Wormed, parceled and served

[Ross]

I have a small problem with chafe on my dock lines. Our marina is not well protected by breakwaters and is exposed from the south, west and north. We are on an east shore. Also we get wakes from powerboats across the river. I have been finding excessive wear on my lines after about three years and this year decided to see if I could protect them a little better by serving the areas that are subject to the chafe. I really don't like the appearance of plastic hose slipped over the lines. I will post the results of this effort come fall or after any of the heavy storms that we get. I do wonder if anybody else has experience with this method for protecting the lines from wear.

 

[Tim R.]

You don't like the look???

How about the look of your boat floating away? Just kidding. There are all kinds of materials and "systems" to help prevent chafing but of course you will pay for them.Personally I like the clear vinyl tubing. That way you can see if anything is happening inside. And it is cheap.Tim R.

 

[Scott]

Ross, We know you are frugal ...

but complaining about wear on dock lines after 3 years??? Come on ... can't you let go of a nickel every once in a while?

 

[RichH]

Yup .....

Worming, parcelling and serving will vastly prolong the life of dock lines.  Another plus is that during 'storms' the worming, etc. will allow the line to cool faster rather than trapping the frictional heat inside the 'plastic'. But then again three year old three strand has probably become stiff and shrunken due to continual strainrelaxation cycles .... thus 'weaker'.

 

[Warren Milberg]

Worming, parcelling, and Serving

... really looks nice, but sure is a lot of work. To me, the time to do such a project is over the winter (when I also make a few baggy wrinkles out of old dock lines). But as I get older, I must be getting lazier. I deal now with dockline chafe by using black 3-strand nylon lines over which I slip some black washing machine hose where it goes around the pilings. You can hardly see the hose...

 

[Ross]

To respond to some questions. No I don't

let go of a nickel without a fight. Yes the lines have gotten a bit stiff but I found that is more the result of them soaking up organic matter and it dries in the line. Working it over a porch column softens it up quite nicely. And finally , Warren, if you have noticed, lately it still seem like winter.

 

[Stu Jackson]

One thing we did was to

eliminate tying the dock side of the lines onto the dock cleats. Instead, we inserted shackles through the dock cleats with the lines eye spliced to the pin of the shackles, plus those rubber snubbers. No chafe after many, many years.

 

[Brian]

Great topic Ross

It's nice when somebody throws out a nautical phrase like this - I had to google it to get a good expanation from Wikipedia only to find out that I have been partially doing it for years.The dock lines on my Beneteau get turned at right angles when they pass thru the chocks so I've been applying a 1/8" layer of rope (whipping) over top of my 5/8" dock lines for about a six inch section. Result - certainly adds life to the dock line and can be easily replaced every year or two - allowing for easy inspection of the main dockline. I have not done the worming or parceling - I think if you do this - then you should go the whole distance and add some sort of waterproofing to finish off.Like yourself, I'm not a big fan of hoses - or using leather - if you buy the precut packages - gets pretty expensive.Regards Brian

 

[Ross]

Brian, I am using # 36 nylon seine twine

that I have soaked with beeswax and pine tar. The worming just fills the lines between the strands and the parceling in friction tape from my favorite electrical supplier. I made a serving board with a reel on it so I can cover two feet in about half an hour and have it very hard and tight.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Try leather

Had a similar slip at Bolies Quarters. I used a 14" length of leather that was cut wide enough to completely wrap around the line. Then spend about 10 minutes putting a herringbone stitch on it. The leather sleeve so constructed should be a firm fit to keep it from slipping around but not so tight that you can't move it along the line. The friction of the part causing the chafe is enough to keep the leather in place. Our dock line lasted the 3 years we where there and through one hurricane. The leather never wore through!

 

[Bill Roosa]

Leather is not that expensive

IF you keep your eyes open. Folks are always throwing out old furniture and clothing that get recycled into my sails and rigging. My 6 dock line leathers cost me all of $0.00.How is that for pinching nickels Ross?

 

[Ross]

Flea markets and yard sales are

good sources for leather especially women's boot tops I sometimes find heavy swede boots in yard sales and church rummage sales. Furniture leather makes nice leather for fire place bellows.Edit to add: Bill you can sew faster than I .

 

[Bill Roosa]

Practice Practice Practice

I have races with myself when I do several of one item. Learn the pattern on the first and then see how fast you can get it done and still not have it look like crap.

 

[Dan Johnson]

Hey Ross...

I don't think Warren has noticed it's still winter further up the Bay. I believe he's already splashed his boat! I'm hoping to get mine in the water next week--this weekend looks like it will finally be warm enough to do all the little things that can't be done when your hands are freezing or the stuff you're using won't set/dry/stick!

 

[Ross]

Dan, stanley willing and the wind don't blow

we splash tomorrow. If the phone would ring I would be working but what the hell if I can't work I may as well play. The lines are completed and on the boat or the dock, so just after lunch tomorrow in six knots of east wind we will struggle with the beast.

 

[Warren Milberg]

For Dan and Ross

My boat went back in around April 2d, but it really has been too cold to do any "serious" sailing. I did have a coldish sail across the bay and back yesterday, but it the tail end of the nor'easter so it was windy in the AM and it tailed off later in the PM. I personally guarantee that you both ought to be sailing this weekend, as the temps promise to be in the mid-70's.BTW, do you both have to motor down that long channel below Havre de Grace to get into deep water, or can you sail above the rail road bridge there? How long does it take to motor down that channel?

 

[Dan Johnson]

Hey Warren...

It's been too cold to do most anything boat-wise. I knocked off early Monday and Tuesday a week ago and got the bottom painted, but that's it. Last weekend I put the front of the engine back together (belts and impeller) but it was only 50 out.Ross looks like he'll have a beautiful day tomorrow to launch--makes me jealous! I have a new set of vinyl lettering to put on the transom and expect this weekend to be warm enough for it to stick. I'll get the boat's interior cleaned and ready to go for splashdown next Wednesday. (For Ross, I'll be at Tidewater a week from Saturday, land cruising as I won't have the boat ready to get there by water.)Warren, I can't get under the railroad bridge even at low tide with the H34--the stick's too tall! Most people do their sailing below it, between the bridge, HdG town and the flats. I'm over on the North East River where we have a large day-sailing area from the town of North East down almost to Carpenter's Point at high tide. We have the same narrow channel situation too as over at HdG, but for a much shorter length (Red 8 to Red 6). One of our club members just carved a new channel through a foot of mud at an exceptionally low tide with his 6 foot draft in that stretch last weekend!We just put in all-new floating docks at NERYC. Pick your tide right and you'll have no trouble coming up to visit!