Mooring line length

EASLOOP

EASLOOP

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I have looked at various websites including Jimmy Green, marlow Ropes and English Braids and I am getting different views on how long the various mooring lines need to be.
In terms of LOA or Beam, what is the best length of mooring lines to have on board for the various stations. e.g Green says 1.5 x LOA for bow line (I think I have got this right) etc.
Suggestions gratefully received.
For reference my boat is 27' 10" LOA and 8' beam
 
There are no hard and fast rules, but I have two springs (same loa as boat), two head/stern lines (half length of boat) and a couple of 15m/50ft lines for rafting, quay walls etc.
 
It depends entirely upon where and how you berth.

Our boat is 10.6 metres overall.

Before I kept the boat in a marina I had a few miscellaneous pieces, mostly old climbing rope, that was OK for the few occasions when I didn't anchor or moor. In the Irish Sea it is very common to raft alongside, so little more than a boat length was sufficient, except for a couple of long lengths for attaching the raft to the shore.

Once I began to use marinas and to berth in them as a visitor, I went to two warps of one boat length, two of 1.5 boat length and I still carried the two long ones, each of about 30 metres. We also found two light lengths, about half a boat length, to be handy for securing the centre cleats.

On passage down the French Atlantic coast these were sufficient. For transiting the Canal du Midi we added 40 metres of 12 mm, which was probably our most heavily used warp.

Now that we are in the Eastern Mediterranean we have two of 1 boat length, two of 1.5 boat lengths and two of 40 metres, plus we still have the two short ones. These have been fine for all purposes.

In addition to all this I carry 50 metres of 16 mm Anchorplait for the kedge and any other purpose, plus 30 metres of 16 mm three-strand nylon for emergencies.
 
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In terms of LOA or Beam, what is the best length of mooring lines to have on board for the various stations. e.g Green says 1.5 x LOA for bow line (I think I have got this right) etc.
Suggestions gratefully received.


[/ QUOTE ] They have to be long enough to reach /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I have just added to my rope inventory, 2 x 1.5 boat length and 2 x boat length. I also have 1 at 24mtrs plus other long and short lengths. Sorry cant be any more specific on the 'other' lengths as they need to be taken home, measured and graded.

In an effort to keep things stress free when preparing warps, especially with visiting crew, I have used colour coding for the whipping, blue is the 11 ones and red whipping is the 17mtr ones. The 25mtr length is white. I will round off by adding a legend on the inside of the rope locker, so I can remember!
 
My usual bow lines are just short enough that if they were accidentally overboard they would not reach the prop.

Other lines in the locker are longer if required.
 
Thanks everyone - brilliant response. I am going to print out the thread and average the rope lengths. On the face of it though you all are pretty close to one another.
Thanks again.
 
I dont think mutliplying by the boat length is a very good way of calculating it. Roach is only 22ft and really 1.5 times the boat length is useless. I have 50ft warps and one very long 150ft one for rafting or using as a shoreline when drying out.
 
Mine are 120' long ex-climbing ropes. I can do bow, stern & springs all with one rope if I plan it properly. But I have short, medium & long bits available so I can select what I need as I approach any given situation. But I moor up on a trot with fixed strops rather than in a marina, so my quayside mooring situation is different every time.

Too long is not a problem, you can coil the excess on deck. Too short is useless! You CAN knot two short bits together, but it looks pathetic & significantly reduces the rope's strength.
 
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You CAN knot two short bits together, but it looks pathetic & significantly reduces the rope's strength.

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Dont dissagree with what you say, but for mooring warps, I think the cleats would be torn out of the deck before the knot becomes a problem.
 
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You CAN knot two short bits together, but it looks pathetic & significantly reduces the rope's strength.

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Dont dissagree with what you say, but for mooring warps, I think the cleats would be torn out of the deck before the knot becomes a problem.

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/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif fairy nuff. But what I didn't say earlier was that I have a lot of 8 & 10mm polyprop picked up off roadsides for casual short-term mooring. Most of it is sun weakened to the point where a large dog tugging it might cause a problem! Cleats are safe enough and the actual load on warps in Caernarfon is generally very low - provided they are long enough to cope with the tide going out.
 
Our boat is 12.7m LOA

We carry

4 x 10m - mooring lines
2 x 20m - springs

All 16mm nylon (had lighter but it snapped in a storm last year so we upped the spec!)

2 x 30m 12mm braid (retired halyards)

We also carry 2 x 50m 16mm Octiplait for bow and kedge use which can also be deployed for other use if required.

In addition to this we have sundry other lines that came with the boat.

Have yet to feel the need for anything further
 
If you sail with certain crew, some brightly coloured rope that isn't too long will save a tangle sometimes!
Any rope that is easily accessible can be better that some theoretical optimum that has got tangled under the rubber dinghy, particularly when a cross wind changes your plan at the wrong moment!
Shore lines and long lines for tidal drop can usually be sorted in a cooler timescale.
A 6m (?) line attached amidships can be handy for first attachment to fixed object.
 
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Using one length to do 2 or more jobs is bad practice. I believe one rope one job. If you need for any reason to adjust or release a warp one line doing 2 or more jobs can be a problem.

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Of course it is, but it is a fun problem to sort it safely. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I usually use a couple of single lines to allow me to remove the megga warp before casting off. If you have a little slack at each cleat adjustments are actually pretty simple. The trick is to ensure you don't have any load on the tail from the cleat - or you won't be able to undo it.

Have fun, do stuff differently - that's how inventions happen. Following rules is easy & boring. At sea, boring is good, but why not play a little in harbour?
/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
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