Back in the Navy all the ships' bridges ( wheel houses ) had an overhead cable running athwartship for a handhold in heavy seas (anything more than a tug's wake caused us to roll at the pier!).  It was an easy reach and saved many a sailor from an embarrassing slide across the deck and injuries.  Has anyone rigged a similar line in the main salon from the companionway to the mast base?  My wife has balance problems and I'm thinking about how to rig such a line.  I can install an eye bolt through the coachroof beam at the front edge of the companionway hatch and another forward on the mast base, however I'm wondering if a tensioned line might have a downside.  Any thoughts?  Tom Koehl

Since my wife is unsteady on her new knee I plunged ahead and put eye bolts through the coachroof beams at the companionway and the fwd beam of the salon, centered on the fwd doorway.  I maode up an 84" length of 3/8" 3-strand with eye splices on each end through which I fitted carabiners.  Connected the aft carabiner to the eye bolt and stretched the living daylights out of the line and connected the fwd eye (the span from eye to eye is 87").  It's a pretty taut line but still has a bit of give and seems functional for anyone in need of a handhold. I thought about using a spare length of wire stay but it would be harder (and more expensive) to fit and would chafe the underside of the intermediate beams.  I'm satisfied with the line.  -Tom