Dockline brands

[MikeBz]

I'm thinking about replacing our aging and somewhat-hardened mooring lines.

Look at Dockline in particular there seem to be 4 options. In roughly order of cost:

1. Liros Porto. The most expensive, probably the best. 16mm £6 a meter from Foxs. Example 10mx16mm with soft eye in one end, £96 from Jimmy Green.
2. Marlow Dockline. 16mm £4 a meter from MarineSuperstore (more elsewhere), haven't found any prices which include a soft eye.
3. Kingfisher. 16mm £3.59 a meter from The Rope Company, 10mmx16mm with soft eye in one end, £45.46 from Foxs.
4. No-name brands. 10mx16mm with soft eye in one end from around £30, various internet and EBay suppliers.

And there there are also Waveline and Seago towards the £ower end.

I wonder what the difference in rope quality is across the range. It would be hard to pay 3x the price (£96 vs. £30ish) per line, it might be better to go cheaper and replace more often. Maybe Kingfisher in the mid-range would be a sensible compromise?

 

[KevinV]

I bought some no-name ebay stuff - nice and supple, but zero chafe resistance, you could wear through it with a spoon. What didn't chafe snapped under snatch load in the marina. Not recommended.

 

[lustyd]

First things first, learn to splice!

3 strand may not look as nice but is far better for tying boats to things so I'd suggest looking at that as it's easier to splice and will last longer

 

[KevinV]

First things first, learn to splice!

3 strand may not look as nice but is far better for tying boats to things so I'd suggest looking at that as it's easier to splice and will last longer

Ah, I hadn't actually looked at the suggested choices - mine was 3-strand and I did indeed learn to splice

 

[sigma38dave]

How big is the boat Mike? Had no issues with 14 mm of this on 38ft, handles really nicely, see it on loads of French and Dutch boats. 10 m is £75 in 14mm with a loop and about £82 for the 16mm.

Compass mooring line with loop white/black

 

[GEM43]

I bought Kingfisher 16mm dockline for our 12t monohull. It’s lovely to handle and looks smart - but I wouldn’t buy it again. I foolishly thought that as it is “dockline” it would have a stretchy nylon core - it doesn’t, so it snatches. I had to fit rubber compensators to take the snatch out.

 

[MontyMariner]

I make up my own, I had a 'scrunchy' flat hose that had failed so used the webbing tube as chafe protectors in the spliced eye and a meter or so length on the lines that I can slide along to the wear point.

 

[Irish Rover]

Any opinions on Osculati? Difficult to find known branded Dock lines where I am but 16mm x 11m with soft eye is around €45. 16mm not enough for my boat in any kind of swell but I use smaller softer easier to handle lines for the initial tie up when going stern to in the Med and replace with more sturdy lines when settled.

 

[boomerangben]

I went to my local fisherman’s co-op.. Three strand was very reasonable. About £1.50/m for 10mm Learned to splice and bought some polyester tube for abrasion resistance.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

For abrasion protection through by fairleads and over the gunwale I use both a dedicated product and old 3” fire hose.

Rope Protector Sleeve for Synthetic Winch Rope

The fire hose works great, far stronger than the sleeve in the link. However, the sleeve works well enough.

In my case, the bow fairleads, holes in the gunwale have a tight turn and protection is needed. However, not all boats need this, as the profiles are much smoother.

Based on advise from here, to replace 3 strand nylon that can perform the Indian rope trick, I bought polyester dock lines, braided, 18mm with an eye on one end. Super easy to handle. I’ll never go back to 3 strand nylon, unless as a last resort.

 

[dansaskip]

In my case, the bow fairleads, holes in the gunwale have a tight turn and protection is needed.

Almost as an aside or thread drift how about leading the lines through the fairleads and to the opposite side cleat? i.e port side fairlead to starboard side cleat.
It is what I do on my boat to avoid that tight turn. I know it depends on the layout of your fairleads and cleats but....
Of course some people might not want lines crossing the foredeck but you soon get used to it. Oh yes still use some form of chafe protection - that is only sensible.

Back to rope choice `I would avoid no-brand stuff like the plague. You gets what you pay for and quality don't come cheap. Mid range would perhaps be my choice. Finally I don't like using soft eyes on the ends - always prefer to use turns - something you can get loose from should the need arise. You can't free off a soft eye off a cleat if it is under load.

 

[lustyd]

Of course some people might not want lines crossing the foredeck

I can't see it being a huge issue while tied on. It might be briefly frustrating if they cover the anchor locker, and I guess some would have hatches that couldn't open. Is there some other issue I'm missing?

 

[MikeBz]

Thanks for all the replies. Boat is 40’, probably > 11 tons realistically. I can splice 3 strand, and once made a passable job of splicing a braided rope for a topping lift. I take the points about abrasion resistance and stretch. When leaving the boat for a period of time I would put different lines on with snubbers - I have quite a lot of 16mm nylon 3 strand lines but in just 2 years they have become a bit hard and difficult to handle which especially makes things difficult for those with arthritic hands. So some easy to handle lines for when we are hopping in and out of a marina would be good. Given that that will be their main use I guess 14mm would be plenty good enough.

 

[Goldie]

I make up my own, I had a 'scrunchy' flat hose that had failed so used the webbing tube as chafe protectors in the spliced eye and a meter or so length on the lines that I can slide along to the wear point.

Sewing a tube out of scrap car seatbelt material works well too .

 

[Refueler]

I buy reels of Kingfisher .... I decide a size and buy full reel.

I then cut off what needed for whatever job ... last was to replace all halyards on my 25ft ...

 

[lustyd]

It's been a long time since full reels were cheap enough to be worthwhile in the UK. Usually only a few quid cheaper, but that's offset by the bit you're not using but are paying for. Shame as I definitely prefer to do that.

 

[rotrax]

I made our lines from 16mm eight strand 'octoplait' type from You Boat, Gosport.

Splicing was easy, 14% stretch so plenty of 'give' when needed.

Boat was 12.5 metres, 17 tons loaded, lot of windage due to a huge pilothouse.

Sold with the boat after five years use, still OK.