Rope

[Yamanx]

I know this was covered before but I cant find it.

 

What is the best type of rope?

 

It appears there are many types.

[magnetman]

I know this was covered before but I cant find it.

 

What is the best type of rope?

 

It appears there are many types.

Staplespun polyprop 12, 14 or best 16mm. This is the rope the Thames tugs have used for years, they use the 24mm version. Majorly strong rope, floats doesn't rot I've had a set for 12 years and they're great.

 

Cheapest I can find thestuff is this:

 

 

http://www.sharpandenright.co.uk/index.php...pe_by_the_metre

Edited January 4, 2007 by magnetman

[John Orentas]

By far the cheapest rope is the stuff you get for nothing, develop a few rock climbing friends, they are forever buying new lengths, every year or each time they fall on it. They say there is a 50% stretch when it is new but that is soon lost.

 

You develop a technique of using the line double or even quadruple when you moor up, it has ample strength kind on the hands and looks OK too. The one downside is that these clumsy climbing types are forever falling off rock faces, then they take up basket making and that's no good to anyone.

[blackrose]

Staplespun polyprop 12, 14 or best 16mm. This is the rope the Thames tugs have used for years, they use the 24mm version. Majorly strong rope, floats doesn't rot I've had a set for 12 years and they're great.

 

Cheapest I can find thestuff is this:

http://www.sharpandenright.co.uk/index.php...pe_by_the_metre

 

This is cheap but I'd always thought polypropylene rope was cheap for a reason.

 

I've just googled this: http://www.boatsafe.com/marlinespike/material.htm

 

I picked up a 90m reel of 20mm polyester octoplat (eight braid) for £200 from a chandlery in Liverpool a couple of years ago. I've used it for everything - mooring, centreropes and anchor lines. It's not cheap but £2.20/m isn't too bad for this type of rope. The advantage of octoplat over triple strand is that it doesn't kink no matter which way you twist it. The disadvantage is that nobody seems to know how to splice it. Also I have the feeling that my octoplat doesn't have particularly good abrasion resistance as I've already lost a strand on a mooring rope - or perhaps that's down to my own stupidity for leaving it across the corner of my gas locker lid where it's been chafing.

Edited January 4, 2007 by blackrose

[DHutch]

Diffrent rope had diffrent propertys, which can be advantagous in diffrent situations.

 

We use 20mm 3strand white polyester rope for our warps.

- Its not cheap that thick, but it gives something nice to hold, and you dont have to worry about it snaping.

- 3strand is also cheaper the multiplat/octoplat and far easyer to splice (even i can do it...)

 

Staplespun Polyprop (blue string) is occatinoaly usefull, simply because it floats and its so cheap.

- However, it knots like a bugger, is horrable to handle, and has poor UV stabilty. It is cheap tho....

 

Climbing rope is also cheap, if you can get it second hand. But its not really that suitable, and a little bit thin to be confortable.

- Theres no reason not to use it in a way, espcically not for just mooring etc, but i wouldnt want to have it as the main ropes on our boat.

 

And at the end of the day, a set of warps should last 4/5 years or so, so even at £2 a meter, for two ropes eacha bout 10m long, thats less than a tenner a year.

 

Also, we change our warps for grotty old rope in winter when the boats basicaly just moored going now where, and put the nicer ones inside in the warm/dry/dark.

 

 

Daniel

[magnetman]

WHatever. I just noticed the tugs use basic polypropylene on the river, and they are workboats, like narrowboats were, once. RYA is good but a bit yacht-oriented for my liking.

Edited January 4, 2007 by magnetman

[ChrisPy]

always worth remembering that according to ISO standards, the rope must be much less strong than the weakest fixing point on your boat. That certainly applies for towing points, and could be relevant for mooring ropes and anchor ropes if these ever came under any strain.

 

16mm polyprop would be nice, but it has a breaking strain of 3.7tonnes !! think about that for a minute.

 

the moral is there should always be a weak point in any energy system, and a rope under tension stores a lot of energy.

[magnetman]

20mm polyester is a fair bit stronger than that.

 

Could try 8mm polyprop but I suspect it'd break under shock loading going up Molesey lock.

 

3.7T is certainly weaker than any fixing points on a decent narrowboat.

Edited January 4, 2007 by magnetman

[ChrisPy]

20mm polyester is a fair bit stronger than that.

 

Could try 8mm polyprop but I suspect it'd break under shock loading going up Molesey lock.

 

3.7T is certainly weaker than any fixing points on a decent narrowboat.

