entail the use of jacklines, and a safety harness and tether.

Many factors are at play in safety at sea. One is a good weather eye, another is a decisive mind, and a third is knowledge of fundamental sailing seamanship. But even the best sailor can’t do it alone. Without good gear addressing typical safety problems, we're not just at a disadvantage. We're at risk.

The problem is that so much safety stuff is available that we can become addicted gadgeteers careening down the crowded corridors of chandleries and the packed pages of catalogs in search of perfect solutions to ever more narrow safety problems. Or we can decide to be ultra-minimalists who have only the cheapest versions of the very least…