Four strand laid line.

[john_morris_uk]

I bought some new mooring lines the other day in Spain. Two things were odd. Firstly the line wasn’t sold by the metre but by the kg. Second it turned out to be four strand laid line. I didn’t notice until I got back to the boat and started to whip the ends. I’ve never seen four strand before…

 

[capnsensible]

Odd indeed. I've bought a lot of line in various Spanish chandlers, always been by length.

Maybe a Galician thing.

 

[sarabande]

Buy three, get one free ?


Is four strand more , or less, elastic ?

 

[mjcoon]

I guess selling by weight is easier; no need to stretch it out and count? Did they have a conversion table?

 

[john_morris_uk]

I guess selling by weight is easier; no need to stretch it out and count? Did they have a conversion table?

No. I asked for thirty metres and they measured it out and weighed it. Nylon 4 strand 14 mm. About £12 so very cheap.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Buy three, get one free ?


Is four strand more , or less, elastic ?

No idea. My old mooring lines weren’t nylon as I’d been a cheap skate and used spare bits of braid line I’d had twenty years ago. They had started to look very tatty and were creaking and snatching badly so we decided it was time to change.

 

[Wansworth]

The fishing use a great deal of line and it’s usually sold by weight ,probably for yachts not such long lengths are required and it’s posher stuff?

 

[Wansworth]

Are you still in Galicia?

 

[john_morris_uk]

Are you still in Galicia?

The line was bought In Ribeira. We’re currently in Baiona.

 

[Wansworth]

The line was bought In Ribeira. We’re currently in Baiona.
[
Strong wind and rain predicted for later tonite ……the rain will be welcome

 

[Kukri]

I bought some new mooring lines the other day in Spain. Two things were odd. Firstly the line wasn’t sold by the metre but by the kg. Second it turned out to be four strand laid line. I didn’t notice until I got back to the boat and started to whip the ends. I’ve never seen four strand before…

The Youth of Today!

When did you start sailing?

All rope was sold by weight in this country until artificial fibre came in. Four strand hemp was common and used for shroud lanyards. I am speaking of the 1960s.

 

[Wansworth]

The also sell 3/4 inch shackles?In Cangas opposite Vigo there used to be up till the 1990 a chandlers that was festooned with wooden blocks,shackles piles of chain and reels of rope soldé by weight ,you could also but a beer and a bocadillo whilst pondering,how times have changed

 

[sarabande]

"
The Youth of Today! When did you start sailing? All rope was sold by weight in this country until artificial fibre came in. Four strand hemp was common and used for shroud lanyards. I am speaking of the 1960s."


Some of us can remember when rope for yachtsmen was sold by the fathom, and the measurement was the circumference, not the diameter...

 

[john_morris_uk]

I started sailing in the 60s, and I certainly remember fathom charts and still have some in use. I also remember when rope was sold by its circumference. However I didn’t ever buy rope in the sort of quantities or sizes that needed to be weighed in those days!

 

[Kukri]

I remember being confronted with the choice (in descending order of price for the same circumference in inches) of four strand tarred hemp, yacht Manila or No.1 Manila. That was 1969 in Clarke and Carter’s chandlery in West Mersea, just east of the Yacht Club, and all three were sold by weight.

I bought the cheap stuff.

En France, dans ces hours-la, l’on mesurait le longeur et le tirant d’eau d’un bateau en pieds, et les cartes indiquent le profondeur de l’eau en brasses.

 

[capnsensible]

Ships were wood, men were steel.

 

[Sumara of Weymouth]

Four strand rope is relatively common in natural fibre ropes such as hemp. It is a rounder rope, with less stretch than three strand, hence it is called "shroud laid" rather than "hawser laid". It is a slight oxymoron having four strand in nylon, unless they required a very strong rope with less stretch than a conventional three strand nylon. Normally four strand ropes are laid up around a central core or heart rope (in effect four strands plus a core). In the case of hemp ropes this core is often sisal. If you are making up dinghy or boat fenders you can remove this core rope and work in a flexible wire rope so that the assembly can be fastened to the boat by means of two rigging screws on the transom. It is also useful feature for disguising electrical cables feeding decorative lamps hanging from a ceiling etc.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Four strand rope is relatively common in natural fibre ropes such as hemp. It is a rounder rope, with less stretch than three strand, hence it is called "shroud laid" rather than "hawser laid". It is a slight oxymoron having four strand in nylon, unless they required a very strong rope with less stretch than a conventional three strand nylon. Normally four strand ropes are laid up around a central core or heart rope (in effect four strands plus a core). In the case of hemp ropes this core is often sisal. If you are making up dinghy or boat fenders you can remove this core rope and work in a flexible wire rope so that the assembly can be fastened to the boat by means of two rigging screws on the transom. It is also useful feature for disguising electrical cables feeding decorative lamps hanging from a ceiling etc.

So the OP will have just as little stretch and shock-absorbing capability in his new mooring lines as he had in his old repurposed lengths of halyard or sheet line

 

[Sumara of Weymouth]

So the OP will have just as little stretch and shock-absorbing capability in his new mooring lines as he had in his old repurposed lengths of halyard or sheet line

Maybe, but I should think they would still have enough stretch to work as mooring lines.

 

[Stemar]

Ships were wood, men were steel.

We're still steel, just a bit rusty.

A bit like a 10 year old Vauxhall Victor...