Running a line ashore

tudorsailor

tudorsailor

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 Jun 2005
Messages
2,756
Location
London
zebahdy.blogspot.co.uk
There was a thread where we discussed running a line ashore. I have just spent 2 months in the Adriatic and knew that I would need to have something to run ashore from the stern. I had seen lots of boats with spools of tape on the stern rail. This Ankorlina is quite expensive so looked for an alternative

So I bought 50m of undyed 35mm tape from Absolute Industrial. They were most helpful making up a special order that was undyed and with loops sewn in both ends.

I then bought a reel from Amazon and it stores the tape nicely. Much cheaper than Ankorlina, just a s strong, and can be kept in a locker when not required rather than in the sunshine

I did use it and it works fine. Half the price

IMG_1837.jpg

TudorSailor
 
No neither float. The white undyed line that I bought is very visible since I could see it flashing in the sun when I climbed a nearby hill. It was certainly more visible than the mixtures of lines tied to together that adjacent boats had used. We were at Hvar where there are a line of buoys and the shore has a varierty of rings and posts for shore lines.

We tied to the shore that was about 30m away. No boat would go between us and the shore. With a line off moored boats it was blindingly obvious that there were shore lines. Even if in an isolated anchorage at anchor, with a line ashore, there would never really be room for someone to pass behind other than maybe a dinghy.

Here's a photo showing us moored up. Our line is the upper one flashing in the sun. There is one other visible white line. The rest were spare sheets or halyards or mooring lines, so dark and not floatinghvar.jpg

TudorSailor
 
Tudorsailor,

OK so barely visible by day and invisible in the dark !

It maybe f***ting into the wind, but one can only hope to keep up standards so others may catch on.

Copywright C.Darwin 2013. :)
 
So what are you saying I am doing wrong? Using a line ashore that is bright white and visible easily in the day and would be easily seen by a torch?

Most lines taken ashore are tied together halyards/ mooring lines and sheets. They also do not float. They are less visible than my white tape

Some advocate using polypropylene since it is stretchy and floats. How will you see this in the dark?

Surely no-one would go between the shore and a yacht only 20-30 off the shore that is pointing away from the shore and not into the wind?

What standard am I failing to maintain?

TS
 
Seajet said:
Tudorsailor,

OK so barely visible by day and invisible in the dark !

It maybe f***ting into the wind, but one can only hope to keep up standards so others may catch on.

Copywright C.Darwin 2013. :)
Click to expand...

+1

Maybe add some fuor painted buoys with reflective that you can add when you are all knitted together.

Jonathan
 
tudorsailor said:
What standard am I failing to maintain?

TS
Click to expand...

None! You are being taken to task by folks who have no idea what they are talking about. If you were doing something wrong, you would be only one of several thousands.

BTW neat solution to a perennial problem!
 
Most shore lines I have seen employed are from yachts so close to shore that no-one in their right mind would try to come inshore of them...I don't see what difference the type of line used makes, or whether buoys are used, as any shore line is a risk if you try to go through it. No more so than snagging a keel on a taught anchor chain I would suggest.

What you are saying, Andy, is right in principle - in that any shore line is a potential danger. However in the context TudorSailor was using it (not stretched across the entrance to an anchorage or harbour), it is not inconsiderate or a trap for others. Poorly marked lobster pots and mussel lines, yes, but not sensibly set shore lines.

An anchor tripping line and buoy is equally a danger to other yachts if they can snag their propellor on it in the dark, yet people only generally avoid using them in-case someone mistakes them for mooring buoys and disturbs the set anchor, not because they can foul someone else's yacht.

As with all things, awareness of the dangers is key to safe sailing, IMHO.

Andy
 
It was suggested I got undyed in case dye leached onto the gelcoat.

As it turns out, the white is very easy to see, and when we were up the hill taking the photo, my line flashed as it caught the sun. So I am glad that I got the undyed version

TudorSailor
 
Neeves and Seajet: you both usually talk a lot of sense but you're having a day off. Seeing shore lines is simply not an issue in those parts of the Med where shoreline use is routine: if a boat's close to shore but facing away from it, the presumption is there's a line ashore. Certainly it would be different where this is not normal practice.
 
Tudorsailor, many thanks for what has to be one of the most useful tips I've seen to date!
Used to run lines ashore regularly some 40 years ago when we used to sail around the Fjords of Norway and now have steel yachts based in Greece and South America, so use the skills I learnt in Norway quite regularly, particularly with the boat in South America as we love exploring the rivers and seeing how far upriver we can go and can often end up running lines ashore to a couple of points, so I'm definitely looking to buy a couple of 50mm web lines.... at something around 68 squid for 100 mtrs, it'd be silly not to... So thanks again.
 
macd said:
Neeves and Seajet: you both usually talk a lot of sense but you're having a day off. Seeing shore lines is simply not an issue in those parts of the Med where shoreline use is routine: if a boat's close to shore but facing away from it, the presumption is there's a line ashore. Certainly it would be different where this is not normal practice.
Click to expand...

macd,

for my part thanks, fair enough.

I have no experience of sailing in the Med, it's just that putting long unmarked lines ashore seems inconsiderate to me and asking for trouble !

Andy
 
Seajet said:
macd,

for my part thanks, fair enough.

I have no experience of sailing in the Med, it's just that putting long unmarked lines ashore seems inconsiderate to me and asking for trouble !

Andy
Click to expand...
Precisely why you should not comment on things you know nothing about!
 
Seajet said:
macd,

for my part thanks, fair enough.

I have no experience of sailing in the Med, it's just that putting long unmarked lines ashore seems inconsiderate to me and asking for trouble !

Andy
Click to expand...

No wurries; very gracious. As you've probably worked out, the shore lines are principally used to minimise swinging and thus allow more boats in an anchorage. In practice it's an extension of the practice of berthing stern/bow-to in marinas and on quays. In Turkey, in particular, where the depths often drop off very quickly (one's distance to shore might be 10 metres or even less), it's the only way to accommodate more than a handful of boats. Essex, it isn't. And when in Rome...
 
I prefer sinking lines as landlines or kedge anchor lines.
Have seen more than one near accident involving “Floating “ tape.
Floating line or tape floats. As long as the water is calm and no spinning propellers are around.
In difficult situations, waves, wind, they float, but under water, in reach of the propeller.
Main anchor drags a few meter or the slack of a chain is taken out by strong ( always at night ) gusts, skipper starts the engine, and snapp... line in propeller.
Our lines sink as a stone. Down to the bottom where they can do no harm when released or cut.
The only line I had in the propeller( at least five times) is the floating tow line to the rigid dingy.
Not that long ago I assisted with one of my kedge anchors to a catamaran who had a reel tape land line in both of his propellers while at 3 yards from the rocks. The skipper of the catamaran was a experienced sailor. Sh** can happen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top