Rope locker questions

[Dfok]

Recently I bought a 1991 Catalina 28 and finally got around to sorting through the lockers and lines yesterday.
I tossed a lot of stiff, frayed and short stuff, kept a few lines for use in a pinch and need to get some new.
What would a good rope locker look like? I'll need some docklines, spare line, a rescue/throw line at minimum. Braided or three ply laid line?
Eventually the halyards need to be replaced but I'll start by switching them end for end. I think one new coil of 3/8 sta set for safety makes sense. But does it?
I'm working on my splices and put together a 3 ply nylon rope bridle for mooring which probably needs hose or leather chafing gear. Is nylon right for this application?
How about a new painter for the dinghy - polypropylene so it floats? How long should the painter be?

[sailingdog]

Docklines, anchor lines and bridles should be nylon... Double braid is stronger, but less elastic and more prone to chafe on things like pilings, which are common in the caribbean. three-strand line handles abrasion and pilings a bit better but are prone to hockling if not coiled properly.

As for the anchor bridle...the minimum length is 3x the beam of the attachment points. Ideally, a good anchor bridle will be 30-50' long or so... so that if you need to let scope out, you can do so without having to retrieve anchor rode to release the bridle... which is generally the last thing you want to do when more scope is needed.

The throw bag line should be a floating line, preferably spectra, though Polypropylene, properly protected from the sun, will work in a pinch.

As for the dinghy painter, I'd go with a spectra or dyneema based line, since they're stronger and far more UV tolerant than Polypropylene.

Finally, for chafe protection, I highly recommend polyester or spectra webbing over hose or leather. The second most common mode of failure after chafe is failure due to internal friction and the line being damaged by the heat generated. Woven webbing will allow water to get into the line to cool and lubricate it—leather, plastic or rubber hose and fire hose won't and will trap heat making the line far more likely to fail.

[jbondy]

I was interested in the answers this thread might generate from a different perspective. (I hope this isn't too much of a hijack!) The OP asked:

"What would a good rope locker look like?"

My rope locker is the space under the starboard cockpit seat. When I open the hatch, it's a cavernous space into which I've thrown docklines, spare PFDs, a coiled hose and fenders. The space is open to the engine compartment (no separator), the back of the bulkhead on which the electric panels are mounted and also houses the water heater and associated plumbing. In other words, it's a mess I've long wanted to organize and would love to see what others have done to bring order to this space.

I've considered putting up peg board to separate the engine compartment from the rest of the space. I was going to glue a board under the hatch (the seat) from which I'd hang docklines so that when the locker is opened, all the lines would be at hand. But I also need to be able to empty out this space and crawl into it to maintain the steering and other systems, so anything mounted permanently would hamper this need.

Any and all suggestions (and maybe even photos) would be welcomed!

TIA

[chucklesR]

Mine (starboard side lazerette) has four stainless steel wire hooks, the two left most hooks hold two (each) double braided dock lines (1/2 inch, 25 feet long) that I use in raft ups. The right side 2 hooks hold two fifty foot 1/2 single braid that I use for general purpose and spring lines at raft ups.
Coiled in the locker bottom is a 22 lb anchor, 20 feet of chain, and on a bungie and hook arrangement 100 ft of anchor rode for it.
My locker is aft to starboard on my catamaran, that anchor is for when I anchor fore and aft to stop drift - the 100 foot of anchor rode doubles as a tow rope as it's quickly deployed off my stern.
Beside all that are 4 22x12 inch fenders, with their lines bunched and lead to their own hook.
It's a big locker, matched on the other side.

Forward I have two 25 ft double braid dock lines coiled on the hand rails, one on each side. Aft, there are two more matching dock lines in little cockpit notches ready to hand for the helmsman.
A) I do a lot of rafting up - you never know what the other guy will try to hand you, so I have clean known quality line at the ready.
B) I hate fumbling around, so I keep it organized.

The port side lazerette holds two 5 gallon diesel tanks (back up, empty), a bag of life jackets (spares, not the ones we use), both my 30 amp power cord and a 50 ft outdoor 15amp power cord, the pig tails for 50-30amp and 15-30amp conversions (never know what you get someplaces) - those are coiled and bungied to hooks - and a nice empty spot for the Honda/Yamaha 2000 generator when I get around to getting one.
Back on topic - at some point I will add 300 ft of single braid 1/2 line to the port side locker as a warp, spare etc..

Neither of these lockers is so full that I can't climb in, scrunch down and close the lid, they are big.

Small stuff (non-docking) like lazy jack spare line, polyprop for kayak painters etc. I keep in one of the inside lockers so it doesn't interfere with quick access to a dock line.
I splice and whip my own dock lines out of 1/2 anchor rode so occasionally I have a drum of it laying around also. My slip is 50 feet wide (suspended between two neighboring piers) it takes a lot of line to hold her, spring and breast lines. I double up for winter, and tropical storms.

At present, no chaffing gear other than the anchor line. I have never noticed any visible chaff on my lines.

[Dfok]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'm getting some ideas and I too have to figure out how to keep chaos at bay in a relatively small locker.
I'm well set in terms of anchor rode, originally my question (one of them anyway) was about a mooring bridle.
The buoy painter is understandably really rough and not as clean as I'd like against my newly polished fiberglass.
I put two eye-splices in 6 foot length of 7/16 three strand, and run it through the mooring line eye then cleat it either side of the bow. Based on the recommendation I'll get some polyester or spectra web. Am I okay with the nylon line or should I change that too?

[EJO]

I ran into this in my recently acquired Irwin32 Classic Sloop where there is an enormous locker under the SB cockpit seat. This too was open to the engine and bulkhead battery boxes/electronics. I cut two pieces of plywood (use cardboard for templates) and mounted them in a 90 degree angle keeping "stuff" from sliding forward and down towards the shaft. All that is left to do is a floor to keep things better(straight) stacked. I must put hooks in the plywood (pegboard would have been good) so I could hang stuff.
I'll take some pictures this weekend and post them next week or PM it.
Now I must do the same with the aft lazerette that holds my fenders, plow anchor, bosun chair and whatever else. I haven't emptied it yet as I rather will be sailing. We'll get to it sometime this summer probably when I need that second anchor and can't get it and the rode out.

[SVCarolena]

Please post the pictures - I've also been looking at options to protect things in our cockpit locker from falling down toward the engine and shaft. We still have the original peg board, but it is getting soft and I really don't like the layout.

[EJO]

I have some pics of the locker partitions but don't know how to post them.
Please advise???

[jbondy]

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/sailne...-pictures.html

I've considered making partitions, but I'd need to remove them to service what will be behind them, e.g. checking the engine oil. Removal has to be easy.

[EJO]

Sorry for the delay in posting these but here they are. I now also have a floor in the SB locker as small items always fell and rolled towards the front corner which was a reach with putting your head in and stretching your arm.
The hook & eye and lathes work pretty good and there are a few wood blocks glued to the hull that keep the panels from sliding towards the center or forward and aft. Access to all things mechanicall and electrical is when panels are removed as good as it can be. I can service engine, shaft, coupling, gland, and batteries without unscrewing things.













Any questions for more detail IM me or just ask in the thread.
Sailstice this weekend. Happy sailing