Floating stern line

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
C

cbouch

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2019
Messages
168
Location
us
I understand that in many anchorage locations around Georgian bay and the north channel, it is preferable to drop your anchor and also to tie off to shore with a floating stern line with an approx length of 150 feet. I am trying to determine what material this line should be made of and what size. If I understand correctly this line is just keeping the boat from swinging while the anchoring comes from your bow ground tackle. I am thinking 1/2 line should be adequate for a 36 foot typical trawler. Wondering what the consensus of opinions are relative to size and material. Thanks cliff
 
Last edited:
Lots of people stern tie up here without floating lines but a floating lines can make for easier retrieval. Here is but one example from Amazon in 3/8 to 5/8 sizes and various lengths. Most people tie off to a cleat go around a tree or whatever and come back to the boat to tie. This way they can depart without having to go ashore, so make sure you get a long enough length.

https://www.amazon.com/PolyFoam-Floating-Rope-inch-Polypropylene/dp/B07582C7D9/ref=pd_sbs_200_t_0/145-0160159-5122346?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07D3GVRX1&pd_rd_r=4030aac1-e3ec-4c99-843a-25dd6ea07515&pd_rd_w=AvGAc&pd_rd_wg=E5P8g&pf_rd_p=5cfcfe89-300f-47d2-b1ad-a4e27203a02a&pf_rd_r=KHV3J36DFA0PAW195YPY&refRID=KHV3J36DFA0PAW195YPY&th=1&psc=1
 
For a 36', 3/8" line should be adequate for a stern line. There are very cheap PP lines in 3 strand at the big box store, but they are difficult to manage, coil, store, etc. Braided line much easier. Boats up the in PNW seem to favor the Samson MFP Floatline, cheap in reel quantities.
 
LaBomba's advice is spot on.
My experience using a stern anchor line for a stern tie is that 1/2" is plenty strong for our 34 ft'r and reasonably comfortable to handle.
Longer is better and generally I found I needed more than I expected. Reasons are that you are frequently not as close to shore with the stern when initiating the tie off and need more initially. Especially when wind isn't exactly on the bow. Eventually you can pull your stern in closer.
Having enough to go around a tree, rock or cleats (available on some park islands & shores) and back to the boat is very convenient when departing the anchorage as it allows the dingy / motor to be stowed before departure.
 
Greetings Mr. C,

In my neck of the woods the "stern line tied to shore" is called a shore tie, and the process of rigging it we call shore tying. Its a learned process, and once you are good at it becomes just an extension of setting the anchor. For example, part of the process includes having your dinghy ready to go, having your shore tie line out and ready to go.

Here is a past link discussing the equipment, line selection, and stowage here on TF. http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/stern-anchor-shore-tie-line-24250.html In short, your sized boat a lot of people use 3/8" floating yellow PP line. There are a variety of stowage methods, from in a bag to a milk crate/bucket to a hose reel. There are also some professionally made solutions out there that are (for a price) nice - stainless steel reels with a flat floating PP line. You want it to float and be visible so its not a hazard to others.

The process is you set your anchor, and back down to shore, then deploy your shore tie. A floating shore tie is desirable as is a bright color. A shore tie that goes to shore, loops around something and comes back is also a must so you can drop one end and be free in an emergency.

In the old days (and I even hear people still saying to do this) you would loop your line around a tree. This can damage a living tree and is not a good practice. Some have old lengths of fire hose or use straps to act as chafe guards to protect the tree. (The link above has some discussion of this.) In British Columbia some of the marine parks have eye bolts installed in the rocky shore for boaters to tie to.

Alternatively in our area we loop around boulders ashore or some of the massive driftwood tree/rootball masses we find. To help with chafe (of the shore tie) around
sharp rocks some have short lengths of wire rope or chain with a carabiner to put around the rock, and pass the shore tie line through the carabiner.
 
We use non floating line for tying to shore.

One boat tied to shore is not a problem with floating rope. But multiple boats rafted with several shore ties makes it difficult to get the tender out and over the floating line.

