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Post by Mr Stabby on May 23, 2018 17:54:03 GMT
I need a new centre line. I'll buy one at Stone tomorrow. I'm thinking 10 metres for a 42' (12.8m) boat. Also polypropylene rather than hemp, the last (hemp) one didn't last five minutes.
The thoughts of others are welcome.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 18:28:28 GMT
Sounds like a plan to me.
Traditionalists will be busy burning you in effigy.
Rog
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Post by Mr Stabby on May 23, 2018 18:38:59 GMT
My current centreline is a hemp rope and it's only a year old but already it has become so weather degraded that bits flake off of it in a snowstorm every time I handle it.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 18:41:34 GMT
Worth getting floating rope. 12mm or 14mm staplespun (not split film) polypropylene is ideal assuming you don't have soft hands. Its a little rough for some people but if you are well 'ard you'll be able to deal with it.
Great thing is it floats so unlikely to invite you down the weed hatch.
Eta worth questioning the "hemp" description.
Hemp rope is available but a bit unusual. More likely to be "hardy hemp" which is a polypropylene rope made to have a soft finish for people who have delicate hands.
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Post by Delta9 on May 23, 2018 19:00:25 GMT
Just long enough that it will reach all the way to the back of the boat, but fall just short of the prop if dropped in.
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Post by Mr Stabby on May 23, 2018 19:07:16 GMT
It's definitely some type of organic material. Whatever it is, it has to go.
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Post by Mr Stabby on May 23, 2018 19:08:08 GMT
Just long enough that it will reach all the way to the back of the boat, but fall just short of the prop if dropped in. Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 19:11:11 GMT
Its worth having it longer so you can get off the boat with some rope in hand rather than getting to the bitter end unexpectedly. That's why I like floating ropes.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 19:12:46 GMT
Just long enough that it will reach all the way to the back of the boat, but fall just short of the prop if dropped in. Isn't that a contradiction in terms? Technically a rope could reach to the stern if tied to the handrail or a central roof attachment but when it goes over the side it would still not reach the prop because of the amount of rope taken up actually draping down over the side of the boat. Pythagoras innit. The square on the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the other two sides. Rope tied to handrail. Hypotenuse is the rope, longer side is distance between prop and rope attachment point shorter side is air draft. Because the rope also has gravity acting on it the hypotenuse may be an ellipse.
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Post by Delta9 on May 23, 2018 19:16:04 GMT
Just long enough that it will reach all the way to the back of the boat, but fall just short of the prop if dropped in. Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I probably should have said back of cabin, not back of boat. I have mine as length from center hook to back of cabin + 1ft. I can grab it whilst holding the tiller, but not wrap it round the prop.
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Post by Deleted on May 23, 2018 19:23:01 GMT
Isn't that a contradiction in terms? I probably should have said back of cabin, not back of boat. I have mine as length from center hook to back of cabin + 1ft. I can grab it whilst holding the tiller, but not wrap it round the prop. I actually have a similar setup on my 40x9ft canal boat but I have put an eye splice in the end which I can drop over a bollard quickly. Most places on the cut where I go (GU south and Regents canal) on that particular boat have bollards in similar places so it works OK. When I was boating more in different areas on a narrow boat I used a centre line which was about 5ft longer than the back of the cabin as it was more comfortable and allowed more rope for tying off or slowing the boat down without snatching. I think 10m on a 13m boat is a bit long but quite a nice luxury if it's floating stuff.
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Post by quaysider on May 23, 2018 19:41:15 GMT
I don't know why so many folk get hung up (no pun intended) on the potential for a long centre line getting wrapped around the prop, yet chug along quite happily with a rear mooring line either hanging on the swan neck or in a heap in the floor.
We've got 2 centre lines through fairleads and both are 15 metres - we simply take care when using them... and on the odd occasion we do something stupid, there is that bit "extra" to loop onto a bollard when the wind tries to steal the boat !
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Post by JohnV on May 24, 2018 7:06:22 GMT
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Post by JohnV on May 24, 2018 7:10:03 GMT
I don't know why so many folk get hung up (no pun intended) on the potential for a long centre line getting wrapped around the prop, yet chug along quite happily with a rear mooring line either hanging on the swan neck or in a heap in the floor. agree totally with this ....... the answer is ...... just don't drop the bloody rope in the water !!!
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Post by Jim on May 26, 2018 9:16:46 GMT
I've used 16mm synth hemp, floats, kind to my hands. Long enough to come up to a bollard and then more or less to the lock gate. I store them in a coil on the roof near the slide. I have 2 for ease, don't have to flip over the stuff on the roof.
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