Storing long lines

[GoneDiving]

How are people storing their long rode lines? I have 200m of 32mm rode. It's only used very occasionally and is essentially a spare/backup. It's physically too large to coil, tie off and manhandle. Storing to the side of the anchor locker tends to see everything else get knotted up, buried or generally mixed up.

I've considered building a drum to store it on.

Suggestions??

 

[rslifkin]

My spare anchor rode lives in an oversized milk crate. Just flake it in and move the whole crate as needed. Works up to the point where it gets too heavy.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

I have a spare line which is 3/4 braided. It is around 200 feet long. Too big a bundle to easily handle. I fake it into two smaller bundles and hang them on my rail with velcro straps.

I suppose the sun is eventually going to eat it up and if it does I'll just replace it. What good is 200 feet of line if it is buried in the lazarett snagged onto a hundred other things or tucked away somewhere you can't readily get t?

pete

 

[Comodave]

What about a duffel bag for storage? It will fit better than a box since it will conform more easily to odd shaped areas.

 

[Greg S]

Separate storage within the anchor locker? Note: must be very large locker.
I'm pretty sure 600+ feet of 1 1/4 inch line wouldn't even fit in my cockpit.

 

[High Wire]

Separate storage within the anchor locker? Note: must be very large locker.
I'm pretty sure 600+ feet of 1 1/4 inch line wouldn't even fit in my cockpit.

Pretty big duffle bag! Maybe a pickup truck.

 

[Mako]

@GD, I used to keep 100 meters of same size rope as an emergency warp and storm anchor line. I coiled it and it was about 4-5 ft in diameter and weighed more than this boy could manhandle easily. I used the davit to lower it into the aft hold, sitting on top of the 125 lb Danforth. Seemed to work well, but 200 meters would be a big hassle. A drum on deck would take up a lot of room.

You might consider cutting it into two pieces so it’s easier to handle and store.

 

[FF]

A coiled line is only any use if it can be uncoiled rapidly.

A 6 or 8 ft diameter loop laid out on deck till the line drys , a couple of (short lines) tied every 2 ft and then fold the line circle in half.

Easy to carry , easy to handle , and best of all uncoils rapidly,no snarl when needed if laid flat on the deck.

 

[IRENE]

We had many of the same issues. I want to have a secondary rode, but storing it was a challenge.

We have two shelves in the upper side corners of our anchor locker. We added a deck plate and cowl vent, which allows us to coil a line on the shelf, which should come right out handily when needed. A bonus is added ventilation to dry the rode. Perhaps you could add the shelf/shelves and add a deck plate/vent as well?

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

If you have room, a fiberglass dock box mounted up front works well for us. We store a 250' extra line, power cords, and water hoses in our 48" box.

 

[psneeld]

Stern rait, fittings and 1 inch stainless rod between 2 stanchions horizontally above transom.

Plastic spool that comes with anchor line from some trash can, slipped on horizontal tubing.

2 lines 200' and 100'. Can quickly be deployed as a towline, or permanent storage for storm lines......usually has a quickly removeable cover over the line.

 

[Shrew]

600' of rope is cumbersome. Consider getting heavy-duty webbing and loading it on a webbing reel.

What is the size of the boat?

What are you using 600ft of 1.25" line for?

 

[DDW]

I don't think I could physically lift 200m of 32mm line, even if I could get it coiled or faked down. Even on a reel it is going to be huge and still heavy. But you would only need that on quite a large boat, so just tell the crew to deal with it and put it in one of the large storage bays using the crane.....

 

[Comodave]

Why not split it into two pieces and put an eye splice in one end of each piece. Then it will be much easier to handle and if you need the whole length you can join the two pieces with a back to back eye splice. It would make the line much easier to use when you don’t need the whole piece also.

 

[GoneDiving]

.

What is the size of the boat?

What are you using 600ft of 1.25" line for?

The boat is 54' 50t.

The line has been used as an emergency tow line before and I enjoy diving on shipwrecks. These are often in the 60m/200' range with no shallow anchor areas nearby.

Thanks for the suggestions. So far, I like the split it in two option and that reels offer much better packing density than loosely flaked or coiled. They are much easier to handle too. I cant lift this amount as flaccid dead weight.

I'm converting a v berth to a store/workshop. It has a small deck hatch so fixing a reel in there and running the line through the hatch may be a solution. The long line isn't in daily use: I also have a standard anchor/100m chain set up.

 

[Sofa King Fishy]

eBay it & buy an Ultraline Flat Rope Reel. They’re becoming quite common on cruisers.

 

[GoneDiving]

eBay it & buy an Ultraline Flat Rope Reel. They’re becoming quite common on cruisers.

Thanks. Looks good. Do they offer wider widths/higher breaking force? I can only find 7/8" and 7klb isn't enough for my 50+ tonne.

 

[Tingum]

A length of 1”-1 1/2” PVC pipe secured between two stanchions. Then figure 8 the line between exposed ends.