Rope/Line Terminology Question

[CaptainForce]

I think the tow rope would be a line or a painter! Wire rope is a more commonly used alternative to complete the seven,

[sailaway21]

A "tow rope" could be rather a painter, a sea painter, or a towing hawser or line. I'd expect that on inland waters it might be referred to as a tow rope, in much the same way that 1000' ore carriers are called "boats" when they are demonstrably not boats.

[DirigoIICaptSteve]

There is a saying that there are seven ropes aboard ship, when in fact, according to Clement Ashley, there have been over sixty to bear the name. I can think of ten off hand. To "know the ropes," one would need to know lots of lines, but also some ropes including:
1. Bell rope
2. Boat rope
3. Boltrope
4. Breast rope (holds the leadsman around the chest in the chains to free up both his hands - and, of course, keep him from falling overboard!)
5. Bucket rope
6. Foot rope
7. Gift rope - used to pull cleaning discs through hawse pipes
8. Heel rope (rove from a lower masthead, though a sheave in the heel of a topmast used in raising the topmast to pull out the fid and then lowering it.
9. Manrope - for climbing down into a ship's boat
10. Wheel rope(s) - used to hold the ship's wheel steady in a shorthanded vessel when the helmsman has to leave the wheel momentarily or when not underway.

[tomwatt]

Looks like someone's going to win the prize.
Excellent listing.
And the only one I knew was the bell rope.
And mentally, I got off onto hawsers and cables so I was useless from the gitgo.

[QuickMick]

I wonder what happend to the OP? Did he win? maybe he just reached the end of his rope.... har t har har