clyst
Well-Known Member
Never mind bar tight genny sheets we have full height netting around and are high sided . have seen some very original dances performed by rafters trying to cross.
Shore lines when rafting, What's the point....
- Thread starter snooks
- Start date
Rigger Mortice
N/A
I remember being in a 7 deep raft in Weymouth a few years ago. I suggested to the outer boats that it may be an idea if they put shore lines out, only to get a dumb kind of stare as if they had no idea what I was on about. I let them get on with it.
Sure enough, a few hours later the tide had turned, the wind had piped up a bit and the tangle of pushpits and pulpits as all the rafts swayed into eachother was a joy to behold.
Sure enough, a few hours later the tide had turned, the wind had piped up a bit and the tangle of pushpits and pulpits as all the rafts swayed into eachother was a joy to behold.
dslittle
Well-Known Member
Always keep mine tight for our safety. Never really though about the 'cheesewire' effect on others though...
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Considering your response i truly hope you do
Piddy
Well-Known Member
Having been on the inboard end of a raft of 6 and not slept a wink on Saturday night as my breast rope was supporting everyone and sounding like it was ready to explode (I may be exaggerating slightly!), I firmly believe that properly set shore lines should be used by all.
More fool me for not checking them earlier....
More fool me for not checking them earlier....
Woodlouse
Well-Known Member
More often that not shorelines are not practical to rig. A smaller boat moored outside a bigger boat will not be able to get a fair lead onto the pontoon if there are boats moored ahead and behind or if moored a the end of a pontoon.
haslemere_harry
Well-Known Member
A few years ago a guy rafted against me in Yarmouth, failed to rig shore lines then disappeared. Next morning he'd still not returned and I'm ready to catch the tide back to Pompey. Luckily a couple of kind souls helped us out best they could, but having no real means of controlling the movement of his boat you can imagine what happened as the tide caught him. All I can say is that it sounded expensive, much more so than a few minutes of time and a metres of rope!
Mark
Mark
Seajet
...
Rigging shorelines is simple courtesy and seamanship, and I've not been to a place yet where they weren't of help.
If leaving from the middle of a raft, just lead the shoreline from the outer boat - usually the up tide line with the load on - usually around one's boat's stern, if no one is awake go on the outside and sort the lines out.
This is of course 180 degrees opposite to the ' We're leaving at dawn ' routine !
If leaving from the middle of a raft, just lead the shoreline from the outer boat - usually the up tide line with the load on - usually around one's boat's stern, if no one is awake go on the outside and sort the lines out.
This is of course 180 degrees opposite to the ' We're leaving at dawn ' routine !
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
Seajet
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
A useful tip for reducing noise is to buy some cheap washing up solution
Squirt this along the hull just above the fenders & as it runs down the hull it forms a lubricant
With the ropes tie them to the cleat so they do not rub on the gunwhale if possible & tie them so they do not move on the cleat. Fix the other end tightly to the pontoon cleat. Use one line per cleat so the 2 do not rock each other on the cleat causing movement( another case for short shorelines)
This reduces the movement of the rope against anything
Then douse the ropes to the cleats with soap solution plus where they cros the gunwhale if they touch
If you can keep tension off the ropes then so much the better but if some dick on the outside insists of rigging unnecessary shorelines really tight it may mean your ropes are pulling hard as well & you are squeezed up against the pontoon. Obviously if there is a current or a lot of wind & several boats on the raft then shorelines will have to be used
Most owners will play ball & most will not mind a squirt of soap on the fenders between the 2 boats
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Seajet
...
The snag with the old Fairy Liquid trick is that it quicklly turns into grinding paste, the sort of stuff used to fettle engine valves !
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Fairy liquid is too expensive.
Having fitted a few valves in my lifetime i have never known soap to be used as grinding paste.
Still learn something every day
snooks
Well-Known Member
I used washing up liquid on warps once and they washed the dirt out of the fair leads and rope and left dirty streaks down the hull. Now I've learnt that a scrunched up carrier bag wrapped and tied around the warp works just as well and doesn't leave marks.
Someone we rafted against once complained that our fenders were squeaking. Short of getting the dinghy out, rowing a kedge into the Harbour in a force 7, there wasn't a lot the could be done unless they wanted to put washing up liquid on them and wash the dirt off my hull and onto their freshly waxed shiny hull.
Someone we rafted against once complained that our fenders were squeaking. Short of getting the dinghy out, rowing a kedge into the Harbour in a force 7, there wasn't a lot the could be done unless they wanted to put washing up liquid on them and wash the dirt off my hull and onto their freshly waxed shiny hull.
Poignard
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry - I really didn't mean to offend you.
It's just that many years service in the Royal Navy has left me with an abiding horror of bossy people telling me what to do; especially when, most of the time, I know what needs to be done.
In return, as I'm no longer paid to boss people around, I try and avoid doing it
Life seems a great deal pleasanter as a result.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry - I really didn't mean to offend you.
It's just that many years service in the Royal Navy has left me with an abiding horror of bossy people telling me what to do; especially when, most of the time, I know what needs to be done.
In return, as I'm no longer paid to boss people around, I try and avoid doing it
Life seems a great deal pleasanter as a result.
OK .. Point taken & appreciated
I was not intending any sermon, just an observation.
One can be doing the same thing for years but until it is mentioned one might never know that there could just be an easier way
& that happens in all situations & walks of life