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Separate but Equal?

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Nov 14, 2018
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Heart of the Shawnee Nation
Do those of you who line your canoe have separate lines besides your painters? If so, what lengths work best? I use two 25’ ropes as painters/lining ropes. Considering going to 35’ lining ropes, separate 15’ painters.
 
I use the same ropes when tripping. When paddling at home I only have a short painter, oftentimes not even that.

Alan
 
long enough to be able to hold on to one painter but still reach the other end of the canoe to reach the other painter reefed at the deck plate. We'll carry an additional two 25ft lines if we are likely to be on a trip that would involve lining.
 
My lining/tracking ropes are 25 feet, both bow and stern, on my 16 foot tandem canoe. I’m not saying that’s best. Just that it has worked for me. Other people use longer ropes, up to 50 feet. Depends a lot on what kind of lining/tracking you anticipate, and what you’re comfortable with. Try something out, and see how it works for you. I always take a lot of ropes when wilderness tripping. i can always adjust during the trip. My painters are 15 feet.

I could be wrong about the length of my tracking/lining ropes. It's been a long time since I used them. Here I am tracking up the Winter River on the way to the Coppermine River. The lines look longer than 25 feet in this image.

Coppermine024.jpg
 
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I've lined 3 times when necessary that I can remember. I've done a few more times just playing around. I can do that in my backyard now (once it warms up). I measured my ropes and they are 20'. Seems to me they were shorter than ideal on one occasion. 15 years old now, ready for replacement. Can't remember where I got them.
 
long enough to be able to hold on to one painter but still reach the other end of the canoe to reach the other painter reefed at the deck plate. We'll carry an additional two 25ft lines if we are likely to be on a trip that would involve lining.


^^^^ This

Two painters, about 1 metre longer than the length of the boat. In situations where that rope is not longer enough I can add my 75 foot throw bag rope but that is a rare event relative to the amount of lining I do (which is quite a bit). Besides length, diameter is important, and of course floating line. I hate when I end up helping line someone their boat and find they have 50 feet on each end of cheap quality 6mm cordage.

I've had longer ropes in the past (or when assisting other boats for a 2 person lining) and I keep getting tangled up in them or get them hooked on bushes or rocks. For me the key when lining is to keep the ropes under light tension, when they are too long it can lead to issues.

The only time I use a single rope is when tracking upstream but even then the option for two can be helpful in spots.
 
25' seems to be the norm, because that's about how long my painters are too, it just happens to be long enough to use from shore in most cases, but not too bulky to fit under my deck bungees. I use braided floating line (water ski rope) for mine because it hangs up less on underwater obstructions, but that means they're only used as painters or for lining because that stuff doesn't hold knots well and abrades fairly easily.
 
My lining ropes and painters are separate. I haven't used my L ropes for their purpose in recent years but they have held up tarps. The last time I had them out to measure and tidy up the ends was a few years ago so my memory is fuzzy. They might be in the order of about 30-35' in length, the painters about 20-25' in length. All are light weight and float. My tripping is usually flat water only so L ropes stay at home. I like painters long enough so I can run one when needed to under the yoke as a center grab in some circumstances, either to tie off or one person holds while the other plays baggage handler. Works for us.
 
I also use painters a bit longer than the boat (they're about 20', so depends on the boat but a few feet). I've also tried two 30' lines, and the unequal 20/30. While longer lines are nice for the classic scenario where you're walking along an unobstructed shoreline, dryshod, directing the canoe like a kite, I find them bothersome at other times, and most often I'm in shallow water and not all that far from the boat.

Separate painters and lining ropes would be ideal, but for me not worth the bother of switching (I don't even have snow tires).
 
No ropes on a boat, only lines. I use lines to fit the country. Twenty feet is usually good for lining, tracking, and mooring at night. I use painters only for day trips. Twenty five feet might be the right length for big rivers with a lot of large rocks.

Lining is going downstream, tracking is going upstream.
 
I’ve never used “painters” specifically. I always just grabbed my stern dock lines off my Aquasport. I don’t remember the diameter, I bought them by feel not spec. I spliced loops into both ends, makes it easy to attach to a cleat or canoe grab handles. I have another braided line I use nowadays as a bow line. Tie a quick bowline around the bow handle, and tie the other end to the thwart in front of me.

My canoe anchor is a grapple style with 3’ chain, 50’ line, and a spliced-in stainless steel hook. Yeah, overkill but I was coming at this from the world of 18-24’ skiffs. Run the line under the bow handle and back to me, where I can loop the end around a close thwart/handle and clip the hook to the line. From this position I can let it all out or pull some in and tie it off.

A modification I always intend to make is to add another line with a spliced loop through a SS ring that the anchor line will pass through. This line will be long enough to reach from the bow to tie off on a stern thwart. With the anchor deployed as described, from any position in the boat I can pull on this “ring line” to pull the anchor line to me, where I can bring the anchor in and stow it. As it is I just paddle past it, reach in and pull it. But I keep thinking about this anchor puller line…
 
No ropes on a boat, only lines. I use lines to fit the country. Twenty feet is usually good for lining, tracking, and mooring at night. I use painters only for day trips. Twenty five feet might be the right length for big rivers with a lot of large rocks.

Lining is going downstream, tracking is going upstream.
My painters are used regularly, not just for tying to a dock- I use them to anchor my canoe to a tree in camp, tie them together for a quickie cover if I've got partially packed gear in it and a storm blows up while leaving or getting to a site, or when using my cart with gear still in the boat, and have been used on occasion as bow/ stern lines while on my car, especially if I somehow come up short on straps (lost or torn)
 
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