Stern Ropes

[Hairy-Neil]

Definitely a case of form before function.

 

I've seen water cans weighted with sand too.... And know someone that used to keep his mobile phone in there in the days of half house brick sized mobiles.

 

 

Are we calling them Lines or Ropes?

 

definitely lines....

[Speedwheel]

I've noticed that my son throws lines and lassos mooring bollards with the eye off the dolly. Having tried it myself, it makes getting direction on the throw a lot better, but I don't have anything like his accuracy....

 

Indeed. I rarely throw a line with it still attached to the dolly or stud. Infact I will remove the line from the front T-stud to throw it. You can do so much more accurately and over a greater distance. (obviously still holding one end!) As you say you can keep hold of both ends and throw the middle of the rope to go over a bollard etc. You then put one end over the dolly and have the other end in your hand. Jobs a good'un as they say.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Satellite

[RLWP]

When working as a boatfitter a boat arrived with the centre line neatly coiled on the roof. When it came time to use said line it was picked up and found to be a solid disc of rope that had been fastened down to a thin bit of ply.

 

Definitely a case of form before function.

 

Now, if it had been dosed with shellac, then given a smart coat of white paint that would be OK by me, but....

 

Richard

[magnetman]

Indeed. I rarely throw a line with it still attached to the dolly or stud. Infact I will remove the line from the front T-stud to throw it. You can do so much more accurately and over a greater distance. (obviously still holding one end!) As you say you can keep hold of both ends and throw the middle of the rope to go over a bollard etc. You then put one end over the dolly and have the other end in your hand. Jobs a good'un as they say.

 

That definitely helps. And it is much easier to throw a line a sensible distance with it completely detached from the boat and the other thing is that it is possible to throw the whole rope to someone who might need a bit of line for something, which is handy. in this way a 'stern line' can be used for anything where a bit of line is useful, rather than just being a 'stern line' it is a 'multitasking rope'. If you haven't got a clue how to throw a rope to someone it is quite likely to be a good idea to throw the whole line to them then they can coil it up and throw one end back to you. in some circumstances throwing a line TO someone when you don't know how to coil a rope properly will take longer because of several attempts being needed rather than just lobbing the whole thing at them. This does assume that the receiver of the line knows how to coil and throw a rope properly themselves.

[Denis R]

I hate those spirals of rope. they lie out of the way, they hold water and keep the rope wet, and they twist the rope as you pull it straight. Ughhh...

'Fraid I have to confess to being a bit of a 'Flemish Coil Fanatic' in the past.... Have now given it up for the reasons stated by RLWP....

I guess the original purpose of the Flemish coil was to neatly stow a line only whilst the vessel was berthed?

[Chris Pink]

. in some circumstances throwing a line TO someone when you don't know how to coil a rope properly will take longer because of several attempts being needed rather than just lobbing the whole thing at them. This does assume that the receiver of the line knows how to coil and throw a rope properly themselves.

 

indeed often I have had the whole rope uncoiled (tangled) thrown to me to coil it up and throw one end back.

[RLWP]

'Fraid I have to confess to being a bit of a 'Flemish Coil Fanatic' in the past.... Have now given it up for the reasons stated by RLWP....

I guess the original purpose of the Flemish coil was to neatly stow a line only whilst the vessel was berthed?

 

Steady Denis, I'm still waiting for someone to come along and tell me why ropes/sheets/lines/string should be stored like that! There's bound to be a reason.

 

Richard

 

No, it looks like I am not alone. To quote this site Here "..it is a deplorable way of treating rope" !

Edited September 9, 2008 by RLWP

[dave moore]

Hi all

Back again. I totally agree about the uselessness of the Flemish coil (or "flaked" rope as I call it) as a means of accessing a quickly needed line. There's another practical reason not to do it too...in wet weather you end up with a permanently damp patch under the coil which will eventually help to cause failure of the roof paint, most of which aren't designed to be constantly wet.

Another rankling modern habit (sorry) is attaching a decorated bell rope to the shank of the tiller pin. As I understand it, the purpose of the pin was to enable the tiller's quick removal if necessary.

For anyone interested, Sonia Rolt's excellent book " A Canal People" of Robert Longden's photographs of working boats around Suttons in the late 40s and early 50s provides much detail about what went where in working boat days, if anyone's interested, likewise Michael Ware's "Narrowboats at Work"

There has always been a rightness about traditional placement and practice.

