Stern-Tie Line Specs

[Wind Chime]

What is the diameter and length of the stern-tie line you are using?
I am referring to the stern-line to tie to the shore to prevent swing while at anchor.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

We carry 400' of 3/8" poly on a spool for this. I like to have enough to go from the boat to shore around something and then back to the boat. This lets you untie without leaving the boat, you just release the free end from the aft cleat and reel it in.

[Chinook]

I use the same type and length of line as Duane shows in his photo. I made my reel from an inexpensive plastic garden hose reel. I removed the reel from the stand, and attached some PVC pipe fittings to one hub of the reel, to give me a stub extension which fit nicely into my stainless steel fishing rod holder, which is mounted on the stern stanchion. I retained the crank handle on the reel. This setup is quick and easy to set up, and the crank handle facilitates quick retrieval of the line.

[Kelly Hanson East]

Do you guys see any UV degradation on that poly or does the NW climate save you??

[Chinook]

Mine spends most of its time rolled up on the reel and stowed away. Sun exposure isn't too bad on the scattered occasions when it's in use. Low sun angle up here, plus cloud cover which is often present. UV damage is a non factor.

[The Mutt]

There is UV stabilized line available, I've had some that I used for a Tyre Swing almost 20 years ago, 10 metres approx of 2 tone breaking strain line, an off cut from a roll used to draw 132000 volt power cables through underground trenches and pipes. It's in full sun and lost it's colour years ago, I've seen seen 4 large guys hanging on for the 30-35 metre ride you can get if you start from one of the uphill rock ledges.

Glenn

[bubba]

Do you guy's use the stearn tie setup on Pudget Sound and like where ??? Do you use a dingy when you setup this way ???

[Chinook]

I've not had to use the long line stern tie on Puget Sound, but have used it on the Inside Passage, further north. In many places in those BC and Alaska waters, the bottom drops abruptly to depths of several hundred feet. I've been within 10 or 15 yards of shore and read depths of 200 or 300 feet, and sometimes haven't read bottom at all. The fjords up there really drop off. Long line stern ties are used in some popular coves, in conjunction with bow anchor (Mediterranean mooring style), allowing several boats to moor in fairly close proximity. Another condition which has prompted me to use a long line stern tie involved an appealing small cove where the bottom was either foul, too hard, or too deep for the anchor to reliably grab. I'd use the long line to suspend the boat in the middle of the cove, with bow and stern lines tied off on shore. If I had enough line, I'd loop around a tree and tie off on board, to simplify releasing and getting underway. I've used this mooring method on Lake Roosevelt, on a lake in northern BC, as well as on the Inside Passage route. The long line also comes in handy when trying to moor at the mouth of a creek or small river, where the bottom drops off abruptly. This is common up north, where the tidal range can be extreme. You try to hook your bow anchor on the slope and then take a stern line, with long line if necessary, and either set a stern anchor or a stern tie. Of course, dinghy is essential when using a long line.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I've had no UV issues, but my spool spends very little time in the sun. I've since changed the location of mine, the wood dowel now drops in a fishing rod holder attached to my aft arch. It's the same rod holder my BBQ table goes in.

We've stern tied a few places in the San Juans, James Island comes to mind as one. A couple places in south Puget Sound it has also been useful. It lets you tuck in tight to the shore when an anchorage is full. Just make sure you will have 2'-3' of water at low tide and tend your lines every few hours as the tide goes up and down. We also used the stern tie up in the Canadian Gulf islands. Many of the anchorages at parks up there have rings attached to the rocks along shore specifically for a stern tie. When we pulled in to the Pirates Cove anchorage we dropped the anchor and backed toward shore. I was then getting my dinghy ready to inflate to run the shore tie when the guy in the next boat over rowed up and offered to take the line to shore and back for us. It's expected that all the boats in the anchorage will use a shore tie so no one swings into another boat in the tight cove.

I've always used the dinghy to set up the shore tie, no swimming around in our cold waters even in high summer. Just row to shore, put the line around something, then row back to the boat with the end.

Likewise a few times I have used my second anchor to essentially do the same thing. I'll row the dinghy to the bow of the boat, load the anchor in and then row out to the end of the rode aft of the boat. I drop the anchor, then once back at the boat I lead the rode from the bow to one of the aft cleats. This will park the boat in an exact spot and not allow any swinging. This works for a tight anchorage where you squeeze inside everybody else as well, and when you want to keep the boat pointed a certain direction such as bow toward the wakes from passing traffic. I even did this last summer with the boat tied to a state park mooring buoy to deal with to many boat wakes.

Another nice way to locate the boat in an exact spot is to set both anchors 180 degrees apart. I'll drop one, fall back to max rode length, back on the first, then drop the second there and pull back in on the first until I am in the center, then set the second. This way you still swing with the current and wind but your bow stays in a single spot just like being on a mooring buoy.

[John McDonough]

Do you guys see any UV degradation on that poly or does the NW climate save you??

1994 (15 years ago) I had a spool of poly 3/8' rope. 3 strand, 2 strands of yellow and one strand of black.
I installed about a 25` swing in my back yard. after about 5 years outside in Western Pennsylvania, the 2 yellow strands completely disintegrated. The single black strand is still intact.

[bubba]

Does that mean get all black line ? But waite you may hang someone in there dingy in the dark.

[dennisneal]

I very much prefer to anchor fore and aft, if alone, in order to reduce "anchor swing". However, if others in an anchorage are using only a single bow anchor, I think it is somewhat dangerous to use any anchoring system that will "fix" your position, since other boats may well swing into your boat, if the prevailing winds, or currents, happen to shift.

If the anchorage is too small to accomodate more than one boat, then, any secure method is OK.

Some anchorages have a "standard system": single, or double anchors, which is known by "local knowledge". In any case, I would advise to do whatever the locals do.

[Kelly Hanson East]

On Cuttyhunk, I will anchor bow/stern into the prevailing winds (almost always SW) - I anchor in 2 feet at MLLW and never get any neighbors due to the draft.

[Wind Chime]

Thanks folks!

When making fast the line to the stern, are you using both ends to one sterm cleat or one end to each cleat making a "V' shape?

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I typically cleat the standing part of the line from to the spool on the port aft cleat as that closest to the spool, and cleat the free end that has been brought back to the boat after going around something on the starboard aft cleat making a vee.