Dinghy Painter

[harrytom 646]

Ok I have 3 lines from my dinghy,2 outers control it and middle one just incase.I had some kevlar 8mm short ends left over and used them.Now the problem was last Sunday when ,not consentrating,wrapped one line in to prop shaft.

The question is ,what knifes do you have onboard to cut such rope in an emergency?I ended up with a hack saw blade,slow going but achieved result.   Should I have floats on line just keep dinghy tied up short?

[kiwi_jon 26]

Ceramic knives are what riggers use to cut Kevlar, Dyneema, Vectran etc. They are not cheap.

[madyottie 82]

A good pair of wire cutters should do the trick, that's what we used in the shop. The hot knife would do dyneema (and I think Vectran).

 

To make kevlar look good, we would cut a little more (like 5mm) than we needed, slide the cover back slightly, trim the kevlar core, slide to cover back over, then hotknife the cover to seal it.

[harrytom 646]

Thanks for replies,might just change the rope to good old nylon,just incase I do it again.

[Romany 162]

did the very same thing some weeks ago for the first time since I've owned a boat.

 

I went over the side a few days later armed to the teeth, failed, and then another day returned with a vinyl layers hook knife -  a 'Stanley'  knife handle with changeable hook blades.  You can get the tip of the blade right onto the shaft and hack away at the line. Mine is a Townson and if you have ever looked at one on the hard the prop shaft extends only a very short distance from the cutlass bearing so the line was wound in there really tightly.

 

Hook blade did the trick in about 30 seconds, although admittedly it was only polyprop line.

 

I'd imagine that both products can be brought at mitre 10 etc , but if not  - a flooring industry wholesaler such as Gilt Edge industries in Colway Place Glenfield

[Island Time 1,235]

I use a short painter if towing the dingy - normally shortened by tying it into a sennit, short enough so it can't foul the prop if reversing. Tying a sennit is easy, and it's easily lengthened when required. Another trick is to remove a meter of core and replace it with bungy - it removes any shock from towing. I use a safety harnesses clip spliced to the end so I don't have to rely on other people's knots!

[Kevin McCready 83]

Floating lines can still get dragged under a prop and fouled. I have two painters. One is shorter than the length of the dinghy and I use it most. I had a little note near my reverse gear lever saying "Check the Dinghy" to remind me to shorten it. The other painter is long for towing the dinghy downwind when I don't want it catching up and smacking the back of the boat. It's also useful on a beach. Both painters are tied to two towing points (I had an eyebolt snap once and had fun retrieving the dinghy.

[harrytom 646]

"Romany"Mine is the same,but just 3/4 of body under water and the water is not that warm at 5.30pm off sunday rock.Yep in reverse.Bloody wife keeps telling me to watch the dinghy.Do I ever listen NO

[Sail Rock 28]

My painter is polypropylene which floats thereby reducing risk of prop fouling.

[Kevin McCready 83]

My painter is polypropylene which floats thereby reducing risk of prop fouling.

Reduces but doesn't eliminate as I found out once to my cost.