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On this cool day after Chrismas, it rained last night and my 17 year son kind of wanted me to hang at home, my wife and her kids went to lake Mohawk New Jersey and then are off to ski in Vail tomrrow for the rest of the week. So no boat today
I had a heated conversation regarding sealants, thats done (for now) and now I have decided to splice eyes in three strand line, I have not done this before so I googled it, found a million ways but this web site is pretty good.
Question,
do you make your own dock lines? if so, three strand or braided. i really like the feel and look of braided, but I'll have to buy it as I don't think I'll have the patience to learn the splice
I have never braided my own dock lines but my brother was very good at it and did several for me before he passed away. They look really great when done correctly.
I handn't either, we buy rope by the miles at work and we have about a half a spool (5,000" feet)of new england 5/8 or 3/4 " three strand that was removed from a high tension puller, we have changed all ofour pulling rope to amsteel blue and are not using the three strand anymore.
so i gave it a try and three strand is pretty easy if you follow the tutorial,
my knots are not as tight as a pro, but with a lttle practice, they should come out great!
gettaway wrote:On this cool day after Chrismas, it rained last night and my 17 year son kind of wanted me to hang at home, my wife and her kids went to lake Mohawk New Jersey and then are off to ski in Vail tomrrow for the rest of the week. So no boat today
I had a heated conversation regarding sealants, thats done (for now) and now I have decided to splice eyes in three strand line, I have not done this before so I googled it, found a million ways but this web site is pretty good.
Question,
do you make your own dock lines? if so, three strand or braided. i really like the feel and look of braided, but I'll have to buy it as I don't think I'll have the patience to learn the splice
I LOVE that web site!!!! Learned most of my knots from them. If I have some down time (like in the morning on the boat waiting for my wife to wake up ) I'll sit there with a couple pieces of rope and practice. It's the same way I learned to pick locks, while watching football with several different locks in my lap.
Ron
When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
Ronald Reagan
1987 F36 Tri-Cabin
Twin 270 Crusaders
"Special K"
Upper Bay, Chesapeake Bay
ahhh, you do the wait for the wife to wake as well.... one of my favorite times on the boat is sunrise and a hot cup of coffee... everything is calm and quiet,
Double braided line is stronger (load ratings) than 3-strand, and tends to stretch less when pulled / wet. Braided is also easier to handle (less likely to kink or knot), and easier on the hands if you have to heave.
Splicing a double-braid is actually pretty easy as long as the line is new, but a real bugger if it is an old line (I have tried to splice a new eye into old lines that I cut a few feet off of due to chafing damage ... not fun). Splicing it essentially amounts to pulling the 'core' out of the outer sheath a certain distance away from the end of the line, and reinserting each into the other to make the loop.
gettaway wrote:ahhh, you do the wait for the wife to wake as well.... one of my favorite times on the boat is sunrise and a hot cup of coffee... everything is calm and quiet,
Mine too and I am usually up long before my wife. I sit on the bridge, looking out at the lake, smoking my pipe and drinking good coffee. Doesn't get much better than that.
captain maniac, agree on all points re. bradied, and have always used and bought braided, I understand that 3 strand makes for good spring lines and as a tow rope, because it does stretch, which relieves the shock load on the dock and boat hardware.
However, braided looks good, has a good feel in the hand and is very strong, but the funny thing is that if we all bought line based on its load factor for the job it performs on our boats, we would have little 3/8 and 1/2" dock lines, regardless of the braid, it would feel too small and certianliy look to small.
Line and or rope is some pretty strong stuff for its size
either way, was pleased to finally correctly splice and eye!
gettaway wrote:I understand that 3 strand makes for good spring lines and as a tow rope, because it does stretch, which relieves the shock load on the dock and boat hardware.
Don't use nylon lines for towing for 2 reasons : 1 - if it snaps, its gonna whip like a bugger and could kill or severely injure someone, and 2-it sinks... if you throw it and miss you gotta try again, and it increases chances of getting it around running gear when you slow down and the line takes on slack. Use polypropylene - it floats (so even if you miss a throw it can still be scooped off the surface, and slack will stay on the surface), and if it breaks doesn't whip like nylon does, so is not as dangerous.
To reduce towing stresses, rig up a bridle across both of your stern cleats and then have the tow line attached to that.
braided is my choice but nothing wrong with 3 strand ( both have pros and cons )
Can you explain this statement ?
" but the funny thing is that if we all bought line based on its load factor for the job it performs on our boats, we would have little 3/8 and 1/2" dock lines".
maybe your talking about the recommended size ? (thats a joke IMO). but you smarter then that and go larger I believe
I always try to get line with the highs ratings . But I have a easy rule/answer when some one asks what size to use . Use the biggest line that fits your cleats . and if its smaller then 1/2" time to upgrade the cleats ( I have seen 25 footers that use 3/8 line due to cleat size) . I have see boats tied up with what looks to be 1/4 line .
you can judge a boat (and owner) by their lines
and what to get things heated up (more then talking sealants) let me try to spline a line , it won't be pretty LOL
I wish you luck (and Patience ) and I will buy premade
Boating is good for the soul
77/78 TROJAN F36 Conv.
6BTA Cummins diesels
Life is to short for a ugly boat
a trojan F32 wieghs about 14,000 lbs +- , if a cleat could actually suspend the boat, a single 3/4" rope could theoretically hold the boat;
however, the actual load on a dock line is considerably less, so using 4 5/8" dock lines (bow, stearn and two spring) the lines could theoretically hold a 66,000 safe load at the dock, i would think you would pull out cleat on the boat dock and maybe move a piling!
I still like the feel and look of larger dock lines regardless of the over kill
Prowlerfish, ditto on being able to tell the boater by his dock lines......
) I'll sit there with a couple pieces of rope and practice. It's the same way I learned to pick locks, while watching football with several different locks in my lap. 
