Seven Sailing Rope Tips

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Seven Sailing Rope Tips for Cost-Conscious Sailors

Save money for sailing or cruising when you add new life to your expensive sailing rope. Follow these sea-tested tips to learn the secrets for docking lines, sheet coils and a little-known sailboat hull protection technique used by knowledgeable cruising sailors worldwide.

1. Which end of a docking line goes ashore? You've heard this argument in a yacht club bar, I'm sure. Some skippers say keep the eye aboard; others say send it ashore. I believe it's a good idea to always send the eye ashore. This allows you to make adjustments from your boat. You can ease or tension the docking line to adjust for tidal rise and fall, or pull the boat close to the dock to provision or go ashore. Better still, in an emergency, you could untie the ‘unmade' end from a boat cleat, even under heavy tension, and let it slip over the side (i.e., a dockside fire).

2. Need to double up lines on the same piling? Drape the eye of the first line over the dock fitting. Make an eye in the second line and thread it under and through the eye of the first line, then around the piling.

Use a techniuqe called 'dipping the eye' to use a piling already occupied by another. The boat to the left passes the eye of the line under the existing docking line, and then over the piling. Dipping the eye allows either boat to leave without disturbing the other boat's docking line. (note: the boat to the left would remove all slack from the eye after draping it over the piling; left slack in the illustration for clarity).

Now you can remove one line without disturbing the other line. Use this same technique when you need to share a piling with a neighbor. That way, either boat can leave without having to remove the other boat's line.

3. Will your boat fenders provide enough coverage if you need to moor against a barnacle-encrusted seawall or nail-filled pilings? As your boat moves inside her berth, the fenders could slide away and expose your hull to expensive damage. Use a fenderboard (also called a ‘sideboard').

Hang a long piece of lumber over two to three fenders. Drill holes in each end; tie a line to the hole; drape it over the fenders. The ‘fenderboard' makes direct contact with the pier or pilings. This will protect your expensive sailboat from scrapes and scratches.

4. Adjust docking lines so that they share the load as the boat moves with the wind, tide, wake or current. Lead bow and stern lines as parallel to the centerline as practicable. This will not be possible inside a slip. Keep more slack in the bow and stern lines to prevent the boat from hanging on her lines when the tide goes out. Make final docking line adjustments at low tide. Tighten all lines so that they are snug, but not bar-taut.

5. Take an extra round turn on any docking line that leads in an upward direction from the dock to your boat cleats. You don't want to take a chance that the eye will slip off the piling. Double the loop onto itself. Drape the eye over the piling. Pull the loop forward until the splice (or the knot of a bowline) butts up against the piling. Twist the remainder of the loop half a turn and drop it over the top of the piling. Snug and even up the two eyes. Now your docking line will stay in place.

6. Show your sailing crew or partner how to coil or flake the tails (excess line) on sheets or docking lines. Nothing looks more ‘lubberly' than a rat's nest of line on a deck or the dock. You can bet that a boat with neat, coiled lines and sheets speaks volumes about the care the skipper has given the boat in general.

A word of caution--it's best not to ‘flemish' a line (make a tight circular coil)--onto a deck or dock. It looks nice, but traps dirt and water. Save this mat type coil for applications like drink coasters or similar fancy work. Use a proper stacked or figure-eight coil on deck or on the dock. Figure-eight coils allow more air to circulate, and rainwater will run off to help the line stay dryer.

7. Coil a three-strand line in the direction of the ‘lay'. This will help it run out without hockles (kinks) or snarls. How do you find the lay of a three-strand line? Hold one end straight up. Look at the way the strands wrap toward the bitter end. If they wrap to the right, it's right-laid line. Coil to the direction of the lay, or in this case, to the right. Cored braid is best coiled as a stack of figure-eight bights. Sometimes a round coil works better for the specific application, such as hanging line on hooks or toggles (top photo).

Use these seven rope and line tips this sailing season to reduce wear and tear on your costly lines. Sail safe on the waters of the world, wherever you choose to sail or cruise!

Captain John served over twenty years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an enlisted navigator, search and rescue skipper, ship driver, and master training specialist. Later, he directed the Seamanship and Chart Navigation departments at the acclaimed Chapman School of Seamanship in Florida. His newest book, Captain John's Boating Safety Secrets, gives boat skippers 'the edge' in boating safety with sea-tested safety tips and techniques you can use aboard your boat, starting today!

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