"soft" chafe suggestion

[rperret]

I keep my S2 27 on a mooring. The 27 has P and S cleats along the rubrail at the bow.

Due to the shape of the bow, and the angle of the lines to the mooring ball - when tied at the mooring the lines will rub against the gelcoat when the boat sails to P or S (my boat tends to sail a little - but i reduced the sailing by reducing the pennant length, plus some other adjustments from suggestions on the board here...)

My fear is that over time the lines will start messing up the gelcoat.

As such, appreciate any thoughts on soft chafing so the gelcoat won't get damaged.

Thanks.

Rick
S2 27
US 40521

[mwrohde]

How about a riding sail? One is on my "to-do" list so I can't tell you from personal experience that it will fix the problem, but folks on here and other testimony suggest that it will reduce the drifting.

[Sailormann]

If you want to stop the riding, tieing up stern-to is the easiest way. If you want to cut down on the chafe, then get hold of some type of thick pile fabric or sheepskin and cover your mooring lines in the affected areas.

If there's room, you could put some fairleads on or close to the gunwale and then run your port line through your port fairlead and tie it of on the starboard cleat in order to ensure that there's an acute angle in the line.

[USCGRET1990]

Try using a swim noodle or two over the line.

[danjarch]

A little more labor involved, but you could wax the bow every couple of months.

[FrankLanger]

I've had good luck with slipping a piece of soft vinyl hose, cut to about 8" length and slipped over the docking line at the point that it touches the gelcoat. It has to be a tight fit, to avoid it sliding off. The vinyl does get stained over the course of the year from UV rays and other stuff, so I replaced them annually, but that was quite easy to do.
The hose protected both the docking line and the boat.
Frank.

[ollie820]

How about installing some chocks to feed the lines to a better location farthur forward. You could also install stainless rub strakes to eliminate wear. They are about 1/2" wide and 10" long but probably come in different sizes.

Ollie

[sailingdog]

I would recommend installing chocks and rubstrakes rather than using vinyl hose chafe protection.

One of the most common causes of docking/anchor/mooring line failures in heavy weather situations is the rope failing due to melting from internal heat and friction. Vinyl or plastic hose chafe protectors are a big part of the problem, since they trap the heat and prevent water from getting to the line to cool and lubricate it. Cloth or fabric chafe protectors, like the new dyneema sleeve ones are much better, since they will allow water through and heat out.

[capttb]

I've used stainless strakes to prevent docklines from rubbing the gelcoat. they work well if placed correctly and are unobtrusive. Longer is usually better in that they cover the area the line runs in more different mooring & anchoring situations.

[SchoonerMISTRESS]

About two years ago, Skip found a guy who could get us an entire elks hide, which we purchased and have been using successfully for chafe gear. Skip sewed it to the line for the mooring, it is on the spreaders, and in several other locations on MISTRESS. After one year we are more than satisfied with it while still having more than half the hide left. Check out eBay to see if you can locate it, and tonight I will ask Skip where he got ours from and update if he remembers.
Kathleen
aboard
Schooner MISTRESS