Uncoiling new rope - might be a dumb question?

[Rum Run]

Hello all,
I have just bought a full 220metre length of polysteel rope, which is supplied as an open centred cylindrical coil tied with loops of twine to retain the shape. Before I start cut the loops to uncoil it, is there a seamanlike way of doing this which avoids the whole thing ending up as a Portsmouth splice of epic proportions?
At this point I am considering making a wooden drum to go into the open centre then unrolling it, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing Tom Cunlffe would do!

 

[PetiteFleur]

I've used a large roundish piece of wood that fits the central hole, clamped in a vice and then unrolled. Ideally you should have a stand with a removable round horizontal bar at the top and then unrolled - like unrolling a large drum of underground cable.

 

[Rum Run]

I've used a large roundish piece of wood that fits the central hole, clamped in a vice and then unrolled. Ideally you should have a stand with a removable round horizontal bar at the top and then unrolled - like unrolling a large drum of underground cable.

if it were on a drum I would have no trouble, but it is a coil of rope with no drum to give it integrity once I cut the twine holding it together. What I am looking for is some cunning and seamanlike way of de-coiling the rope without it degenerating into a bunch of bar-stewards or my having to make a temporary drum.

 

[lw395]

You maybe need to know if it was rolled around a drum, or flaked into a circle from above?
I'd assume rolled, but you know what they say about assumptions...

Traditionally, you get the twists out by towing it astern.

 

[colind3782]

Take one football pitch. Go for a walk with the end of it.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

Will you need to uncoil it all at once ? If not you would be advised to make something to contain it. It doesn't need to be anything elaborate- two pieces of ply, or four pieces of 2x1 plus a length of threaded stud.
Tom Cunliffe would probably uncoil it over the transom and trail it behind the boat.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

(1) Drop it onto a traffic cone or something similar.
(2) Draw the lengths that you need from the centre and not from the outside.

 

[penberth3]

...At this point I am considering making a wooden drum to go into the open centre then unrolling it...

Instead of making something, some strong cardboard tube from your local carpet shop should be OK.

 

[sarabande]

Place the coil on a wooden former that (nearly) fits the core; suspend both ends of the former so that the coil is level; walk away steadily with the running end to length that you need.


Polysteel sounds a bit serious: what are you using if for ?

 

[Porthandbuoy]

(1) Drop it onto a traffic cone or something similar.
(2) Draw the lengths that you need from the centre and not from the outside.

+1 That's the way to do it.

 

[Wansworth]

I have s similar coil which I bought at a bargain price to be used if needed.From previous experience it needs to be unraveled from the center as mentioned.Even so as it's loosely held by twine I foresee it getting tangled very easily.....I just hope I don't have to use it.....unraveling it to act as a drouge in a gale does not bear thinking about

 

[Porthandbuoy]

PS. Put it in a bucket first.

 

[Wansworth]

Ah!....thanks

 

[sarabande]

If taken out of the centre, the rope will twist. That is OK if you are taking out a long piece, or are going to manipulate it into a hank .

The only way to avoid a twist is to reverse the way the rope was placed onto the reel, that is by suspending the coil on a turntable or an axle, and pulling it off from the outside.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

The only way to avoid a twist is to reverse the way the rope was placed onto the reel, that is by suspending the coil on a turntable or an axle, and pulling it off from the outside.

Only if it is already on a reel.

 

[jdc]

Oh just do it. I have bought several 220m lengths of polysteel for lines ashore in strange places (think Patagonia). Cut the retaianing strings and it just stays there: it doesn't leap up and strangle you!

 

[lenten]

as jdc says---you might want to stretch it afterwards to lose the memory---in the past i have hung rope through woods and left it for a couple of weeks--- or tied it to a tree with a swivel and then given it a stretch with my car-----never tried the trailiing behind boat method----anyone know if it works??

 

[oldharry]

as jdc says---you might want to stretch it afterwards to lose the memory---in the past i have hung rope through woods and left it for a couple of weeks--- or tied it to a tree with a swivel and then given it a stretch with my car-----never tried the trailiing behind boat method----anyone know if it works??

Towing it is the traditional way of preparing new rope for use by sailing barges and others.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Towing it is the traditional way of preparing new rope for use by sailing barges and others.

I thought that was from the days when they had to adjust the rope tension every night when the dew fell, or every time it rained, to prevent the rope shrinkage from pulling the boat apart. I remember having to adjust tent guys when I was in the Scouts for this reason. Always necessary the first few nights camping if the guy ropes were really dry after being stored all winter.
Towing new rope behind a barge would "pre-shrink" it.

 

[fisherman]

Z laid rope should be taken from the centre 'against the sun', ie, with the end facing clockwise. Depending on the hardness of the lay you may need to tow it behind a car/boat, but I usually put it in a bin, and walk away twirling the end. Foolproof is use a spinner, a turntable with a spindle and four wedges, pull the rope off as it went on, from the outside.