Dyneema Lifelines

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by thomm225

I just noticed that Cobb's Boatyard installs lifelines.

My boat is maybe 75' from the main door at Cobb's. I think I'll check with them on the price of traditional lines. My boat only has singles anyway.

The lifelines coming off my boat are 40 years old and have stretched three inches over the years but are still strong.

You lines have not stretched. Your stanchions are bent inwards.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by thomm225

That's why I tie in a lot of them!

Actually, I plan to tighten the thing up as it slackens which will keep new "rope" in the stanchion pass thru areas.

Having been on boats since a young age, I rarely touch the lifelines.

You've been around boats so long, and you can't splice single braid?

You are being silly.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by thinwater

You lines have not stretched. Your stanchions are bent inwards.

No, they are still straight up and down. The lines stretched a bit over the last 40 years. The adjustment is all used up on both ends. You can see that they have stretched so much there is slack in the line between each stanchion.

We used to have to adjust our rig and diamond wire tension for each race on our catamarans for the same reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7iWTf-Q8SM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTCG6nt3-tg

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by thinwater

You've been around boats so long, and you can't splice single braid?

You are being silly.

It's not my thing. Splicing, boat maintenance etc. I only do it when absolutely necessary. Plus it interrupts my cycling, running, and working out time.

I spent most of my time on learning racing, boat setup, etc when not actually racing or practicing. We raced 10 months out of the year on the Gulf Coast back in the day. Plus you don't pick up much sailing info on the lower Eastern Shore as I'm sure you are probably aware.

I got into sailing for the racing/competition. But I do like being on the water and when I saw this old boat sitting there on the Eastern Shore after a long run I took back in the summer of 2011, I bought it for the $2,000. No survey, no nothing. It had been sitting there for 5 years having been left by the owner on his return trip to Massachusetts from a 2 year sail to Florida. Come to find out, the old man had totally reconditioned the boat before his trip. (except for the lifelines, engine, and mainsail)

It's my monohull training vessel, and I've learn a lot from this old boat except which type my next one will be. Full or fin keel, 30' or 35' plus, shoal or deep draft, etc.

Bristol27.com » Hull #335 – Winter Dream

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

Why do you prefer the lines without white coating?

It's not a preference thing, it's a safety and longevity thing. There are only two reasons to use coated, hand and less abrasion on sheets, and those are outweighed by the fact that coated lines cannot be inspected properly.

The OSR regulations, while on the fence about dyneema, specify uncoated for lifelines, specifically so they can be inspected.

You won't see a new boat being delivered with coated lifelines, unless it's retro. It's just not a good idea.

As far as dyneema lines being a fad, they are most certainly not. They are the new technology and they will gain in popularity in coming years for sure. I may prefer stainless to dyneema for the reasons I cited above, but I'd rather have well maintained dyneema lifelines on a boat than neglected stainless, that's for sure. And I suspect that my concerns about dyneema will be addressed in future products in one way or the other, with higher modulus offerings.

[Tortuga's Lie]

I guess I'll chime in here as well. I replaced my old, coated stainless lifelines a few years ago with the same for a couple of reasons: First, the white coating is visible at night whereas uncoated becomes almost invisible. Second, coated lines are a bit less abrasive against the skin making them more comfortable. Thirdly, my old vinyl coated lines lasted more than 30 years (still good when replaced too), so I figured my new ones will be there at least a couple of decades from now! I also have an inch of bare wire as it enters the terminals so I can observe the condition easier plus I also put a drop of oil onto this end where the wire will wick it up acting as a rust preventative.

[Bohemian17]

I don't get the whole being inspected part of this discussion the life lines are very thick stainless multi strand they would make a rust puddle the size of a grapefruit underneath them if they were anywhere near failure from.corrosion. Today I stripped the section of the old cracked yellow cover off of my life lines and hit him with some stainless cleaner and they look quite bright and new underneath its just a residual surface rust leaching into the cover. I guess for some people they justI don't keep an eye on all of their rigging . Stainless is brittle and when.ot corrodes it will show itself. Since it only took me 30 minutes to remove the lifelines from my boat I think that the smartest thing to do would be to take your old life lines and go have them pull tested . but I don't know anybody that would provide that service versus just wanting to replace them and sell you something new.

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[transmitterdan]

I think the main concern is that stainless steel can corrode. The process does not produce telltale rust puddles. Stainless can look perfectly fine to the eye and come apart without warning. Stainless steel isn't really free of oxidation. In fact it requires oxidation to maintain its rust free appearance. What you see as shiny rust free steel isn't that at all. It's chromium oxide that forms on the surface. That forms a barrier to the deeper layers. If the thin outer layer is worn down it must have oxygen in order to replace the chromium oxide that was lost. Without oxygen a tiny break in the outer layer will allow corrosion due to chlorine to continue all the way through. There are many examples of stainless steel components coming apart and the break was completely corroded except for the tiny sliver that was holding it together. That indicates that the corrosion had been going on for some time but not observed.

Because of the potential for oxygen depravation corrosion (sometimes called crevice corrosion) the vinyl coating is no longer recommended for lifeline wire.

[ohdrinkboy]

Originally Posted by Delancey

The coating traps water against the wire promoting corrosion while at the same time obscuring the wire from inspection. Sort of bad two ways. (See photo of rusty cracked yellowed lifelines above)

If you use wire, uncoated is preferred. If your lifelines look all cracked and rusty, don't leave them to be the last item you fix and don't fix them because of cosmetics, fix them much sooner and do so for safety. They're called "lifelines" not "pretty lines" for a reason.

nailed it!