Mooring ropes

[LadyPatricia]

Another 'silly' question, sorry

What size mooring ropes would be advisable for our 24ft Norman?

Is there a guide to advise on type / thickness of ropes?

Steve

[Oddfellow]

Land lubber! There are no ropes on a boat, each has its own name Not that I know them all .....

 

 

Your Mooring Warps should be of a suitable size to withstand the pressures put on the boat. Because different ropes made of different materials and in different ways have different stretch and breakage strengths, there is no simple answer to the question. 

 

In fleet, we generally use threeply 12mm Polypropylene blue rope across the fleet. This is low cost, floats (when new anyway) and is easily worked without a fid allowing us to replace damaged ropes quickly. It is perfectly strong enough to secure our 44ft bounty. 

 

I suspect that 8mm would probably suffice for a 24ft Norman, but 10mm would probably feel much better in the hand. 

 

Norfolk Marine has a fantastic selection of rope and will splice it for you, whip the ends and so on. I would recommend a trip there. 

[MauriceMynah]

It's really a case of what feels comfortable to you.

There will only be rare occasions where you will have to pull really hard on those ropes, but when those occasions happen, they will be stressful and there will be risk factors involved. In those situations it's no time to find out that you can't put your 'all' into pulling the boat, but those are the times when the thickness of the rope is of paramount importance.

Go for a soft rope like nylon/polyester and avoid polypropylene. Polypropylene soon becomes uncomfortable to handle, it's only advantage being cheapness.

As for length, well that again is debatable. I like a boat and a quarter but that's because I'm normally single handed on board.

I tend to have two bow ropes, one down each side and two stern ropes one on each stern bollard.

I used to have two on each stern bollard one for linear mooring and one for stern on as that arrangement tended to avoid getting tangled up with the canopy if cruising with it up, but I had bigger bollards in those days. (Gracie/Timbo behave yourselves.)

I think your best option is to go somewhere like Norfolk Marine ask advice and feel the ropes and take it from there.

 

Finally, that was a far from "silly" question.

[Guest]

......Go for a soft rope like nylon/polyester and avoid polypropylene. Polypropylene soon becomes uncomfortable to handle, it's only advantage being cheapness........

 

I agree with MM there, polypropylene rope is a very poor choice for ropes that are handled a lot.  

 

It ages very quickly and the filaments flake off, making it very rough and irritating to the skin. Although it is widely used in hire craft, most private owners use nylon or polypropylene which has a much longer life and doesn't flake.

 

When they become stiff after a year or two, they can be simply put in a washing machine (in a pillowcase), and they clean up and soften up like new.

 

Well worth the extra initial cost, and 3 strand can be spliced very neatly.

[Timbo]

What he said!

But I would add that in my opinion that there is no such thing as a daft question when it comes to boats and boating. Brundalnavy and 650xs and many other members of the forum will attest that I'm full of daft questions. What may seem a bit obvious to the more experienced can be downright confusing and bewildering to others.

 

Royal Tudor has very good quality mooring ropes supplied by Wayford Marine and this next year we will be adding some extra's to our stores. You may find as we did that you may also need to add an extra 'bollard' on either side as I am in the process of doing. Royal Tudor is a pain to tie up side on via the stern and bow points as she has a tendency to swing out from the bank. We cured this by adding an extra bollard halfway down her deck and tie up from there rather than the bow. We also have a weird system on the stern where instead of bollards we have rings going into the transom. I will be adding extra bollards onto the stern in future too...the things are expensive though! Now MM, you can always trust me to come out with more bollards!

[LadyPatricia]

Thanks for the info all.

Looking around the pontoon moorings we are on we noticed nearly all the other craft have mooring ropes connected to rings on the berth. These have been spliced and connected to the rings by shackles. Apparently these are left on the moorings while the boats are out and all ready to tie up on the return. Is this common?

Seems like a good idea to me

Steve

[MauriceMynah]

I know those as "Mooring strops" and have them myself at Hickling. It makes coming in to the home berth very easy, but don't forget to allow for flood conditions and drought, the whole range from the highest of water to the lowest.

[Guest]

....Looking around the pontoon moorings we are on we noticed nearly all the other craft have mooring ropes connected to rings on the berth. These have been spliced and connected to the rings by shackles. Apparently these are left on the moorings while the boats are out and all ready to tie up on the return. Is this common?.....

