Ropes for dopes

Captain Glenn said:

psneeld You may have a point. But I use high quality rope both Samson or New England for dock lines and not the Walmart special. As they wear I will use them else where. Just peace of mind at strange docks.

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I got yelled at just recently for using a dock clear to spring off of.


The dockmaster was saying look at the condition of the dock...I was gonna break a cleat. And people are worried about cheap line when half the docks you tie to are not trusted by their own dockmasters?


4 of the cheapest docklines of reasonable size I buy are strong enough to pick up my boat...probably even with some wear and chafe.


So I lose exactly zero sleep 99.9% of the time using whatever line looks suitable. Often it IS the dock and cleats that worries me just as much or more.


Storms with waves in the marina....different story. More lines, preferably better quality in this case. But WAY more important than better line is good chafe protection and backup lines along with proper knots and clearing.

TDunn said:

I quit using 3 strand nylon years ago. I now use only 8 strand (brait) type nylon. I have started to use dyneema 12 in places where I don't want stretch.

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I just upgraded my all-rope anchor rode to Yale Nylon Brait for better performance with my vintage Maxwell all-rope windlass. Much better than the old stiff 3-strand it replaced.

Any opinions on Yale vs. New England or Sampson? I always had great luck with their double-braids on sailboats in years past.

Rain dog - missing the point on your comment "not Defender prices" - please explain. Thanks.

LarryM said:

I just upgraded my all-rope anchor rode to Yale Nylon Brait for better performance with my vintage Maxwell all-rope windlass. Much better than the old stiff 3-strand it replaced.

Any opinions on Yale vs. New England or Sampson? I always had great luck with their double-braids on sailboats in years past.

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I think Yale makes pretty good braided ropes. They’ve been around a long time.

sbu22 said:

Rain dog - missing the point on your comment "not Defender prices" - please explain. Thanks.

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5/8 New England 3 strand sells for $1.49 on Defender, but you can get it for half that if you look around. I was saying when comparing prices of premium line to other brads, compare what you will actually pay, not the prices listed on Defender, WM, etc. You may find the premium brands are not that much more than the discount brands if you shop around a bit.

Anyone have a current source for 5/8 line in the under $1/foot?

psneeld said:

Anyone have a current source for 5/8 line in the under $1/foot?

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I just bought dock lines from Hamilton Marine for $.50 a foot (click on the "Shop Rope Deals" from the homepage). I bought a 200 ft anchor line from boatstore.com for $.86 a foot.

Here is the link to the latter: https://www.boatstore.com/nylon-anchor-line-5-8-x-200-color-white.html

Now I know, you are talking 3 strand white, correct?

psneeld said:

Now I know, you are talking 3 strand white, correct?

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Yes. New England Ropes three strand nylon.

jimisbell said:

Many ferries are named after males. Important men in the government that controls the ferries.

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Well, yeah but......when you start with a type of boat called a ferry, and then you christen it with a male name; don't they counteract each other, and you end up a neutral-leaning-towards female boat? :lol:

Or am I overthinking this?

Todd

This post goes a way back: Trawler Forum - View Single Post - polyester vs nylon anchor line

Polyester 8 strand perhaps?

As you said the post goes way back. The research paper goes back to 1982. I've had been in the plastics industry for 40 years and a lot has changed. Like night and day. Would like to find current research.

Captain Glenn said:

As you said the post goes way back. The research paper goes back to 1982. I've had been in the plastics industry for 40 years and a lot has changed. Like night and day. Would like to find current research.

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Good point. Will ferret around when time permits

https://www.qualitynylonrope.com/blog/difference-between-nylon-and-polyester-rope/ Here is one current answer to nylon vs polyester rope.