Life line giving way ?

[Snowgoose-1]

Eagle eye required.
Any idea where it gave way ?

 

[srm]

In the days when we moored alongside piers I would regularly test my lifelines by standing on them on the way up or down. Strangely, when rafted, owners of the inside boat sometimes objected to their lifelines being used as a step. My response was to politely suggest that if they could not take a static vertical weight how could they cope with a dynamic horizontal load.

 

[KevinV]

In the days when we moored alongside piers I would regularly test my lifelines by standing on them on the way up or down. Strangely, when rafted, owners of the inside boat sometimes objected to their lifelines being used as a step. My response was to politely suggest that if they could not take a static vertical weight how could they cope with a dynamic horizontal load.

What you do to your boat is entirely your choice, but if you did that on my boat you'd be politely told to use your dinghy - or possibly not so politely.

 

[lustyd]

Agree, it might not snap but that doesn’t equate to no damage. Got to be respectful in a raft, especially if you’re the outside boat. It’s the right thing to do, but also your lines are tied to their boat only for as long as they accept them.

 

[mjcoon]

In the days when we moored alongside piers I would regularly test my lifelines by standing on them on the way up or down. Strangely, when rafted, owners of the inside boat sometimes objected to their lifelines being used as a step. My response was to politely suggest that if they could not take a static vertical weight how could they cope with a dynamic horizontal load.

I take it you ensure that you are not going to break your leg when the life-line does eventually give way? (Which would be ruff justice.) And anticipate that the giving way was caused by repeated wear of being stood on.

A bit like the old story of the back-up generator that was regularly tested so that when it was needed for real there was not enough fuel left... NDT, anyone?

 

[mikegunn]

I’ve recently renewed four of my lifelines because I’d discovered several strand failures. All the failures had occurred where the lines pass through stanchions and weren’t apparent to a cursory inspection. The cause of the failure would appear to be intergranular corrosion. Whilst looking for a reason I found evidence that electrical tape may have been wrapped around the lifelines where they passed through the stanchions. If moisture had got under the tape it may have starved the stainless wire of oxygen whilst simultaneously providing an electrolyte to promote corrosion.
Mike

 

[mjcoon]

I’ve recently renewed four of my lifelines because I’d discovered several strand failures. All the failures had occurred where the lines pass through stanchions and weren’t apparent to a cursory inspection. The cause of the failure would appear to be intergranular corrosion. Whilst looking for a reason I found evidence that electrical tape may have been wrapped around the lifelines where they passed through the stanchions. If moisture had got under the tape it may have starved the stainless wire of oxygen whilst simultaneously providing an electrolyte to promote corrosion.
Mike

Classic, as our once-prolific metallurgist would have observed.

A few years ago I reported a similar imminent failure on the lifelines of a flotilla yacht, and was impressed by how quickly the lead crew got it replaced.