In the summer of '66 I mated on a charter fishing boat in Montauk where the sheepshank was most helpful both in use and in convincing my Captain that I was not useless. We berthed stern to the bulkhead between pilings and had a line stretching from each piling back to shore to act as combined bow lines and springs when we backed in. If we returned at high tide the lines were substantially below water and at other tides they captured seaweed. Whipping in a quick sheepshank on departure solved that. And it snaps loose right easily as well.
I've used this general approach over the years since.
Another nice place I use the sheepshank is on the beckets with which I lash the helm. I sail alone a lot and it's important that the boat sail herself while I attend to such necessaries as studying the chart, hitting the head, making coffee, and star gazing. Of course, sailing alone in a boat that will keep on sailing straight and true without an active hand on the helm makes the consequences of falling overboard a bit dire. I move about with jacklines and tether but still, there's nothing like a Hail Mary Line dragging astern for that last desperate grab. I make up the beckets with a sheepshank and the Hail Mary Line passes through each such that a good yank will free both, thus freeing the helm and allowing the boat to round up and give me a chance of crawling back up the line and swarming aboard.
G'luck
Ian
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