Hi John: Your "noises from another boat" got my attention. I have been trying to figure out a way to control 350 feet of 1/2" poly line. It's fine when we carry it, all coiled up nice with Velcro wraps keeping it under control. But as soon as we unwrap the ties, watch out. It's always a tangled mess. At first glance, your idea of a hose reel sounds pretty crude. It would seem to be an ugly piece of hardware to cobble up on the sun deck. But I'll look harder at some of these gizmos. Thanks for the tip. Joe Engel -----Original Message----- From: John & Judy Tones [mailto:jtones@home.com] Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 7:45 PM To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com; E16 Subject: TWL: Re: Stern Line Ties In reference to the recent thread on stern tying while at anchor I have a bit of a comment. Whatever you do - keep the 3 to 400 ft of line rolled on a spool or drum - don't try to keep it coiled all neat like the other lines on board - poly won't cooperate! Then while you are in the dingy, heading for shore with the O/B going, your poor 1st Mate has just a little more than her hands full trying to keep you supplied with line from the mess she just inherited. <SNIP>

Try a line bag. I had several made up from heavy Cordura fabric, with open mesh bottoms, draw string closure. Wash and drain/dry works great. To load, start by leaving a few feet of the line with loop outside the top, then stuff the line in to the bag as best you can. Works best with line that do not have great torsional stiffness, but I've packed braid and poly with great results too. I have 400' of 5/8 nylon double braid packed for bouy mooring. Also have 300' of 1/2" three strand packed and 400' of 3/8" poly. All feed out great. Takes a little work to repack. Easy to stow in lazarette when not in use. Does not need to spin out like reel. West Marine sells a bag system for anchor lines. I had mine made at a sail loft for the same price for larger, heavier and stronger bags. -Louis SEASTAR - Redwood City, CA., USA At 10:04 -0700 8/14/00, Joe Engel wrote: >Hi John: > >...I have been trying to figure out a way to control 350 feet of >1/2" poly line.