Floating Rope

[petem]

The photo of Bart's very fine golden Swan has reminded me of something - I don't have any floating rope onboard. Am I right in thinking that some floating rope could be used for three things...

1) Towing my boat or giving a tow to others;
2) For tying to / putting out a fender or similar if someone is swimming off the back of the boat;
3) For tying to Swans, Flamingos, Unicorns and the like .

Anyone got any recommendations for the type / size of rope that would be useful to have on board?

 

[Portofino]

We just use the life buoy orange nylon stuff .It comes in a neat rolled up package cheap as chips in the chandlers.
Being an ex IT reg boat my boat came with a full inventory of safety gear as well as the actual orange life ring a few packs of that floating cord .

.View attachment 73802

 

[Greg2]

Polypropylene floats but it is no good for towing another boat as it doesn’t stretch. Okay for water toys/ski ropes, lifesaving lines and tying loads down but not much else IMHO. I have a bespoke rescue line that is polypropylene but that is about it.

 

[jrudge]

The odds of you having floating rope on board stone enough to tow a boat is low.

I use for slimline fenders, towing water toys and shore lines.

 

[RupertW]

We use polypropylene for tying back to shore - nice bright colour, floats so remains visible in case anybody tries to go between us and the shore and is very very cheap for 200m. It doesn't stretch but it only holds us against the anchor so there is some flex at both ends - and I add a stretchy snubber to the anchor to add to that.

 

[stelican]

For 2 and 3 buy a ski rope
For 1 use shock cord

 

[benjenbav]

For 1 use shock cord

Would towing a boat using shock cord be a bit like horizontal bungee jumping?

 

[stelican]

Would towing a boat using shock cord be a bit like horizontal bungee jumping?

Don't tell him.

 

[sarabande]

"The odds of you having floating rope on board stone enough to tow a boat is low."


You might find it useful to look at polysteel rope. It floats and comes in all sizes between 4 and =>100m.m

I use it as pennants on a fore and aft mooring. 24mm dia, 6 tonnes BS.


I bought mine from Ropes Direct
https://www.ropesdirect.co.uk/polysteel-rope.html
Very good and speedy service. No other connection than happy customer

 

[aquatom]

A length of dark blue 8mm nylon rope trailed behind the boat when anchored sorts out the jet skis that get too close!

 

[z1ppy]

we use a water ski rope. perfect for attaching a fender when swimming.

 

[Assassin]

You can get a variant of shock cord which is used by 4X4 users, basically it is used between the winch rope and any strop they use and the larger units have a 30 tonne rating.

 

[sarabande]

It's called Kinetic recovery rope and they have a 20 to 30% stretchiness

http://www.kineticrope.com/

 

[Hurricane]

I have a different use for floating rope - to tie the boat back.

My rope is probably very different to rope that you would use for the uses you say above.
I'm not sure what it is made from.
It is not polypropylene - it is a braided rope with a strong core - mine is about 25mm dia so could be used for towing.
It floats really well.

I agree with z1ppy - get some cheap water ski rope.
Maybe tie two together to get a bit of extra length
It is usually hollow braid so easy to create a brummel splice.

For swimming, we just use some 8mm (ish) rope with a very small fender tied to it.
The small fender is about 9" long so good for throwing to a swimmer who needs help.