?? you sure about that ??

[NB Alnwick]

We use 20mm "Synthetic Hemp" supplied by Tradline Fenders at Braunston.

 

This has the same feel and appearence as natural hemp and is a 3-strand polypropylene rope made in England to Tradline's own specification. Like other polypropylene ropes it is easy to work with, exceptionally strong and it floats.

 

Having said that, the prices on the Sharp & Enright website (link provided by 'Magnetman') appear to be very competitive and if budget is a major consideration - their staplespun polypropylene rope would appear to have the advantage.

 

Edited to say that our boat weighs about 25 tons so we like a nice thick rope that you can get hold of - if you have a much lighter boat with a shallower draught you might prefer a 15mm or 16mm diameter rope - and, you can never have too much of it - when we entered the sea lock at Bristol last year we had to pass up two 70 foot lengths!

 

And edited again because we had written metres and meant feet!

Edited January 4, 2007 by NB Alnwick

[Keeping Up]

... when we entered the sea lock at Bristol last year we had to pass up two 70 metre lengths!

Do you really mean 70 metre lengths? Surely a couple of 70 foot lengths would be enough?

 

When we came through that sea lock we hardly had to use rope at all. A boat that had gone out towards the sea, radioed that he was turning back with engine trouble so they held the lock for him. He limped back to Bristol and just made it back around high tide, by which time the river had almost made a level with the basin.

 

Allan

[DHutch]

always worth remembering that according to ISO standards, the rope must be much less strong than the weakest fixing point on your boat.

- 16mm polyprop would be nice, but it has a breaking strain of 3.7tonnes !! think about that for a minute.

What you say certainly makes a lot of sence. And you do see some fairly flimsy dollys, with the center all drilled out for the tank vent.

- From the info i can find, 22m 3strand polyestrer has a break strain of 5.6 ton, which is a fiar bit!

- And although the fixing point on out boat are very strong, i wouldnt like to pluck out a rating for them.

- We have snaped doubled over 8mm polyprop tho, that was just as a tempary mooring line while painting, snaped like string.

 

I dont know, we seam all right on it so far, but i certainly also agree that the fixing points on many boats would come of well before that snaped, and them start flying towards you PDQ!

 

As for lenght, on out 58ft boat, we have a the front line at about 35ft, rear line at about 30ft, and centerline about 40ft.

- That seams to be long enought for just about everything, while not geting in the way excessivly. You can also hold both front and rear warps at once.

 

 

Daniel

[NB Alnwick]

Do you really mean 70 metre lengths? Surely a couple of 70 foot lengths would be enough?

 

Quite right! That should read 70 feet and we did need it all when we went in . . .

[magnetman]

?? you sure about that ??

 

I'd be confident of my own boat dollies and tee stud holding 3.7T but I know a lot of new boats have hollow stuff so perhaps not clever there.

Edited January 4, 2007 by magnetman

[Denis & Betty Anne]

One thing I do when we leave our boat for long/lomgish periods is to put the mooring rope through one metre or so of plastic tube, the clear stuff that you use for water etc., and place this where the rope passes through or round a bollard or mooring pin. This saves lots of wear and makes sure that the rope isn't chaffed away or damaged by someone standing on it. We use it as well if we're mooring overnight and we use mooring rings or the rings on mooring pins, anywhere where the rope chaffs.

 

Denis.

[Liam]

One thing I do when we leave our boat for long/lomgish periods is to put the mooring rope through one metre or so of plastic tube, the clear stuff that you use for water etc., and place this where the rope passes through or round a bollard or mooring pin. This saves lots of wear and makes sure that the rope isn't chaffed away or damaged by someone standing on it. We use it as well if we're mooring overnight and we use mooring rings or the rings on mooring pins, anywhere where the rope chaffs.

 

Denis.

 

I think that's a bit OTT to be honest. As Dan says it's best to have two sets of ropes really. Your decent ones for cruising and a knackered old set purely to tie the boat up on it's mooring when left for a while such as over winter.

[NB Alnwick]

I think that's a bit OTT to be honest. As Dan says it's best to have two sets of ropes really. Your decent ones for cruising and a knackered old set purely to tie the boat up on it's mooring when left for a while such as over winter.

 

We have just brought our 'good' ropes in after our New Year excursion to Welford. The centre line is already showing a bit of green from the damp atmosphere - has anyone got a good method of cleaning or whitening ropes? Can you put them in the washing machine?

