aquaplane
Well-Known Member
Maybe "you can't carry too much rope" could be a better way of putting it?
Shore lines ... how long?
- Thread starter Bav34
- Start date
mobeydick
Well-Known Member
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
Blueboatman
Well-Known Member
Many feet make light work and heavy boat, ah so..
4 x boat length, 2 x 1.5boat length, 2 x 50metre 'lifesavers' and assorted string..
Quite fancy a 50m reel on the aft deck with own anchor, along with an airbag on the front
4 x boat length, 2 x 1.5boat length, 2 x 50metre 'lifesavers' and assorted string..
Quite fancy a 50m reel on the aft deck with own anchor, along with an airbag on the front
Jamesuk
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
Krusty
Well-Known Member
Billjratt
Well-Known Member
I HATE cuting rope! Measure twice, cut once only works for the day it was done.
Like Goldie (above), I believe in one rope -one job, so we have several ranging from about 2M to 10M, all 3ply with spliced loops for the shore end. We have a good centre cleat, so use reasonably short springs. Also two with rubber snubbers for breast ropes in bumpy places (like Kyle of Lochalsh!) and about three 30M extras. There are others, but if they have not been used, they get brought back to the shed to wait their turn, rather than festering at the bottom of a locker ( I lie, they always hang nicely on a rail.)
I find it a real pain to splice loops in octoplait, so keep them to a mimimum - anchor rode behind the chain, and 5M chain snubber with permanent eye and chainhook.
And finally, on the 'happy hooker' a light line spliced to the heavy one with the leather-covered long splice in the centre and the eye on the other end, for HIDB moorings.
Like Goldie (above), I believe in one rope -one job, so we have several ranging from about 2M to 10M, all 3ply with spliced loops for the shore end. We have a good centre cleat, so use reasonably short springs. Also two with rubber snubbers for breast ropes in bumpy places (like Kyle of Lochalsh!) and about three 30M extras. There are others, but if they have not been used, they get brought back to the shed to wait their turn, rather than festering at the bottom of a locker ( I lie, they always hang nicely on a rail.)
I find it a real pain to splice loops in octoplait, so keep them to a mimimum - anchor rode behind the chain, and 5M chain snubber with permanent eye and chainhook.
And finally, on the 'happy hooker' a light line spliced to the heavy one with the leather-covered long splice in the centre and the eye on the other end, for HIDB moorings.
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
I sail on the East Coast. What's "rafting up", it sounds rather quaint?
Bav34
...
Thanks for all the input. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't like cutting ropes
For basic mooring alongside we already have two 36' bow lines, two 36' stern lines and two 36' springs. We have always found this works well.
We always enter harbour rigged up both sides and immediately use the spring in the relevant direction ... bringing over the other spring to finish things off.
The unused bow line then also goes to the pontoon if bows on.
If alongside two other boats (common in, say, Guernsey) the spare bow and stern lines are long enought to be used as shore lines assuming the inside boats are 12-13 foot-ish wide
We also have some thicker lines well buried away for extreme weather ... Trinite sur Mer 2007 we had the lot out. There's even a thin spinnaker halyard which we use as a boom preventer ... up to the bow and back to the cockpit.
So I feel we are pretty well sorted ... except for the point of the original post ... so I have decided to bite the bullet and follow those of you who think that length is important
2 x 100' it is.
For basic mooring alongside we already have two 36' bow lines, two 36' stern lines and two 36' springs. We have always found this works well.
We always enter harbour rigged up both sides and immediately use the spring in the relevant direction ... bringing over the other spring to finish things off.
The unused bow line then also goes to the pontoon if bows on.
If alongside two other boats (common in, say, Guernsey) the spare bow and stern lines are long enought to be used as shore lines assuming the inside boats are 12-13 foot-ish wide
We also have some thicker lines well buried away for extreme weather ... Trinite sur Mer 2007 we had the lot out. There's even a thin spinnaker halyard which we use as a boom preventer ... up to the bow and back to the cockpit.
So I feel we are pretty well sorted ... except for the point of the original post ... so I have decided to bite the bullet and follow those of you who think that length is important
2 x 100' it is.
aquaplane
Well-Known Member
Well I never, I didn't know you could do that, I was going to use bowlines like I do with the old sheets.
deep denial
Well-Known Member
on my boat the length of the shortest lines is measured from the foredeck cleat, through the fairlead, then back along the hull to 6 inches short of the propellor - doesn't half make for peace of mind, and is also a good length for a breast rope doubled.
Vanilla
Well-Known Member
Does that mean your stern lines are only 1 metre 
Chris_Robb
Well-Known Member
Do you have a 'one-size-suits-all' approach and carry two mega-lengths for your size of boat, meaning that most of the time they are too long, or have you reached a happy compromise whereby on the odd occasion when you are (say) rafted a long way out, you join other ropes together?
To put that in context, our boat is approx. 12 1/2 feet wide. From memory we have only ever been rafted out 5 deep ... and are always rafted onto boats of similar size. This gives a length required of 4 x 12' (the inside boats) plus 'a bit' for tying around cleats plus angle of dangle TO the cleats ... 60' should do it ???
If you had 100 feet it would obviously be more than enough but you would still have 40 feet not being used and even more and more rope to man-handle, the less and less boats you have inside you.
Typical places for rafting for us are The Folly, Yarmouth (not for much longer) , Lymington Town Quay, picking up the mooring buoys in Lymington ... long stern line needed, Weymouth, Guernsey and a few places around France .... Lezardrieux and Isle Chausey (bouys) spring to mind.
Oh, and we literally once got caught short in the lock in St Malo
Having just sold our over-length and too-thick shore lines I'd be interested in your views.
TIA
Steve - I can't think in Feet and Inches anymore - could you convert to Euro standard please and republish
Good job volts and amps don't have a metric equivalent.....
deep denial
Well-Known Member
Does that mean your stern lines are only 1 metre
NO!
I figure that stern lines are less likely to be a problem when motoring forward, and also you're closer at hand to keep an eye on them .
hlb
RIP
After about 25 years of boating, what works for us is. A light ten metre 10mm rope for the bow and a 20mm x ?15 metres for the stern. Theres hardly any weight on the bow, so that doubled has lasted for the last five years.
The longer rope from the stern, needs little carrying. and acts as both moorings and springs.
If we happen to be in a raft. The aft rope becomes the shore rope and another little rope is added for springs and things. If it starts getting really serious. The pale blue rope comes out, this is about 25mm and would tow battle ships.
Things have changed, the big long ropes we used to need, hardly ever happen now. Still, big ropes last for ever and are much kinder than little ones.
The longer rope from the stern, needs little carrying. and acts as both moorings and springs.
If we happen to be in a raft. The aft rope becomes the shore rope and another little rope is added for springs and things. If it starts getting really serious. The pale blue rope comes out, this is about 25mm and would tow battle ships.
Things have changed, the big long ropes we used to need, hardly ever happen now. Still, big ropes last for ever and are much kinder than little ones.
