Stern Tie reel

[CaptKevin]

Here in the PNW we use a stern tie occasionally due to smaller anchorages. Trying to find a reel for my 600ft of 1/2 floating line instead of the basket I currently use. Has anyone had any luck with the Scotty 800ft (?) reel or some other system?

 

[Sababa]

This should do the trick:

Shoreline Reel Supersize ShoreLine Reel - Stern Tie | Fisheries Supply

Save More on Your Shoreline Reel #SUP1OR SLR SUP1OR SHORELINE REEL SUPERSIZE 1IN RIGHT HAND at Fisheries Supply. Excellent Customer Service, Ready to Ship. Marine Supplies Since 1928!

www.fisheriessupply.com

 

[psneeld]

Here in the PNW we use a stern tie occasionally due to smaller anchorages. Trying to find a reel for my 600ft of 1/2 floating line instead of the basket I currently use. Has anyone had any luck with the Scotty 800ft (?) reel or some other system?

Do you have stern rails at the transom?

If so, I just used an old plastic reel that rope is sold on and slid a scrap piece of rail tubing through it and bought 2 clamp on rail fittings for the scrap tube to fit between 2 stanchions. Looked like it was made for the boat.

All would depend on where you were going to place it, how big the reel needs to be, what your stern looks like, etc, etc.....

 

[Stabi]

Have you looked into garden hose reels. Some are Stainless Steel for around $ 175, others are plastic at around $50 on Amazon

 

[SteveK]

Plastic garden hose reel here.

 

[JackConnick]

Going to be hard to find a hose reel that will take 600' of line. I can get about 200' of 1/2" on mine.

 

[SteveK]

@JackConnick why are you using 1/2"?
I have 5/16", been too long to remember how much but I keep off beach about 150 feet. Have not found a need for 600 feet of stern tie.

 

[JackConnick]

Three reels x200' came with the boat. My boat weighs 30,000 pounds and has a lot of windage. Agree that 600' is too much.

 

[Nick F]

Do you have stern rails at the transom?

If so, I just used an old plastic reel that rope is sold on and slid a scrap piece of rail tubing through it and bought 2 clamp on rail fittings for the scrap tube to fit between 2 stanchions. Looked like it was made for the boat.

All would depend on where you were going to place it, how big the reel needs to be, what your stern looks like, etc, etc.....

I had a similar setup on my previous boat.

 

[Insequent]

You could always use an Ultraline. Max is a bit over 300', but that is likely enogh most of the time. On rre occasions that it is not enough then just add some line to the end. Dyneema flat line is not going to let you down, you will sleep well.

ULTRALINE Flat Rope Reel – Ultra Products West

ultraproductswest.com

 

[Nordlund Xpress]

Ultraline used to offer both floating and sinking flatline - but it appears that they have standardized on floating line based on their online website, in lengths up to 330'. We use it for towing the dingy and stern ties. Very easy to launch and retrieve line. My wife loves it and is the main operator.

 

[Capt Ray]

I have not popped for this product. But they make a darn good anchor.
My guess is the quality of this is top notch too. Compact! Clean.

https://ultraproductswest.com/ultraline-flat-rope-reel/

 

[Don Armstrong]

Here in the PNW we use a stern tie occasionally due to smaller anchorages. Trying to find a reel for my 600ft of 1/2 floating line instead of the basket I currently use. Has anyone had any luck with the Scotty 800ft (?) reel or some other system?

Before you get rid of your basket, have a look at the attached article from an old DIY Boat magazine - the basket has some definite advantages over a reel.

 

[old salt]

Before you get rid of your basket, have a look at the attached article from an old DIY Boat magazine - the basket has some definite advantages over a reel.

Many thanks for that article, Don. WR/Pete

 

[Sababa]

I have not popped for this product. But they make a darn good anchor.
My guess is the quality of this is top notch too. Compact! Clean.

https://ultraproductswest.com/ultraline-flat-rope-reel/

My current boat came with one of these and it is indeed very nice. It does have a couple of downsides, thought. First, the maximum length is 330 feet. Second, under tension in any sort of wind, they vibrate very noisily. You can mitigate this somewhat by giving it some slack or twisting it around itself a couple of times. But many people who use these don’t know or care and wind up annoying the whole anchorage with the “whup, whup, whup” sound.

 

[Moonfish]

I think I'm allowed to say this as it directly relates to the thread, but we've had a longstanding discount code in our store for Trawler Forum peeps to get $100 off an Ultraline Reel. The code is TFREEL100. Be sure to use all caps. We've been an authorized Ultra Marine West (now Ultra Products West) online reseller for 8 years.

Ultraline Flat Rope Reel

Dyneema/Floating : 130' - $1,309 | 200' - $1,639 | 260' - $2,099 | 330' - $2,499 Quick Release Mount included - a $135 value! The Ultraline Flat Rope Reel (formerly Quickline) makes stern-tying quick and easy! The reel comes in four sizes and includes two rail mounting kits and an ingenious...

www.pacificnwboatertested.com

 

[mgreen]

I purchased an SMI rope winder,also seen as a Beau Mac product. You can find on Amazon or at Sportco in Fife WA for about $150. I use 5/16 and I think I got 600 ft on it. I mounted an extra scotty base on the bridge rail for storage or can move it to my downrigger mount on the cockpit rail. You can have spare reels of line for shrimping etc.

 

[mtreels]

This should do the trick:

Shoreline Reel Supersize ShoreLine Reel - Stern Tie | Fisheries Supply

Save More on Your Shoreline Reel #SUP1OR SLR SUP1OR SHORELINE REEL SUPERSIZE 1IN RIGHT HAND at Fisheries Supply. Excellent Customer Service, Ready to Ship. Marine Supplies Since 1928!

www.fisheriessupply.com

We have one of these on our DeFever and love it. Don't think we have 600' but we have never gotten to the end either. Fits in our rod holder, and the wife likes how easy it is to use.