We use 1/2" braited rope which sinks and makes getting the tender out easy. Brait is stronger than floating line so you can use a smaller diameter. It also lays soft and 400 feet fits in a 7 gallon bucket. We often tie a buoy to it to mark it's location.

When someone on the raft has floating line, we sink it by attaching weigh to it.
 
Sizes and rope type have been discussed, generally lightweight polyprop line of a braided variety works great. I carry 600 feet.

You will definitely need more length than you first expect, and again, more is better, as it could prove problematic if you have a line that is 10 feet short :)
To protect trees, and still work well, I use a 'bridle". The bridle is made up of 5/8 inch 3 strand polyprop (about 6 feet long) with an eye spliced in each end using metal or plastic eyes. One eye is much larger than the other. Also when going ashore, I take 2 lines. One is the shore tie line and one is basically a strong "string" use to retrieve the end of the shore tie from the main boat.

Procedure:
On shore, place the bridle around the tree, rock, whatever will be your 'shore anchor'. Pass the shore tie line through the "eyes" going through the small eye first (important point). After the shore tie line is through both eyes, tie the retrieval line to the shore tie. Person on the boat can now 'pull in' the shore tie, while the person on shore can pull line from the boat to "lighten the load" (reducing friction) for the person on the boat. In this way, the shore tie is back to the boat in about 60 seconds or less. No muss no fuss. The end of the shore tie is cleated off, and then the "boat end" of shore line is pulled in to "tighten it up" or remove slack to the desired amount.

To retrieve without going ashore:
Tie a bowline knot (or other large knot) in the end of the shore tie line after uncleating. Pull in the shore tie. The knot will pass through the large "eye" in the bridle, but will "hang up" on the small eye "capturing" the bridle and the whole set up will come back to the boat! Once in a while, if the shoreline is very rocky, things may hang up. With the right technique (basically "jerking" the line when pulling in) you can avoid this from happening.
Using this system, you avoid chafe on your shore tie as it moves inside the "eyes" and the bridle does not move on the shore anchor (tree) eliminating chafe for both your bridle and the tree.
 
Shore tie

Firehoser-

Great suggestion on the large eye/small eye combo, I'm going to try that.
Thanks
 
DDW said:
Boats up the in PNW seem to favor the Samson MFP Floatline, cheap in reel quantities.
Click to expand...

Cheap, yellow floating poly line in a reel is what’s usually used here. We carry 600’ and have used damn near all of it up in The Octopus Islands once.
 
firehoser75 said:
Sizes and rope type have been discussed, generally lightweight polyprop line of a braided variety works great. I carry 600 feet.

You will definitely need more length than you first expect, and again, more is better, as it could prove problematic if you have a line that is 10 feet short :)
To protect trees, and still work well, I use a 'bridle". The bridle is made up of 5/8 inch 3 strand polyprop (about 6 feet long) with an eye spliced in each end using metal or plastic eyes. One eye is much larger than the other. Also when going ashore, I take 2 lines. One is the shore tie line and one is basically a strong "string" use to retrieve the end of the shore tie from the main boat.

Procedure:
On shore, place the bridle around the tree, rock, whatever will be your 'shore anchor'. Pass the shore tie line through the "eyes" going through the small eye first (important point). After the shore tie line is through both eyes, tie the retrieval line to the shore tie. Person on the boat can now 'pull in' the shore tie, while the person on shore can pull line from the boat to "lighten the load" (reducing friction) for the person on the boat. In this way, the shore tie is back to the boat in about 60 seconds or less. No muss no fuss. The end of the shore tie is cleated off, and then the "boat end" of shore line is pulled in to "tighten it up" or remove slack to the desired amount.

