tieing a line to a ring buoy with 4 slotted holes in ring and no line now

[sdowney717]

I picked up this as a freebie.

It has 4 slotted holes. I imagine you would want a handle loop of line in an outer circle?


So wondering what would look good
and inner line in a ring and an outer line in a ring with the outer line looping into the inner line by way of the slots?
then attach a line to the outer ring line?

Or pass the toss line threw a slot to form the inner ring and tie an outer line in a circle looping into the inner toss line?

[hoytedow]

They generally look like this: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...ed=0CHsQ9QEwFA

[sdowney717]

thanks but how is the line secured in the inner part of the ring?
some kind of wedge plug?

[Saildude]

All the pictues I saw had pins or something in the slots.

You could make a grommet or spliced loop that fits inside the ring then a larger spliced loop for the outside. Then loop the larger loop into the slots and fasten it to the inner loop, you could either just loop it around the inner loop in which case the splice would need to be put in the outer loop last. Or you could attach the outer loop to the inner loop with a double constrictor knot at each slot. The double constrictor method would have the advantage in that everything would remain the same distances (all your outer loop would not end up on on side of the ring)

[sdowney717]

how about like you said, two ring loops of line. inner and outer.
the outer loop is passed into the slots and sewed to the inner loop to secure and prevent it from slipping.
problem is stitching thread might break.

OR

how about a single line of rope passed threw the slot, outside to inside of buoy. Thread along the inner circle, and out the next slot and just go around the entire buoy zig zagging alternate slots.
likely need 2 lengths of line to make sure the entire circumference has a grab line all around buoy.

should this line be the floating type or just braided nylon?

[Saildude]

You could use the in and out weave but you will need two loops as there are an even number of slots. Tying the loops together with a double constrictor would help to keep the loops balanced.

If you use a number 16 waxed whipping twine or equivalent it will not break. Thread you get anywhere except a sail maker or marine supplier would probably be like you said a bit small.

[sdowney717]

I kind like the idea of using a whipping thread. It would create a smoother look and feel than a knot in the rope.
I suppose pass the whipping threw the lines and go around and around and pass it back threw the lines and tie it off.

but you know that doing this might allow the grab line to slip threw the slot under pressure which wont be good.
I will have experiment. perhaps knots are better, but they also might pull into the slot.

SO, perhaps a plastic T wedge with a hole which could not pull thew the slot. Tie the line to hole and T cant pass into slot.
Imagine 'T' with a hole in bottom leg of T. Bottom leg of T is pushed into slot. But no such animal exists that I know.
Who knows. Maybe the friction of zig zagging around will keep it from pulling the stitch or knot into the slot under pressure.

[sdowney717]

Ok, I think I got an idea.
Just small circular loops of line going in and out of only 2 slots.
All you need is 4 loops. Each loop is independent of the others, so pulling any one of them wont affect its neighbor.

thinking again, do you think having an inner loop of line is a safety hazard? Would a panicky person somehow get tangled up in that?
Dont know but none of the images on a google search show an inner loop. Just an outer loop.

[hoytedow]

The loops are there for 2 reasons; to make it easier to throw to MO and so more than 1 person can hold on in the water. Inner rope is probably a bad idea or they would have already been there.

[Saildude]

Four loops should work fine also I would think. The person in the water is probably going to try and grab the whole ring if they can or what ever is closest that they can get their hand on, so I don't think whatever is in the center of the ring would make much difference.

Keep in mind that most solutions that don't have a line going around the outside of the ring that just fits the outside and it attached to the loops will tend to have line that migrates to the center of the ring.

If you want to get fancy a bit, get some small line and tie some Turks Heads around the ring that capture the inside loops of the line. This would eliminate the above migration to the center of the ring. Make the Turks Head out of a bright contrasting color and I think it would look nice. bit more work but I think it would look nice.

[sdowney717]

you sure know your knots.
Sometimes a reflective tape is used on buoys. If you could buy that, you could wrap that around the buoy and also hold the inner part of the loops.

like this perhaps, and waterproof .
Think you can buy locally? If its dark, reflective tape would be helpful to see.
http://www.austinkayak.com/products/...tive-Tape.html

If you did this, what color is best?

[Saildude]

Most marine supply stores sell a Solas grade reflective tape in different styles and sizes. Bit spendy if I remember correctly.

Many outdoor fabric shops sell a reflective fabric strip that can be sewn or probably glued together (or sew some Velcro on it).

I have also seen some small line (around 1/8 or 3/16 inch dia.) that had reflective strips woven in it. Can't remember where but you might try REI they have several stores across the country and a nice web catalog of all stuff outdoors.

[gonzo]

Usually there is a strap or webbing going through the slots. They have been like that for over a century.

[Saildude]

Does the webbing just go through the slot and around half the ring or does the webbing go through the slot (doubled) and one end of the webbing go around each side of the ring when it goes back to the line on the outside of the ring?

thanks

[sdowney717]

I have another much larger one which just used webbing that went around the entire buoy, no slots.
The rope for that was sown into the webbing. The rope and webbing eventually frazzled away and rotted and no good way to attach a new rope. I think that is an awful design, when it fails and it will, the manufacturer wants you go buy another one just like it.

At least this one has slots which I could put in a rope or something.

I did not give up on the damaged buoy. I rebuilt it using some flat nylon webbing and attached 3/4 inch plastic CPVC pipe couplers to the webbing and stitched them together. I then coated the whole buoy in permaflex which is a polyurethane hard rubber like paint. That soaked in and glued it all together making it waterproof. I then was able to tie a line around the buoy passing it thru the CPVC couplings tieing off each line segment.
Sometimes I just like to fix stuff. It did save me some money.

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