Five sailing rope tips for sailing or cruising

by Captain John Jamieson on 4 Jan 2015 Discover five sea-tested sailing tips that you can use to 'end-for-end' anchor or docking line and keep your expensive running rigging 'catastrophic failure' free all sailing season long.

1. Make Line Angles Straighter than before.

Put a bend into a line and this adds friction, chafe, and fiber breakdown wherever that line bears on a block, chock, ring, piling, post, bitt, cleat, or other belay point. You cannot get away from this altogether, but you can lessen the effect. Here's how.

Check the line angle between any two line belay points. For example, look at the angle that a mooring line makes from the dock cleat (one belay point) to your bow or stern cleat (the other belay point). Does it bend around a chock or other fairlead on its way to the belay point? Could you make the angle straighter to help reduce chafe?

Protect the line with chafing gear where it bends around the chock or contacts another fitting. If the chock has sharp edges, smooth those edges with a piece of super fine sandpaper. This will help prevent chafe (more on chafe in the next tip).

Do the same with lines that lead from the base of the mast to the cockpit through fairlead blocks or line organizer blocks (boxes that contain multiple blocks to re-route lines). This can save you big $$$s in repair or replacement costs.

2. Carry Chafe Gear to Lengthen Line Life.

Carry plenty of chafing gear aboard to protect your expensive lines at a dock, mooring, or at anchor. Swing by your local fire department or call and ask if they have old fire hose. Or, buy scraps of canvas.

Cut the scraps into 9' (or longer) lengths. Wrap the chafing gear around any line that rubs, abrades, or contacts the side of your boat or a boat fitting (i.e. a chock) or a seawall, pier or piling. Lash the chafing gear in place with small diameter waxed line or plastic wire ties. This single 'pennies-on-the-dollar' gear will be your #1 boat guard to protect your docking, mooring, or anchor lines from wear or failure.

3. Swap Bitter Ends for Better Ends.

'End for End' docking line and rope anchor rode once a year. This ancient art can extend line life in a big way. Change the part of each docking line that's tied to the dock cleat or piling to the opposite end. Splice a new eye as necessary.

Swap out that part of your anchor rode tied off inside your anchor locker so that it now becomes the bitter end (also called 'working end') attached to the chain. Splice in a new thimble too. Follow these two sailing tips for longer line life--wherever you sail or cruise.

4. Fight Slippage with a Round Turn.

Turn or round turn? Knots made around a ring, post, piling or rail begin with a 'drape' type motion called a turn. That's where you have the standing part (that part of a line not used to tie a knot) on one side and the working end (that part of a line used for knot work) on the other side. But, line can slide along any of these devices and that creates wear and chafe.

Put friction to work. Add one more turns--called a 'round turn'--to keep your line in place. This may not be what you want for all applications, but for some it will be. Remember the round turn when your sailing knot needs to 'stay put' on a slippery surface.

5. 'Take Ten' to Secure Any Sailing Knot.

Tie a knot, make a whipping or splice line and you'll need to add another five or ten seconds to 'get the slack out'. Sure, it may be impressive to tie a fast knot and think you're done with it; but that's not good enough in my book. No knot will hold for long unless you work the slack out after you tie it.

Pull on the bitter ends and standing part. Hold one side as you pull on the other. It requires a bit of practice and time. Take the extra effort now to prevent surprises down the road. Remove the slack from any knot, splice or whipping for more peace-of-mind when sailing or cruising.

Follow these five sea-tested sailing tips to add life and strength to your expensive sailing lines. Sail safe on the waters of the world--wherever you choose to sail or cruise!

John Jamieson (Captain John) with 25+ years of experience shows you the no-nonsense cruising skills you need for safer sailing worldwide. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for the Free, highly popular weekly 'Captain John's Sailing Tip-of-the-Week'. Discover how you can gain instant access to 1000+ sailing articles, sailing skills videos, sailing tips newsletters and Free sailing topic e-Books!