On 5/18/08, Terry Streeter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I keep hearing this mantra that "No rope should be long enough to reach > the prop" which IMHO is a load of old tosh.
Agreed. > In 20 years boating (the > last seven of which have mostly been fairly intensive single handing), > I've never had (or even heard of) a boat's rope actually getting caught > on the prop. My Dad managed to get Kismet's center rope around the prop - it's now NOT long enough to fowl it, but it's also not long enough to be of much use in locks (convenient for mooring though). We have a second center rope for more problematic situations. > Even if the rope did get caught all you will end up with is some > combination of a broken or damaged rope, a stalled engine and a trip > down the weed hatch to clear the blade. On the Jam Ole Run with Shoestring, just set off and the day was still dark, I managed to get my stern rope trailing. One of the boats ahead stopped, and I had to stop also. This had the effect of bringing the rope within reach of the prop. As I set off, I got comfy on the boat roof again, and looking down noticed that the rope was slowly disappearing into the water! Even though I managed to stop the rope before it ran out of slack it took a bit of getting off, and twizzled the rope quite a bit so took some time getting the knots out. Not had any problems with the center rope, though sometimes it's too long on Shoestring, and sometimes too short! :-) Cheers, Mike -- Michael Askin http://shoestring_DOT_zapto_DOT_org/
