best type of line for mooring lines?

[Stemar]

I use 3-ply nylon, partly because I know how to splice it, but mainly because I got an end of roll a few years ago.

Whatever you choose, a good tip I read a few years ago is to make your bow/stern lines just too short to reach the prop when attached at the bow. That way, when one escapes, it won't ruin your day. Of course, if you're going astern, all bets are off - got the T shirt !

I'm sure springs can be too long, but only if they're too big to handle. On my 24ft boat, my next pair will be at least 50ft long.

 

[prv]

a good tip I read a few years ago is to make your bow/stern lines just too short to reach the prop

Polyprop ones float

Pete

 

[The Third Man]

Have a look at Marlow Ropes.com there is some information there that might help

 

[johnalison]

I have a mixture of stretchy and non-stretchy lines. For general mooring, I use made-up dock lines which have a little give but not much. This locates the boat better than my stretchy lines, which I use with snubbered lines when needed. I find it too tiresome to thread snubbers each time I need them, so keep a couple on dedicated lines. My main lines don't have snubbers because the snubbers make them awkward to deploy and often harder to cast off as they need to be singled.

 

[Daedelus]

I got the following off a Day Skipper course, which seems fairly comprehemsive.


ROPES

Mooring (Strength + Stretch + UV resist + not slippery)

3 strand polyester or multiplait

Anchoring (some stretch)

8 strand polyamide (good shock absorbing, but weakens as it gets wet)
Anchorwarp

Heaving Line (light won’t tangle easily)

Multifilament Polypropylene

Jib/Genoa & Main Halyards (No stretch)

Wire & rope
HMPE/PET Dyneema/polyester
Cheap sheath of polyester
Racing - all HMPE

Spinnaker Halyard (Minimal stretch)

Racing - HMPE
Polyester braid on braid

Jib & Main Sheets (Low stretch larger diameter for handling {wear a lot with lot of use})

Braid on braid polyester (cheaper)
Racers = HMPE

Reefing Lines (Low/No stretch)

Braid on Braid Polyester
HMPE Core

Spinnaker Controls (No stretch)

Braided Polyester + HMPE
Braid on Braid Polyester

Kicker (No stretch)

Polyester braid on braid
Racers – HMPE+ Braid

Reefing lines
Polyester or Dyneema sheathed low stretch Marlowbraid






Properties of synthetic ropes


Polyamide (PA) Nylon, Perlon

Strong, light, very stretchy, weakens when wet, swells when wet, degrades, hardens with use, OK in sun.

Polyester (PES) Terylene, Dacron

Stronger than Nylon when wet, moderate stretch, heavy, abrasion resistant, nice feel.

Polypropylene Geolon, Leolene
Floats, light, cheap, monofil almost as strong as Nylon or Polyester, melts with high friction, degrades in sun.

High Modulus Polyethylene (HMPE) Dyneema, Spectra

Strongest, (stronger than same size wire) lightest tech fibre, floats, minimal stretch, resistant to UV, only moderate resistance to abrasion (therefore usually covered), loses 60% strength when knotted, VERY expensive, low friction, easy splice,

High Modulus Polyamide or Aramid (HMPA) Kevlar, Twaron, Technora

Very strong, (stronger than same size wire), negligible stretch, heat resistant, VERY expensive, heavy, cannot be heat sealed, poor resistance to UV, loses up to 70% of strength when knotted, suffers fatigue if used in small radius, fails suddenly after repeated bending. (Technora is highest strength Aramid fibre,no creep, black good UV resist).

High Modulus Polyester Vectran

Liquid crystal polymer fibre, Very strong, (stronger than same size wire), negligible stretch, resistant to abrasion, VERY expensive, poor resistance to UV, loses 60% of strength when knotted. Doesn’t creep, low absorption of water.

PBO Zylon

Strongest Hi-tech fibre, (equal to HMPE), even less stretch, poor resistance to UV, heavy, VERY expensive, poor resistance to abrasion, cannot be heat sealed, loses 65% of strength when knotted, fails suddenly after repeated bending.

 

[KellysEye]

We used multi plait when you coil them they don't have a memory so you don't have to untwist them to straighten them a you do with 3 strand.

 

[FleurDeLys]

I'm with those who favour 3 ply nylon. Thickness depends on where you are as well as boat size/weight. The Jimmy Green table is, in my view, 'playing safe' - which sounds a bl00dy g00d idea to me. I keep my 35ft Westerly in Scotland and use 16mm 3 ply nylon. When I look at her heaving at her lines in a blow or in surges through a harbour marina, I see the wisdom for sure. If I was in a gentle south coast location, I might concede to the 12mm brigade.

 

[prv]

I keep my 35ft Westerly in Scotland and use 16mm 3 ply nylon. When I look at her heaving at her lines in a blow or in surges through a harbour marina, I see the wisdom for sure.

Definitely a learning experience to go down to the moored boat during a gale. We're on relatively sheltered water so the hull doesn't surge about all that much, but she heels significantly to the wind and blows off away from the pontoon and there's clearly a lot of load in the warps. I have 18mm 3-strand nylon as spliced-on home-berth warps, and over winter I back them up with an additional warp bow and stern using different cleats (actually one of them is round the pile collar on the pontoon to get a decent lead).

Pete

 

[Twister_Ken]

I have 18mm 3-strand nylon as spliced-on home-berth warps, and over winter I back them up with an additional warp bow and stern

Pete

Given that Jimmy Green quotes breaking load of 18mm 3-strand nylon as 7000 kg (i.e you could hang 2 Range Rovers and have 600kg to spare for luggage) I think you should be safe!

 

[prv]

Given that Jimmy Green quotes breaking load of 18mm 3-strand nylon as 7000 kg (i.e you could hang 2 Range Rovers and have 600kg to spare for luggage) I think you should be safe!

The extra winter warps are more about the cleats coming adrift than the normal warps snapping. Our pontoons aren't exactly in the first flush of youth.

The original home-berth warps were recycled from Kindred Spirit, a boat ten feet shorter, and while they might technically have been strong enough they would visible elongate in strong winds which was rather disconcerting.

Pete

 

[dunedin]

Definitely a learning experience to go down to the moored boat during a gale. We're on relatively sheltered water so the hull doesn't surge about all that much, but she heels significantly to the wind and blows off away from the pontoon and there's clearly a lot of load in the warps.
Pete

Yes, good advice. Really worth seeing in a bad storm. As such our home berth had a "Queen Mary" size rope, with snubber, on the south west corner which took the worst pasting - and survived at least two possibly three F10 periods.

After one of them the stern spring, a new 14mm rope, was in two parts - with the boat lying to the backup rope (a good argument for dual ropes). Only explanation I could come to was that the rope got caught between fender and pontoon, and somehow cut through the rope in the violent motion. So now we use short elastic loops to hold the middle of the springs up above pontoon height.

Overall i am with the traditional three strand mooring ropes, for boh stretch and ease of splicing.

 

[Coaster]

So now we use short elastic loops to hold the middle of the springs up above pontoon height...

Boat and berthing details vary enormously. Dunedin's practice is a good example. I've never thought about protecting our springs from such disturbance but will consider it when our boat goes back into the water in March. Just goes to show the need to understand specific circumstances.

I enjoy simple splicing so always use three strand rope for mooring, putting an eyesplice at one end of each warp. When a line wears it's usually at one point. So a long warp with wear near one end can easily be shortened and respliced, assuming the rest of the line is OK. We have a selection of lines, the shorter ones being mostly re-used.

Polyester three strand seems to be the best combination of handling, durability and stretchiness for us.