A final snippet for now. Acouple of years ago I was approaching Barton Turn lock, working uphill. I couldn't see anyone in the lock so intended to put the bows in the lock's mouth while I prepared. There was a boat in there and an elderly lady appeared, flustered that they wouldn't be able to get out.

"No problem "says I "I'll pull back" (must have been 20 yards from the lock anyway)

"You must like reversing" she replied and continued to mutter. Obviously I should have tied up way back! and walked ahead......how times change!

Cheers

Dave

[Guest]

"Isn't the centre-line provided for those that feel the need for a rapidly deployable rope?"

 

Yes, cut exactly to length so that when it trails in the water it is six inches too short to reach the prop. I use a left and right pair to save all that flicking to get it over over the roof clutter.

Me too, no string over my prop. Been there, snagged the prop. A very sloppy procedure.

[Speedwheel]

Another rankling modern habit (sorry) is attaching a decorated bell rope to the shank of the tiller pin. As I understand it, the purpose of the pin was to enable the tiller's quick removal if necessary.

 

Yup - that gets to me too. Of course the reason people do it is to stop the tiller pin falling in the water when they lift the rope off it!!!

[magnetman]

Hi all

Back again. I totally agree about the uselessness of the Flemish coil (or "flaked" rope as I call it) as a means of accessing a quickly needed line. There's another practical reason not to do it too...in wet weather you end up with a permanently damp patch under the coil which will eventually help to cause failure of the roof paint, most of which aren't designed to be constantly wet.

Another rankling modern habit (sorry) is attaching a decorated bell rope to the shank of the tiller pin. As I understand it, the purpose of the pin was to enable the tiller's quick removal if necessary.

For anyone interested, Sonia Rolt's excellent book " A Canal People" of Robert Longden's photographs of working boats around Suttons in the late 40s and early 50s provides much detail about what went where in working boat days, if anyone's interested, likewise Michael Ware's "Narrowboats at Work"

There has always been a rightness about traditional placement and practice.

A final snippet for now. Acouple of years ago I was approaching Barton Turn lock, working uphill. I couldn't see anyone in the lock so intended to put the bows in the lock's mouth while I prepared. There was a boat in there and an elderly lady appeared, flustered that they wouldn't be able to get out.

"No problem "says I "I'll pull back" (must have been 20 yards from the lock anyway)

"You must like reversing" she replied and continued to mutter. Obviously I should have tied up way back! and walked ahead......how times change!

Cheers

Dave

Michael E Ware's book is called "Narrow Boats at Work" if we're being precise about tradition and things.

 

[dave moore]

Michael E Ware's book is called "Narrow Boats at Work" if we're being precise about tradition and things.

 

 

Thanks Magnetman. I haven't unearthed my copy for a while

[Dominic M]

Steady Denis, I'm still waiting for someone to come along and tell me why ropes/sheets/lines/string should be stored like that! There's bound to be a reason.

 

Richard

 

No, it looks like I am not alone. To quote this site Here "..it is a deplorable way of treating rope" !

I think (emphasis on "think") that it is a maritime thing - ropes/lines/warps kept neatly coiled like that on deck reduced the chance of going a*** over t** when running around on deck. I was taught that the anchor rope should be coiled thus with the chain alongside neatly laid so that in a hurry it would be less inclined to tangle. But on a narrow boat cabin top with a rope needed far more frequently than a sea going boat would it seems be pointless.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Dominic M

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Dave I believe "flaking" is actually laying the rope out in parallel lines on the deck (which is what most of the old auxiliarists refer to as faking, it's not). Flemish coil is the spiral one.

[alan_fincher]

I just want hold of a line, lest the boat decides to set off due to wind or currents while nobody is on it.

 

As I step off to shut a top gate I slip the lever into reverse. By the time I've walked to the gate and shut it the boat has gone forwards a few feet, stopped and started back towards the lock. Step on the counter as it arrives back, put it ahead and you're away....

 

No ropes (or lines ) involved...

Yeh, Yeh, OK

 

It looks terribly swish on the 95% of occasions it works, (and when inevitably nobody is watching).

 

But of course when there's a crowd, it's the one bloody time you can get the gate moving, and the spectators are watching the boat you have just taken out of the lock, reversing back in on it's own, whilst you have to dive aboard and "reset" things for another attempt.

 

I know my limitations, and sometimes I'm using my line!