 

[twistedtree]

I had that reel from Fisheries. It was reasonably priced and held a lot of line. But I ended up selling it since stern tying is just not practical for me anymore.

 

[DDW]

It's a pretty simple SS fab job to make one. I made this for my AT34, takes a full spool of line (600'). A full spool often costs the same as a 200' length. I made a cover for it from Sailrite's boat blanket, sun is not kind to the PP floating line. The spring under the nut holding the reel on adds a little friction so the whole thing doesn't unwind by itself. Very rarely use it though - if it is needed, you are in too crowded an anchorage!

 

[Sababa]

It's a pretty simple SS fab job to make one. I made this for my AT34, takes a full spool of line (600'). A full spool often costs the same as a 200' length. I made a cover for it from Sailrite's boat blanket, sun is not kind to the PP floating line. The spring under the nut holding the reel on adds a little friction so the whole thing doesn't unwind by itself. Very rarely use it though - if it is needed, you are in too crowded an anchorage!

That is really nice! Who did the fabrication? I'm having some custom fender holders and kayak rack mounts made by Ballard Marine Fabricators right now. If I didn't already have the Ultra reel that came with the boat I would probably add something like this to my order!

 

[Nordlund Xpress]

Very professional looking. Great idea. Would consider it had we not already gone with the Ultra Reel which we like a lot and use mostly for towing our dingy! It makes deploying and retrieving very easy on my wife - it’s one of her boat jobs.

 

[firehoser75]

Coming from a rope rescue background, like the Technical Rescue teams, I just used a "rope stuff bag", secured to the stern of the boat. The rope is just stuffed into the bag but amazingly it just plays out fine all by itself when pulled on. Obviously you want a bag that can be "self draining" so that the water collected during retrieval can escape by itself.
As an aside, to improve the ease of deployment, I would take 2 lines ashore. First the stern tie itself, and secondly a thin messenger line. The messenger line was stored on an electrical (garden) reel so that it could be easily wound in. I also used a 6-8 foot long bridle to "save the trees" if using a tree as shore anchor. Secure both lines to the dinghy to allow both hands for rowing or motor operation. Once ashore, put the bridle around the tree. The bridle had 2 rings spliced into it's ends, one bigger than the other. Pass the stern tie through the smallest diameter ring first, and attach the messenger line to the stern line after it has passed through both rings (clips, carabiners, or knots can be used). The person onboard then uses the messenger line to "reel in" both the lines at the same time, while the onshore person can pull slack into the stern tie (from the stuff bag) and ensure no tangles or other issues develop. After the line has reached the boat, the shore person can return to the boat without any issues like having to pull a resistant line with lots of friction. Retrieval when leaving can be achieved from the boat without going ashore. Tie a large knot in the end of the stern tie in such a manner that the knot will pass through the large ring but will "hang up" on the smaller ring thereby bringing both the stern tie and bridle back to the boat at the same time. Usually relatively painless.
The bridle prevents the sawing action of the stern line on the tree's bark, thereby saving the tree from damage.

 

[InTheRed]

Plus one on the SMI reel at Sportco and elsewhere. I have a spare reel, so one is stern tie line the other crab pot lines.

 

[Sababa]

Coming from a rope rescue background, like the Technical Rescue teams, I just used a "rope stuff bag", secured to the stern of the boat. The rope is just stuffed into the bag but amazingly it just plays out fine all by itself when pulled on. Obviously you want a bag that can be "self draining" so that the water collected during retrieval can escape by itself.
As an aside, to improve the ease of deployment, I would take 2 lines ashore. First the stern tie itself, and secondly a thin messenger line. The messenger line was stored on an electrical (garden) reel so that it could be easily wound in. I also used a 6-8 foot long bridle to "save the trees" if using a tree as shore anchor. Secure both lines to the dinghy to allow both hands for rowing or motor operation. Once ashore, put the bridle around the tree. The bridle had 2 rings spliced into it's ends, one bigger than the other. Pass the stern tie through the smallest diameter ring first, and attach the messenger line to the stern line after it has passed through both rings (clips, carabiners, or knots can be used). The person onboard then uses the messenger line to "reel in" both the lines at the same time, while the onshore person can pull slack into the stern tie (from the stuff bag) and ensure no tangles or other issues develop. After the line has reached the boat, the shore person can return to the boat without any issues like having to pull a resistant line with lots of friction. Retrieval when leaving can be achieved from the boat without going ashore. Tie a large knot in the end of the stern tie in such a manner that the knot will pass through the large ring but will "hang up" on the smaller ring thereby bringing both the stern tie and bridle back to the boat at the same time. Usually relatively painless.
The bridle prevents the sawing action of the stern line on the tree's bark, thereby saving the tree from damage.

I had Fisheries Supply make a tree bridle for me like the one you describe. Because I have an Ultra reel with a webbing tie line, instead of a knot, I clip a locking carabiner into the stitched loop at the end of the line. The carabiner is sized to pass through one of the rings on the tree bridle but not the other. You have to use a locking carabiner for this, otherwise the gate will catch on the bridle rings.

 

[DDW]

That is really nice! Who did the fabrication? I'm having some custom fender holders and kayak rack mounts made by Ballard Marine Fabricators right now. If I didn't already have the Ultra reel that came with the boat I would probably add something like this to my order!

I fabricated it myself. But any decent SS shop should be able to do it.

 

[Sababa]

I fabricated it myself. But any decent SS shop should be able to do it.

You have skills!