[Rhodes22-list] Learning New Things - Types of Line (Rope)

[Jesse Shumaker]

Peter, thanks for sharing.  I had not heard of 8-plait.   Last fall I
loosely copied your system to have an anchor rode stored in the lazarette
that connects to an anchor on a bow roller.  However, I only did this on
the port side and my rode storage is a bit different.  Anyway, I also found
it to be a bit of a challenge to get the rode to feed into the bag easily.
At the end of the season, I got a large snatch block which I can hang from
the sturn pulpit (attached by a line), which I plan to use as a fairlead to
make the rode feed in more vertically which I think will make it easier.  I
haven't tried it yet so we'll have to see how that works out next season.

On the topic of anchoring, I've got a Fortress anchor mounted inside the
lazarette for storage as a secondary anchor and a rode in a bucket that I
can carry forward.  I'm thinking about removing the Nicro fan from the
forepeak and moving that to be on the port side of the mast, opposite the
hatch that I installed on the starboard side, and then using the anchor
tray to store the rode that had been in the bucket in the lazarette.

Continuing (still!) on the topic of anchoring, I wanted to have a stern
anchor mounted and ready to deploy with a rode already attached.  As part
of my fall projects, I used a PVC pipe mounted vertically, resting on the
port side coaming near the stern and attached to the stern pulpit.  Inside
that I store a folding grapnel anchor with rode that is attached to the eye
on the port side of the transom.  The rode is looped and hung on the stern
pulpit.  I know the grapnel anchor doesn't offer significant holding power,
but I figured it could be deployed in a hurry to slow the boat down in an
emergency and could also be utilized as a lunch hook.  While it's attached
at the stern, I could walk it forward and tie it off on the bow cleat.
I'll have to wait until next season to see how all this actually works in
practice.  When I write up a recap of my fall projects, I'll include some
photos of the new setup.

Jesse Shumaker
S/V Zephyr

On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 3:58 PM Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com> wrote:

> I'm not sure of the source, but somewhere I developed the firm opinion
> that only 3-strand line should be used for anchor rodes and dock lines.
> Other types of lines, specifically double-braid, did not have enough
> stretch or elasticity for these applications.
>
> In reading posts on another forum (sorry), and doing a bit of research, I
> find that this firmly held opinion is quite incorrect.
>
> It seems there are double braided lines made specifically for anchor rodes
> and dock lines.  There is also something sort of in between double-braided
> and 3-strand, called 8-plait, of which I was entirely unaware.
>
> One of the reasons this new information caught my attention is that both
> double-braid and 8-plaint are much more flexible than 3 strand, and will
> fall into an anchor rode locker (or bag) more easily.
>
> One of the short comings of my anchoring system, in which anchor rode is
> stored in bags in the aft corners of the lazaret, is that feeding the
> 3-strand rode down into the bags can sometimes be a somewhat fiddly
> process.  A more flexible type of line would almost certainly improve
> things.
>
> For those unfamiliar with and curious about my anchor system, relevant
> YouTube videos can be found here: https://youtu.be/GheL7_fhpGo  and here:
> https://youtu.be/VeL_3Ir0yQ4
>
> Peter Nyberg
> Coventry, CT
> s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)
>
>