Shore lines when rafting, What's the point....

snooks

snooks

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Me: Surrey Pixie: Solent
www.grahamsnook.com
What is the point of rigging shore lines when, once rigged, each side is as limp as out of date celery, and the raft is askew?

While I'm at it, is it really that hard to moor a boat parallel to the quay/pontoon?

Oh and don't get me started about leaving genoa sheets bar tight so they create a 5 ft high guardrail that has to be negotiated?

I love sailing :)
 
I have shore lines, nicely tensioned [smug] with the warping drum on my windlass [/smug], making a wonky slack raft straight to the pontoon and parallel with the raft astern/up river. Once our breast lines were on, I had to leave the engine in gear to stop us being swept into the raft behind - we're on the outside in the flow of the tide, and the raft was unstable even though one or two other boats inside have shorelines.

I always use shore lines. No point tying on to your neighbour if there's a numpty on the inside just moored with breast lines.

Yes it has happened to me before, French boat in Jersey, second from the pontoon, just breast lines.
 
Pet hate of mine, people outside of me who rig shore lines which are left dangling loosely in the water gathering weed and toilet paper whilst my cleats and lines still carry the weight of their boat.
 
Take dog for walk ashore, return to find a yacht rafted either side of you - they're friends so spend the entire time clambering over our cat to visit each other.. Sand, mud, kids yelling, et al. And just when I thought I'd got anti social down to pat :)
 
Yes .... but!

What about having the required number of lengths of plastic hose to pass along your 'shore-lines' to prevent chafe on others gelcoat? :rolleyes: :eek: ;)
 
>What is the point of rigging shore lines when, once rigged, each side is as limp as out of date celery, and the raft is askew?
Should assist taking load of headlines so inside boat does not get to much compresion from leaver of 5 other boats moored outside it. Although the way most I have seen rigged work, what is the point?

>While I'm at it, is it really that hard to moor a boat parallel to the quay/pontoon?
I always ensure I am NOT parallel, if its just me stern in easier to jump straight to cockpit, if daughter with me she likes the shrouds to climb on with so slightly bow in is order of day...

>Oh and don't get me started about leaving genoa sheets bar tight so they create a 5 ft high guardrail that has to be negotiated?
As some one else has said if helpful hand hold for those working up there. Also stops wind getting under rolled head-sail.

>I love sailing :)
Just not other sailors by the sound of it :D
 
Twister_Ken said:
Genny sheets tight. Something solid to grab hold of if you stumble. Or someone crossing your foredeck does coz they don't know that padeye is there.
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I'm not talking about a modern boat with the genny tracks inboard, but a traditional design, very pretty design, but the tracks on this particular boat go almost back to the cockpit and are on the capping rail. It also has three shrouds spread apart down the side deck. The boat is low to the water, her neighbour doesn't have a coachroof, just a raised flush deck.

So from the cockpit to the furled clew is a line that makes it near impossible to step over until you're also in their neighbours cockpit, and you can't go under it because there is another wall of wire where the shrouds are. Just as well the designer of that boat got it right on this boat ;)
 
onesea said:
As some one else has said if helpful hand hold for those working up there. Also stops wind getting under rolled head-sail.
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Pah! Never grab a rope on someone else's boat, you don't know what it's attached to.

Furl the sail with an extra turn of rope and it won't go anywhere. More likely to unfurl with pressure pulling the clew out. But if it was furled properly and the line made off how is it going to unfurl?

Nothing wrong with doing what I and others in this raft have done, furl it, extra turn of rope around the sail, sheets made around a bow cleat or pushed over to the toerail.

Anyway wind has picked up and I'm glad my shorelines are keeping us in check.
 
1. Rafted boats should be moored parallel to the pontoon and to each other.
2. Shorelines should not be set up to unnecessarily crush inside boats. In practice this means only one should be under any significant tension at any one time (except when you're being blown off the pontoon). This rule does not apply if the inside boats have ignored Rule 1.
3. Any running rigging at waist height or higher should either a: be tensioned up sufficiently to provide a safe hold; or b: should be very slack, but not so as to provide a trip hazard. Preferably a.
4. There should be no obstructions on the foredeck. Spinny poles and their like should be stowed off the deck. Sails sould be rolled up, on the coachroof or down below, never on deck. No complaints about loud, foulmouthed elephants are permisseable in the event of breaches of this rule.
5. No highsided vessel should take the innermost berth unless they provide a suitable ladder by the shrouds.
6. Unless structural damage or hospitalisation is involved, no complaint should be made the following morning about the non-observance or consequences thereof of these rules.
 
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I always rig shore lines if even one boat out, it's considerate to others and good seamanship.

As for getting crushed try Poole town quay where tripper boats do it intentionally and never even consider shore lines !
 
I normally ask boats outside me not to rig shore lines
Any inward pressure crushes my fenders & they often squeak all night
If the raft is big one often finds it is possible to take the lines to a point square off the raft ie a pontoon at right angles
So long as this does not unduly foul entry or exit by other boats
Of course if there is a strong current then rigging shore lines is ok but not too tight so that only the one pulling against the current is working

What often surprises me is the way some people tie up.
Ropes everywhere & one long rope doing several jobs
When coming alongside a relatively short rope is far easier to tie up as are individual ropes for individual cleats
If one uses a really long rope you will see crews spending ages trying to pass a tangled bunch of long rope through a loop whilst the rest of the boat drifts off where it will. You then see them getting the end, taking through another loop & trying to get it back to the boat. Once tied up they then change their minds & go through the whole process again
 
Daydream believer said:
I normally ask boats outside me not to rig shore lines
Any inward pressure crushes my fenders & they often squeak all night
If the raft is big one often finds it is possible to take the lines to a point square off the raft ie a pontoon at right angles
So long as this does not unduly foul entry or exit by other boats
Of course if there is a strong current then rigging shore lines is ok but not too tight so that only the one pulling against the current is working

What often surprises me is the way some people tie up.
Ropes everywhere & one long rope doing several jobs
When coming alongside a relatively short rope is far easier to tie up as are individual ropes for individual cleats
If one uses a really long rope you will see crews spending ages trying to pass a tangled bunch of long rope through a loop whilst the rest of the boat drifts off where it will. You then see them getting the end, taking through another loop & trying to get it back to the boat. Once tied up they then change their minds & go through the whole process again
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Is Daydream Believer the name of your boat? If so I'll be sure to keep clear of it.

The last thing I need after a day's sail is a sermon.
 
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