To retrieve without going ashore:
Tie a bowline knot (or other large knot) in the end of the shore tie line after uncleating. Pull in the shore tie. The knot will pass through the large "eye" in the bridle, but will "hang up" on the small eye "capturing" the bridle and the whole set up will come back to the boat! Once in a while, if the shoreline is very rocky, things may hang up. With the right technique (basically "jerking" the line when pulling in) you can avoid this from happening.
Using this system, you avoid chafe on your shore tie as it moves inside the "eyes" and the bridle does not move on the shore anchor (tree) eliminating chafe for both your bridle and the tree.
Click to expand...

great idea. Here we usually have a ring on shore and just feed through it back to boat. I like the retrievable bridle for other remote spots.
You now use two lines, the bridle has a large and small eye. Have you looked at the tie up line permanently through the small eye with a stopper preventing it from pulling back out of small eye.
When on shore the bridle is placed around object, return line threaded through large eye back to boat. No need for a second retrieve line if after it pulls through large eye it grabs bridle for return trip. Since you have it made up, could that be done?
 
Steve,
I am not quite clear on how I could "permanently attach" the shore line (stern tie) to the bridle. How would I know where to attach it (How far from shore am I going to be)? Also I think the idea is also to allow the boat to "swing" a bit and therefore the stern tie line will move through the eyes and attaching it could be counterproductive. Maybe I just don't understand your point?? Happens to me often :)
I agree with shore mounted rings the bridle would not be used!
Other than the bridle, which only is about 6 feet long and goes around your shore anchor (usually a tree), the second line I take ashore (basically a strong string) is only used to pull the shore (stern tie) line back to the boat once the shore tie has been passed through both eyes of the bridle. I have watched (many times over the years) people struggle greatly trying to get back to their boat with the stern line after passing it around a rock or tree. They are fighting friction (where it passes around the shore object), either rowing nowhere fast, or worried about catching the floating line in their dinghy prop. You cannot use the shore (stern) tie line to pull yourself back to the boat, as you still need more line (for the total length) and therefore have to "make your own way' back somehow while fighting friction. With the "retrieval line" idea, someone on the boat "pulls in" the stern tie line while the person on shore pulls more slack line (stern tie line) from the boat making retrieval (getting the stern tie back to the boat during your deployment) practically effortless. I have 300 feet of the "string" line for retrieval.
My use of the term retrieval line may be confusing for some, as you are not actually "retrieving", you are just getting the end of the stern line back to the boat so you can cleat it off or secure it.
I hope I made clear what I am trying to describe without being too overly explanatory.
 
Tom, I like your bridle idea, one small, one larger eye. I am asking if you took the feed line end through the bridle small eye and well had a knot (or?) which prevents it from slipping back out then continue as before feed through large eye back to boat. Then when you untie at boat and pull back it would hook at small eye and bring bridle back too.
 
Hi Steve,
The bridle does come back to the boat when weighing anchor by just using the stern line with the large knot tied in it. The knot will pass through the large eye and catch onto the small eye (that is why I stressed the importance of what eye the line is passed through first when deploying), thereby bringing the whole setup back to the boat without having to go to shore (except in the rare cases where something gets "hung up"). Getting hung up can be reduced (and maybe eliminated) by using quick, long pulls on the stern line when bringing it back to avoid hang ups in the rocks.
 
OK, I must have misread the reason for taking two lines ashore. I thought one was tied to bridle for separate retrieval.
 
In the season that I travelled thru the Canadian canals/Georgian Bay and back to CT, I only used a stern anchor line one time.
I used a regular 3 strand 9/16 nylon anchor line I kept as a spare. Worked fine.
 
PLEASE DON'T TIE TO TREES. find a rock or ledge to tie around.
Also in Georgian back we use rock climbing equipment to hold in the cracks.

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5052-291/Stopper-Set-#4-13

Yellow braided samson or like floating line. Comes on a reel that you can attach on back of boat and spool out as need.
PLEASE DON'T TIE TO TREES
 
I run cheap/simple 3/8 3-strand polypropylene line for our 3288 and keep it out of the sun when not being used. 600' fits nicely on a garden hose reel (I'd consider this a minimum) - this lets you run from the boat, to shore, around tree/through ring, and back to the boat so that when you depart, you just undo from the boat and pull - easy peasey.. We've held four/five boats in a significant wind on this line - was a bit nervous as I could play a G on it when plucked, but it proved to me that "just" for our boat, the size was more than adequate We stern tie frequently in the Gulf Islands / Desolation Sound region - would not be without the option..
 
