Working with Rope and Cable

Safety information

• Avoid being in the bight.
  • The bight is an area defined by the location of slack line.  If the line were to come tight, an area between where the slack line rests and where the line may end up if it were to become taught is the bight.  Understanding where the bight is means understanding from which direction a line will become tight.
  • Standing in the bight should be avoided and if you’re working with lines that may create dangerous bights, ensure others are in a safe position before proceeding and communicate well so nobody is unaware of the potential danger.
• Avoid having lines moving through your hands/gloves as much as possible.  Metal burrs in the rope or fibers frayed from cables can catch on gloves or bite into a person’s hands.  A person may also end up being pulled in the direction the line is being pulled from.
• Lines under tension can have areas where they may rub and chafe.  This is especially common when a vessel is moored for extended lengths of time.  In these situations, chafing gear (material placed around the line in order to shield it) can be used to avoid fraying.
• High tension cable and rope
  • Ropes and cables under high tension may begin to make noises prior to parting.  Be sure you are well clear of lines making these noises and in particular be aware that lines can snap directly back from where they’re being pulled from.
  • Lines under high tension are more likely to part to the outer area from which they’re being pulled.
  • Under high tension, lines can have their lay straighten out.  This means that as tension is released, there can be a danger of rapid twisting and potentially biting a person’s hand or clothing if they were nearby.  The power held within the twisted lay can apply these twists with a surprising amount of force.

Storing Rope

• As with all other equipment, rope should be stowed after use as it can quickly become a hazard if left on deck.
• It’s important to be mindful of the damage that moisture, chemicals, dirt/sand, salt, and sunlight can cause.
  • Natural fiber rope is particularly susceptible to rotting once it’s wet and needs to be dried.
  • Over time, dirt, sand, and salt can fray the fibers of a piece of rope.
  • Water and especially salt water will corrode steel cables.  Flushing with unsalinated water or making use of grease can extend extend its lifespan.
  • Sunlight will damage all rope given enough time.  Sun-bleached rope will become very brittle and its fibers become more prone to breaking as the rope is stressed and manipulated.
• Coiling rope can either be done in standard loops or figure 8’s.  The difference being that stardard loops introduce a twist in the rope – one full rotation of the rope per loop.  Figure 8 loops are less common, but because they don’t introduce a twist to the rope, they may be preferred.
• When taking rope from a new coil of rope, in order to prevent the rope from twisting excessively, there are two main methods of getting new lengths of rope from it
  • The first method is to simply put a post through the center of the coil and have it spin towards you as you pull lengths of rope off of it from the outer edge of the coil.
  • The second method is to pull lengths of rope out laterally starting at the center of the new coil.  If a person were to pull rope from the coil laterally from the outside of the coil, it will introduce a large number of twists to the new lengths of rope.
• When there is a large mess of rope that needs to be coiled, pulling the rope into a straight line first can greatly assist the coiling process.
• While there may be an existing set of twists in a pile of rope that favors clockwise coiling, typically right hand lay cable and rope is most easily coiled in a counterclockwise direction

Inspecting rope

• Although rope should be inspected on a regular basis, as a general rule of thumb, always be inspecting rope during usage.  To use a rope is to rely on its capacity to bear the weight so always be mindful of damage.
• Inspection should include examining how brittle the rope has become due to sunlight damage, how much fiber damage has occurred, examining the quality of fibers in the middle of the rope, and looking for any major damage like flattening, melting, and strand breaks.
• Opening up strand constructed rope (3 strand, 6 strand, etc.) can help to expose the kind of state the middle of the rope is in.  This is often done with a fid, marlin spike, or just twisting with your hands.
• Rope that is used on a drum is susceptible to surging damage.  This happens when the line to the drum experiences sudden bouts of strong tension.  This can cause over heating and can melt or fuse synthetic fibers in the rope.