Choice of rope

[MicHughV]

semantics.....

[Pegu Club]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Begin by understanding that there are no ropes on a boat....
A rope might be a rope while hanging in a store, but once it gets on a boat it changes name.

Bolt rope…

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

Begin by understanding that there are no ropes on a boat....
A rope might be a rope while hanging in a store, but once it gets on a boat it changes name.

OMG. Another one.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with plain English on a boat so long as it is unambiguous, and line can be ambiguous.

• a line drawn by pencil
• waterline
• shear line
• hard line
• line of sight
• line of position

Notice that rope always means rope, except when modified (bolt rope is a rope in a sail--not a line in a sail, which would be more confusing).

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

Also, the rope dropped over the side to aid a pilot in getting aboard/disembarking.

I don’t think today’s pilots will appreciate a rope thrown over the side and just turn around and leave you to divert to another port

[MicHughV]

old time sailors....

sailor # 1 to sailor # 2....hey, hand me that rope..

sailor # 2....which one.....the one with red color stripes or the green striped one... ?

sailor # 1....neither, I want the twirly one...

sailor # 2....which twirly one, the black one or the white one... ???

sailor # 1...the one that is wrapped around that round thingy...

sailor # 2...you mean the one with the thingabob sticking out of it.. ?

sailor # 1....yes, that doohicky thing..that one...

[Papawads]

As someone who regularly has incompetent crew on board, using 'correct' terms is hugely unhelpful. They're not there to passs a test in their 3 or 7 days. Warp, tender, painter, cleat. Etc quickly become Big Blue Rope, Dingy, Dingy line, Stopper etc. And why nor?.

[SV Confianza]

Another vote for regatta braid. We replaced our davit lines and our furling lines with it, and oh man was it a nice upgrade. No more twisting. It was one of the upgrades that made such a difference it made it onto the blog.

[MicHughV]

I totally agree with the above.....several past girlfriends have taught me a new vocabulary...
...the cute white rope with the shiny silver things..
...the chartreuse colored one.....
...the pretty colored one....
...the mauve and pink one...
...the rope that always burns my hands.....

but it helps when they point their long painted fingernail at it for clarity...

etc, etc, etc...I just nod and say yes...

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

I totally agree with the above.....several past girlfriends have taught me a new vocabulary...
...the cute white rope with the shiny silver things..
...the chartreuse colored one.....
...the pretty colored one....
...the mauve and pink one...
...the rope that always burns my hands.....

but it helps when they point their long painted fingernail at it for clarity...

etc, etc, etc...I just nod and say yes...

I guess that is why they come in pretty colors!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I don’t think today’s pilots will appreciate a rope thrown over the side and just turn around and leave you to divert to another port

Dunno 'bout that, Nick. Here in Oz the ships are advised to have their boarding ladders some specific distance above the water and to have a man rope rigged for boarding pilots (when they don't arrive by helicopter).

Tough job, bein' a pilot! I'm awed by their competence.

Jim

[George_SD]

It's not about the rope, it's about what it does and how it moves. Unless you use fiddle blocks (inline pulleys) OR use side-by-side pulleys that are bigger than 2x2 and starting with 3x3 and anything bigger - there is a way to reeve them in a way that prevents the rope twist and block tangles. It requires reeving not straight up and down, but across. I remember seeing a video of this, but I can't remember where. I'm sure if you search online you can find the correct way.

Other way to deal with it: rig them at 90* to each other, don't use swivels.
Check this thread: https://forums.sailinganarchy.com/th...rchase.157025/

https://www.ehsdb.com/rigging-hardwares-blocks.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrUfQ_aQ3oE

[Peeew]

Every time I have seen this issue it is due to twisting of the actual line as long as the blocks are free to rotate. Coiling lines or using a winch and pulling the line off the top will accumulate twist that will be working its way down the blocks. The answer is to work the twists out. The hard way is to re-string the whole thing. The easy way is to twist the line opposite what is happening and work out down the system. Most right handed people induce a right hand twist when cooking so most often working a left hand twist all the way through the system will fix it. Until there next time…

[skipgundlach]

Just a nitpick:

I believe the NER 12 strand isn't Regatta but Mega Braid.

At least that's the label on mine...

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by skipgundlach

Just a nitpick:

I believe the NER 12 strand isn't Regatta but Mega Braid.

At least that's the label on mine...

Both Regatta Braid and Mega Braid are 12 strand. IIRC, Regatta is polyester, Mega is nylon.

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Both Regatta Braid and Mega Braid are 12 strand. IIRC, Regatta is polyester, Mega is nylon.

Exactly. My mainsheet is regatta, my mooring lines are mega. Love them both!