Long term mooring ropes

[Rufuschucklebutty]

I am now living on a houseboat that's never going to move for a few years, there are only mooring rings and these damage the rope as all the strain is taken on one spot where the rope passes through the ring, can anyone suggest a way to moor to a ring that doesn't do this ?

 

[trapper guy]

wrap the rope around the ring a couple of times before returning to secure on your boat.
it apparently stops chafing by preventing the rope sliding back and forth

 

[penberth3]

I am now living on a houseboat that's never going to move for a few years, there are only mooring rings and these damage the rope as all the strain is taken on one spot where the rope passes through the ring, can anyone suggest a way to moor to a ring that doesn't do this ?

Use chafe protection sleeves. Keep adjusting the ropes so the wear isn't in the same place.

 

[jdc]

if it's actually permanent, treat it as you would a strop on a swinging mooring. That is to say, a shackle the ring to a rope spliced around a steel hard-eye (right hand side of the pic), and tie the rope to your (house)boat (left hand side of pic).

 

[johnalison]

All sorts of ways, from having rings spliced into the lines to shackle to the shore to using a cow hitch. When mooring overnight I use a sort of cow hitch by passing the mooring loop through the mooring ring and feeding the rest of the line through the loop and back to the boat. This would be better than nothing.

 

[Daydream believer]

Do not take the line back to the boat. Take 2 turns round the ring & finish with something like an anchor bend. Pull really tight. The rope cannot then move against the ring much, which is what causes the chafe.
Passing a rope through a ring & back to the boat is a recipe for disaster as the rope can quickly chafe as it moves against the ring.

 

[William_H]

if it's actually permanent, treat it as you would a strop on a swinging mooring. That is to say, a shackle the ring to a rope spliced around a steel hard-eye (right hand side of the pic), and tie the rope to your (house)boat (left hand side of pic).View attachment 182987

That is the way to go as in the picture. Also called a "Thimble" ol'will

 

[MontyMariner]

For mooring buoys and wall rings I have made up a couple of rope bridles with a meter of 6mm stainless chain spliced into the middle.
After threading the bridle through the wall ring the eye splices on the ends of the bridle are cow hitched to the eye splice on the mooring line.

 

[colind3782]

We are moored to rings and I just slipped a short length of hose over the line to protect it from chafe where it around the rings. It's been in place for years and still works fine.

 

[Irish Rover]

We are moored to rings and I just slipped a short length of hose over the line to protect it from chafe where it around the rings. It's been in place for years and still works fine.

I do the same. Around 50cm of hose inside a loop secured with a bowline knot.

 

[colind3782]

I do the same. Around 50cm of hose inside a loop secured with a bowline knot.

That's exactly what I do. I also secure the loose end of the bowline with a cable tie to stop it working loose.

 

[rotrax]

We are moored to rings and I just slipped a short length of hose over the line to protect it from chafe where it around the rings. It's been in place for years and still works fine.

When we leave our heavy motorsailer for the winter, the special 8 ply 'octoplait' type lines are threaded theough some 25mm plastic flexible water pipe which goes around the part that might rub. If that chafes after a season, I just replace it. Cheap and simple.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Many marinas dislike the use of shackles on their mooring cleats and rings as it induces wear. The simple answer has been given two turns around the ring secured with a couple of back to back half hitches or just use a halyard knot then take the single line back through chafe protection at the fairlead and secure onboard.

 

[dunedin]

Many marinas dislike the use of shackles on their mooring cleats and rings as it induces wear. The simple answer has been given two turns around the ring secured with a couple of back to back half hitches or just use a halyard knot then take the single line back through chafe protection at the fairlead and secure onboard.

Yes, the key thing is to avoid any rope movement at the ring or cleat, as that causes wear (especially if there is even the tiniest bit of rust or uneven surface on the ring / cleat). Any approach which has double turns round the ring and only a single rope back to the boat should achieve this.
(And almost exactly the opposite of what you want when departing a berth, where you would change to slips leading back to the boat before departure - unless a home berth and leaving the ropes on the pontoon.)

 

[srm]

I spliced long loops of hard rope to make sacrificial "shackles" to pass through aggressive mooring cleats with two or three turns then through itself and slid up to lock tight (a bit like a cow hitch) and stop movement. Mooring line then attached to rope shackle with a double sheet bend. Check for chafe every now and then; when worn replace. Would last a few years depending on boat's motion. No wear on the mooring lines themselves so could use a good quality rope that would not creak and groan under load..

 

[johnalison]

Yes, the key thing is to avoid any rope movement at the ring or cleat, as that causes wear (especially if there is even the tiniest bit of rust or uneven surface on the ring / cleat). Any approach which has double turns round the ring and only a single rope back to the boat should achieve this.
(And almost exactly the opposite of what you want when departing a berth, where you would change to slips leading back to the boat before departure - unless a home berth and leaving the ropes on the pontoon.)

Two turns, as with a Fisherman’s Bend is not as secure against movement as a cow hitch, though there are better solutions described above.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

All sorts of ways, from having rings spliced into the lines to shackle to the shore to using a cow hitch. When mooring overnight I use a sort of cow hitch by passing the mooring loop through the mooring ring and feeding the rest of the line through the loop and back to the boat. This would be better than nothing.

+1 for the cow hitch. It stops the line from moving relative to the ring, and so minimizes wear. @johnalison and I speak from experience - our marina has rings rather than cleats. My mooring lines tend to wear more at fairleads or where ropes cross than they do at the rings when attached by cow hitches.

 

[dunedin]

Two turns, as with a Fisherman’s Bend is not as secure against movement as a cow hitch, though there are better solutions described above.

But two turns AND anything that results in a single rope back to the boat works - so cow hitch, two/three half hitches, bowline close to the ring etc all stop the movement

As it happens I had neatly spliced eyes with metal thimbles plus chain and shackles on my winter ropes. Then decided there was a risk of the chains abrading the alloy cleats. so removed the chains and the metal thimbles and now cow hitch them on instead. Simple and secure.

 

[johnalison]

But two turns AND anything that results in a single rope back to the boat works - so cow hitch, two/three half hitches, bowline close to the ring etc all stop the movement

As it happens I had neatly spliced eyes with metal thimbles plus chain and shackles on my winter ropes. Then decided there was a risk of the chains abrading the alloy cleats. so removed the chains and the metal thimbles and now cow hitch them on instead. Simple and secure.

I don’t believe that two turns on their own stop movement, though they will reduce it. A cow hitch, once set in place, will tighten itself onto the ring and may even be hard to undo. Any slip knot will self-tighten in time, of course, and it is just a matter of choosing the neatest, though I suppose that in theory the fixing’s effect on the breaking strain should be taken into account.

 

[srm]

I don’t believe that two turns on their own stop movement, though they will reduce it. A cow hitch, once set in place, will tighten itself onto the ring and may even be hard to undo. Any slip knot will self-tighten in time, of course, and it is just a matter of choosing the neatest, though I suppose that in theory the fixing’s effect on the breaking strain should be taken into account.

I think you will find a round turn (or better two or three) and two half hitches will work just as well. The two half hitches slide up against the round turns and locks them tight to the ring. They can also be undone, usually without the need of a spike. However, having used three (Scandinavian supplied) marinas with loops rather than cleats that did not want shackles I started using sacrificial loops to make double cow hitches for attachment of my mooring lines. The loops would last two or three years. Proved worthwhile when faced with aggressive angular cleats in my last marina.