Last edited:
Rather than tying to a tree (bad for the tree), we got a contractor friend to give us some scrap re-bar from a job. We cut it into 15" pieces. We then heated one end and bent it into a loop, through which a line can pass. We shove it into some crack or dirt on shore. If you can't get to shore when retrieving the shore tie, just leave the re-bar
 
dweller said:
Rather than tying to a tree (bad for the tree), we got a contractor friend to give us some scrap re-bar from a job. We cut it into 15" pieces. We then heated one end and bent it into a loop, through which a line can pass. We shove it into some crack or dirt on shore. If you can't get to shore when retrieving the shore tie, just leave the re-bar
Click to expand...

Isn’t that littering? How is this different from leaving a soda can or three?
 
Woodland Hills said:
Isn’t that littering? How is this different from leaving a soda can or three?
Click to expand...

On this coast, in a lot of places where there are no stern tie rings provided, a lot of boaters will “donate” a length of line, leaving one end anchored/tied to shore, the other one has a loop available to route your stern line through. Did the original boater litter? I suppose so as he/she did leave the line behind – but the line gets re-used time after time so I’m not sure it constitutes litter.

You can bet that if while ashore and searching for a decent anchor for a stern line I come across a 15” long looped piece of re-bar I’m going to put it into service as fast as I can…
 
Nikko said:
On this coast, in a lot of places where there are no stern tie rings provided, a lot of boaters will “donate” a length of line, leaving one end anchored/tied to shore, the other one has a loop available to route your stern line through. Did the original boater litter? I suppose so as he/she did leave the line behind – but the line gets re-used time after time so I’m not sure it constitutes litter.

You can bet that if while ashore and searching for a decent anchor for a stern line I come across a 15” long looped piece of re-bar I’m going to put it into service as fast as I can…
Click to expand...

Word.
 
We spent a summer on Georgian Bay and the North Channel and never used a stern tie. Plenty of places to anchor without doing so. Unless you're boating there a lot, it's not worth the trouble, IMHO.

cbouch said:
I understand that in many anchorage locations around Georgian bay and the north channel, it is preferable to drop your anchor and also to tie off to shore with a floating stern line with an approx length of 150 feet.
Click to expand...
 
Here, National Parks gets very upset if you tie off to a tree. Usually the stern line goes around a rock. We watched with interest last Xmas when a sailboat anchored and the skipper swam ashore with the stern line which he put around a rock. We don`t do it, but I imagine chafe is a consideration. (Not just as a result of where you locate the rope while swimming ashore with it:)).
 
A possible way to save on the length of shore line required would be to send one length ashore with a reasonably sized eye. Pass the eye around the tree/boulder/eye bolt and then pull a bight of the line going back to the boat through the eye with a large wooden fid passed through the bit of bight coming through the eye. A smaller line secured to the fat end of the fid serves as a release line. Loosely attach the release line to the shore line on the way back to the boat or make a permanent arrangement.
 
We tie to a rock large when stern tied to shore. I place a sacrificial large diameter rope around the rock and tie my line to that.

Rocks are usually further from shore than trees so less line required.

I stopped looping the line because the two lines always gets twisted and a trip to shore is required to untangle and untie. And because we use sinking line, it has a tendency to catch on rocks as it is being pulled in.

We pull in the shoreline and remove the loop around the rock before hoisting the tender.
 
I’ve been carrying a stern tie rig for years and have never had the need to use it from Olympia to Juneau. I suppose I should sell it and free up some room in the lazarette.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

klee wyck
Stern anchor
Replies
17
Views
2K
psneeld
psneeld
Airnet
Stern tie line
Replies
8
Views
2K
MYTraveler
MYTraveler
Greg QS
Anchoring again
2
Replies
49
Views
5K
Meander
M
A
Stern thruster for a GB36?
Replies
3
Views
866
Comodave
Comodave
S
More LifePo4 - Float/Full Charge
Replies
23
Views
4K
twistedtree
twistedtree

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom