I use the nasty yellow polypropylene 3-strand for my dinghy tow line. I use it for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is very cheap. It also is highly visible and floats very well. It can be easily spliced. Finally, it has a fair amount of stretch which I like in a tow line.
It does have downsides of course. It doesn’t last all that long if exposed to lots of UV. Not an issue for me as it rarely sees the sun. The line will not hold a knot well at all. A well tied bowline will come undone as soon at it isn’t under load. It isn’t easy on the hands. Despite the drawbacks, it works really well. I don’t use it as a painter however. When towing, a spliced loop goes over a cleat or the line is cleated well.
So I'm tied to a state mooring ball in fossil bay at sucia having dinner with crab traped earlier. Having a beer or maybe a bourbon. There was NW wind and a flood that created a impressive chop. The dink was connected by it's davits on the swim platform.I tow the dink with the yellow poly rope. It floats. I can see it. I have about 40 feet of it, and I cleat one end to one stern cleat, run the loose end through the bow eye on the dink a couple of times, then cleat the other end to the stern cleat. I’m sure there is some chafing going on at the dink bow eye but it doesn’t seem too bad.
I never try to tie a knot with the yellow poly. It always comes loose. I don’t use the yellow poly as a painter either.
Another rule when tying up tenders and dinghies: when it comes to the number of lines, one is none and two is one!