 

The natural fibre lines on the old working boats were always white and looked as if they had been scrubbed and 'blancoed'.

[magnetman]

In the old days they used to leather over the spliced eyes, one modern alternative is to use bicycle innertube.]

edit: Crossed posts - I believe they used to clean their ropes. Hardy Hemp polyprop does seem to get a bit green and greasy I have noticed, perhaps the washing machine is a worth a try.

Edited January 4, 2007 by magnetman

[Liam]

My mate put his ropes in his wifes new washer, and ballsed it up! Although I do beleive the correct way to do it is put the ropes in a pillow case with the end tied, and then throw 'em in the washer.

[chris w]

We have just brought our 'good' ropes in after our New Year excursion to Welford. The centre line is already showing a bit of green from the damp atmosphere - has anyone got a good method of cleaning or whitening ropes? Can you put them in the washing machine?

 

The natural fibre lines on the old working boats were always white and looked as if they had been scrubbed and 'blancoed'.

The rope inside a pillow case and into the washing machine brings them up like new.

 

Chris

[blackrose]

always worth remembering that according to ISO standards, the rope must be much less strong than the weakest fixing point on your boat. That certainly applies for towing points, and could be relevant for mooring ropes and anchor ropes if these ever came under any strain.

 

16mm polyprop would be nice, but it has a breaking strain of 3.7tonnes !! think about that for a minute.

 

the moral is there should always be a weak point in any energy system, and a rope under tension stores a lot of energy.

 

I take your point Chris, but are you really considering using less than 16mm rope on your 25 odd tonnes of widebeam? Thin rope is not nice on the hands.

[ChrisPy]

I take your point Chris, but are you really considering using less than 16mm rope on your 25 odd tonnes of widebeam? Thin rope is not nice on the hands.

for normal handling I'll be using a nice fat rope. If I ever have to tow or anchor I will use something more fragile, or wrap the rope round a substantial part of the boat, with a knife to hand for emergency disconnection .............

 

 

....................... the master of compromise .......................

 

 

such matters only arise because I have read all the ISOs necessary to achieve RCD compliance, so I can issue my own DoC in good faith. I appreciate that 99% of the canal-going public will never know, and probably will never be affected.

 

I also suffer from having experienced an informal 'apprenticeship of the sea' which I realise is largely irrelevant inland.

[blackrose]

To go off topic slightly, I followed the thread about anchor warp attachment point but wasn't sure if it was safe to attach my anchor to the bow T stud on my LB widebeam, just forward of the gas locker lid. I'm assuming it's the same as yours Chris. The diameter of the stud is about 1.5" and I reckon it's held on by about 8" of welding around the base flange. I'm assuming the stud is solid and will be as strong as the welding it's held on by. If 1" of weld can hold 1 tonne that's about 8 tonnes and the breaking strain of my rope is 6 tonnes.

 

Do you think it's ok to attach my anchor warp to the stud. If not where else could I attach it?

[ChrisPy]

To go off topic slightly, I followed the thread about anchor warp attachment point but wasn't sure if it was safe to attach my anchor to the bow T stud on my LB widebeam, just forward of the gas locker lid. I'm assuming it's the same as yours Chris. The diameter of the stud is about 1.5" and I reckon it's held on by about 8" of welding around the base flange. I'm assuming the stud is solid and will be as strong as the welding it's held on by. If 1" of weld can hold 1 tonne that's about 8 tonnes and the breaking strain of my rope is 6 tonnes.

 

Do you think it's ok to attach my anchor warp to the stud. If not where else could I attach it?

 

When you think about it, if the stud is subjected to 6 tonnes, and the welding between the stud and the plating is sound, the weld may not fail. But if the boat is heaving in a seaway, will the plate buckle and eventually rip out?

 

If I were designing from scratch and I was relying for survival on an anchor in a seaway, then the tee-stud would be a solid bar extended down to the floor of the gas locker and would be braced against the stempost. The weld at the deck plate would be only superficial. Alternatively I would probably have arranged for the cable to be made off to a yoke (chain, whatever) securely fixed to or around the stempost. Then if the tee-stud failed I would still be connected.

 

But in practice we inland boaters will probably never experience such conditions. A fast running stream is nothing compared to a heaving boat in a strong tidal current.

[blackrose]

But in practice we inland boaters will probably never experience such conditions. A fast running stream is nothing compared to a heaving boat in a strong tidal current.

 

Yes, I don't envisage taking my boat out to sea!

 

So for the tidal Thames am I ok with my T stud?