4 or 5 Knots to know?

[StuM]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

Back on my first Destroyer in '63 I was taught that the proper term for what you called a rope is line. Rope in the Navy is wire.
.

To most of us, "rope" by itself is made of fibre. If it is made of wire, it is "wire rope".

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by StuM

To most of us, "rope" by itself is made of fibre. If it is made of wire, it is "wire rope".

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

Agreed .

I have been struggling with terminology, as everyone refers to "rope strength" as "line strength". I am swimming against the tide if I try and change this, but it hurts to use the wrong term .

SWL

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Agreed .

I have been struggling with terminology, as everyone refers to "rope strength" as "line strength". I am swimming against the tide if I try and change this, but it hurts to use the wrong term .

SWL

I'm guilty of doing that without thinking. I've frequently gone back and edited a post to change "line strength" to "rope strength" when I've done it.

[jkindredpdx]

Originally Posted by StuM

To most of us, "rope" by itself is made of fibre. If it is made of wire, it is "wire rope".

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

Same understanding that I have... a Line is a Rope in use.

[hamburking]

Originally Posted by StuM

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

At risk of drifting off topic, I think there are only 3 ropes on a boat...the head rope, bucket rope, and foot rope. Did I miss any?

[GrowleyMonster]

Originally Posted by hamburking

At risk of drifting off topic, I think there are only 3 ropes on a boat...the head rope, bucket rope, and foot rope. Did I miss any?

Bell rope. Man ropes. Thats all I can think of. Oh on a square rigged ship, footropes.

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by StuM

To most of us, "rope" by itself is made of fibre. If it is made of wire, it is "wire rope".

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

Thanks Stu

When I was being told I was a Seaman Apprentice on my first ship and of course they were trying to be authoritative and making the message simple. Sometimes they didn't cuff you at the same time. I learned pretty quickly what terms they wanted me to use.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by GrowleyMonster

Bell rope. Man ropes. Thats all I can think of. Oh on a square rigged ship, footropes.

Add luff rope.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Juho, I know it is not the correct practice, but I too am guilty of occasionally adding a half hitch (or even two ) to a cleat hitch.

I will stop doing this when there is a risk of high load seizing the hitch. Instead, a loose round turn around the base should minimise the risk of any accidental loosening.

SWL

I was guilty of NOT putting my usual half hitch on a small cleat on the mast when I cleared away the lazy jacks before today's race in 20 knots.
(Influenced by this thread!)

Had to drop the main without a lazyjack after the race and then climb the mast to the first spreader to rerun the errant line.

Never again!

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by hamburking

At risk of drifting off topic, I think there are only 3 ropes on a boat...the head rope, bucket rope, and foot rope. Did I miss any?

Bell rope, bolt rope, and any cordage bigger than small stuff and smaller than cable -- when you're referring to it as cordage.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by StuM

To most of us, "rope" by itself is made of fibre. If it is made of wire, it is "wire rope".

Rope becomes line once it is assigned a specific purpose.

(The old, replaced halyards and sheets in my rope locker that I don't want to discard are rope until they are re-purposed and become new lines)

Yes. We've had this discussion before.

"Line" as a salty-sounding substitute for "rope" is one of the most lubberly turns of speech I know.

I would only suggest that rope is never "line" (ugh!), but rather "a line", yes, after it has a specific function, and when you want to refer to its function rather than as material. It's actually still "rope" too -- "that dock line is made of really nice nylon octoplait rope".

There are miles of rope on my boat.