 

Yes, and again as MM has said, almost universal for private berth holders.

 

It's neater and easier with them already set for the perfect depth range.

 

The even bigger advantage though, is that it enables the main mooring warps to be coiled up and stored away from sunlight and weathering (and theft).

 

For most people the boat is on it's home mooring for at least 90% of the time, so it virtually stops any deterioration through weathering.

[LadyPatricia]

MM,

is that still applicable on pontoon moorings as the whole structure moves up and down with the water level. As the boat will move with the structure I thought it would be a case of one length for all states of tide.

Steve

[MauriceMynah]

On a floating pontoon you are correct, the strop length would not need to allow for widely differing water levels, only on fixed piers and bankside moorings will the levels vary and allowances need to be made.

[Guest]

.....You may find as we did that you may also need to add an extra 'bollard' on either side as I am in the process of doing. Royal Tudor is a pain to tie up side on via the stern and bow points as she has a tendency to swing out from the bank. We cured this by adding an extra bollard halfway down her deck and tie up from there rather than the bow......

 

I fully agree with Timbo on that as well, centre cleats are standard equipment on all well equipped craft.

 

They give much more flexibility with single handing, and they make the use of "springs" much more convenient at crowded moorings, enabling them to be half the length and not extend beyond the bow and stern.

[LadyPatricia]

Strowy, is there another option to a centre cleat? The reason i ask is the free boards (I think that is the correct name) on the Norman are quite narrow and I wouldn't want to add a 'trip hazard' if there was another option.

Steve

[Guest]

Strowy, is there another option to a centre cleat? The reason i ask is the free boards (I think that is the correct name) on the Norman are quite narrow and I wouldn't want to add a 'trip hazard' if there was another option.

Steve

 

My side decks are too narrow to walk along anyway Steve, only about 5", as shown in the photo.

 

I access the foredeck via the fore hatch, rather than risk them.

 

It's no problem with mooring though, because I only fasten and unfasten the springs to them while standing on the bank. 

 

You can get "pop up" cleats, but they need a large hole through the deck !  

[grendel]

google tells me you can get recessed deck cleats - http://www.nauticexpo.com/prod/seasmart/boat-mooring-cleats-recessed-33998-405693.html

Grendel

[grendel]

or I see some that fold down flat to the deck giving a lower smooth profile.

 

http://www.sailboatstuff.com/images/SD041404LG.jpg

 

Grendel

[LadyPatricia]

Thanks Grendel, I will look in to those options

Steve

[Mowjo]

Steve! I don't know how the others feel, but I would rather go without a centre cleat than cut a hole in my boat to fit a recessed one, you have to cut quite a big hole to fit one, and it's just another place for water to get in, the foldown one looks like an option, I'd fit a normal cleat, as Strow says! how often will you be runnning around the decks, if you do what Maurice says and have the bow ones 1.1/2 the boat length and one down each side, plus your two stern ropes, it's very easy to grab them for single handed mooring, you'll probably never need to set foot on the decks,,

 

 

Frank,,,,

[Matt]

Personally I would put ones on the front that are just short enough to not snag your prop if they went in the water. Not so much of a problem on the back as you are probably going forward most of the time

If you need a longer rope for springs etc you can always have a separate rope to attach/use.

[Guest]

Steve! I don't know how the others feel, but I would rather go without a centre cleat than cut a hole in my boat to fit a recessed one, you have to cut quite a big hole to fit one, and it's just another place for water to get in, the foldown one looks like an option, I'd fit a normal cleat, as Strow says! how often will you be runnning around the decks, if you do what Maurice says and have the bow ones 1.1/2 the boat length and one down each side, plus your two stern ropes, it's very easy to grab them for single handed mooring, you'll probably never need to set foot on the decks,,

 

 

Frank,,,,

 

 

All true Frank, the whole point of the centre cleats is that you only use them while standing on the bank.

 

...and even the fold down ones protrude above the deck, if one looks at the photo closely.  

 

Another point is solid mounting. With a conventional cleat, you have a large flat area on top of the deck, with only two or four 8mm holes through it.

 

Whereas with a recessed cleat, you have a large irregular shape hole, with 8mm holes around the periphery, much more difficult to reinforce underneath and keep waterproof.