Tips, Tricks & Thoughts:
Sure, there are laser range finders, and today’s radars can accurately measure distance to a target, even at close ranges, a feature we have long used and recommended when anchoring.
But there are also a lot of situations where that sort of precision is unnecessary, and where messing with technology is a dangerous distraction.
So to be good boat handlers we need to develop the ability to estimate distances reasonably accurately by eye.
Here’s how:
The plot thickens. I came across this product page at RobLine an Austrian rope maker and they have a bunch of lines for mooring, docking, that will be good for anchor snubbers.
Interesting quote from that page:
Robline caters to the trend toward using different fibers for mooring and anchor lines, depending on the specific use, and introduces cordage made of polyamide (known as nylon) in order to utilize the high elasticity of this fiber to cope with critical shock loads.
These lines are available from upffront.com, in Germany, who ship everywhere, among others.
A member was having a heck of a time finding Nylon rope for a snubber, as we recommend, in Europe. After some research I think I have found out why:
What we call Nylon in North America, and the UK, is known as H.T. Polyester in Europe and staff in stores sometimes refer to it as “polyester with stretch”.
Check out this page at Gottifredi Maffioli. One of their mooring line products has a heading of “Nylon Braid” but the detail says H.T. Polyester on the English language page.
Also claims “Elasticity, ease of handling” for this rope, so I think that is a Nylon equivalent.
Anyone have specialized knowledge on this? If so, please leave a comment.
Also see this tip for a source of Nylon in Europe.
I made a bollocks of sailing off the mooring today and got stuck stern upwind on the chain. Not a big deal to sort out on a light J/109, but I did get a graphic reminder of how little reverse thrust folding props have.
Definitely not appropriate for a cruising boat where the bigtime reverse thrust of a good feathering prop gets us out of the inevitable mistakes we make. I like the MaxProp, but there are other good ones.
This dock line came with our new-to us J/109. Not only does it have a loop spliced in one end, which I recommend against (#2), someone first whipped it and then dipped it in some goop for reasons I can’t fathom. There is no better way to prevent a line end unraveling than a sailmaker’s whipping (#6)—lose the goop.
