The Best Custom Boat Lines, Custom Colored Ropes, & Special Assemblies made to Your Specifications
Houseboats — Typically use a minimum of four 5/8” to 3/4” diameter dock lines (bow, stern, and or several breast lines) for each side of the boat and secured in locations to prevent the boat from moving side-to-side, forward and backward, during bad weather conditions using the classical dock line techniques (breast lines). The bitter end (free end) of the dock lines are made fast to cleats located on the dock and the slack adjusted for tension (slack removed) using a cleat hitch.
Boat Fenders and Mooring Buoys — Denver Rope carries a wide selection of boat fenders and mooring buoys in multiple shapes, sizes, and colors in order to protect the houseboat from banging against the dock when the houseboat is moored in a slip. We also custom assemble fender lines and or fender whips to match.
Houseboat Anchoring (Shore Lines) — Many captains will moor their houseboat to the shoreline using a set of 3/4” x 150 foot double braid nylon shore lines where the bow is run aground with the stern sticking out into the lake. Shore lines might well include any combination of the following types of mooring lines; long dock lines, anchor lines, windlass anchor rode, and or hand winch anchor lines. Considering this typical scenario, use the last two aft cleats on each side of the houseboat as connection points for the shore lines. Therefore, there are a total of four shore lines, two on each side of the houseboat. The shore line connected on the most aft cleat might form an acute angle not to exceed 60 degrees between the houseboat and shore, while the inside shore line might form an acute angle not to exceed 45 degrees. Larger houseboats might well increase the rope diameter and or the quantity of the shore lines, while smaller houseboats might only have one shore line per side. All houseboats should have emergency shore lines available in case a shore line gets cut, breaks, and or for stormy conditions (storm lines).
General Note on Anchoring: The anchors may get set / secured in any of the following; wrapped around large rocks, driven / buried in a sand hole, and even secured with steel pins / driven rebar. Slack can be removed on shore at the anchor or on the house boat at a cleat, by a windlass, or hand winch. Use the houseboat’s engines as required to help adjust tension on the lines. It is highly recommended to utilize a thimble and chain rode as means of chafe protection for each anchor line. Similarly, shore line eye splices can be covered with chafe guard. Note: One can also utilize a nylon sling in a choker configuration to warp around objects on the shore line. One of the sling’s loops will be connected to the anchor line via a shackle or hook.
Adjusting Line Tension on Houseboat: Using the bitter end of the shore line, adjust tension at the cleat and secure using a cleat hitch. Otherwise use the windlass or hand winch to take the slack out. In this scenario, the other end of the shore line is typically a stainless steel thimble splice with an anchor shackle connecting to either an anchor; an anchor rode chain, an auger, a driven rebar stake, or other. The shore line can also be wrapped around a large log or boulder. Adjusting Line Tension on Shore: Using the bitter end of the shore line, adjust tension at the anchor or anchor rode chain’s shackle and secure using a double turn with two half hitches knot or similar. Otherwise use the same knot and either wrap the shore line around a large log or boulder, secure to an auger, driven rebar stake, a nylon sling, or other. In this scenario, the other end of the shore line is typically a covered eye splice secured to an aft cleat on the houseboat.
Concerning Custom Made-To-Order Houseboat Lines — Please consider that many of our houseboat line requests are for double braid nylon construction; however, we can generally utilize any of the rope materials described in Chapter 2 “Rope Selection Guide” and Chapter 5 “Bulk Rope”. Secondly, please review Chapter 7 “Dock Lines” and Chapter 8 “Anchor Lines” as these boat lines are also applicable to houseboats. Note there are additional diameters and rope lengths available upon request. Do not see what you are looking for, just ask.
In Addition — Please consider that the houseboat lines and information depicted in this webpage can obviously be applied to general boating and pleasure marine applications (dock lines, anchor lines, mooring lines, tow lines, etc).
Houseboat Packages: Usually there are (2) Anchor Lines (Shore Lines) per side of the houseboat for a total of (4) with (2) spare to be used during storms. Some Captains may want to use smaller anchors and do (3) anchor lines per side, while others may do the opposite, and go up in size and have (1) anchor line per side. Anchor Line Length can vary from 100, 150, and or 200ft. The most common rope used is 3/4” diameter double braid nylon. However, we offer other types of rope construction and diameters.
A smaller size anchor might be a 25 lb Danforth Galvanized Steel Anchor and a larger size anchor will be a 43lb. Fortress Aluminum Alloy Anchors offer high performance, more expense, and are lightweight at 18lb & 29lb respectively.
Anchor Chafing Chain is recommended as the chain will lay and rub on the ground and rocks as opposed to the expensive anchor rope. Typical galvanized proof coil anchor chain size = 3/8” x 4ft where 1/2” diameter can be used on the larger anchors for more strength, but is heavier.
Stainless Steel and or Galvanized Hardware can be used for thimbles and shackles. When using galvanized thimbles it is best to upgrade to heavy duty wire rope thimbles. Galvanized hardware is stronger than stainless steel, but not as pretty.
Some Captains prefer to use yellow nylon slings to wrap around longs and rocks as opposed to using Anchors. We offer custom made to order eye and eye slings sized to match the WLL of the anchor line components.
The number of dock lines varies between 8-12 and is most often 3/4” diameter double braid nylon.
The number of Boat Fenders / Mooring Buoys varies between 8-12 and are often a Polyform G-6 or similar. We are a Polyform distributor so we can offer other styles as well. We also offer custom made to order fender lines sized for your application.
We offer double braid nylon tow lines sized at 1/2” x 50-75 ft where larger boats may be up-sized to 5/8” diameter. The houseboat end might well be bitter or spliced with a soft eye. The bow connection end is usually a stainless steel thimble spliced to a swivel eye hook.
Rope Strength Guide
For a Table of Rope Diameters and Tensile Strengths for different Rope Types, please continue to our ROPE STRENGTH GUIDE webpage. [Continue to ROPE STRENGTH GUIDE webpage]
Houseboat Mooring Line Diagram to be used for Dock Lines, Anchor Lines, and Shore Lines
houseboat lines houseboat mooring lines diagram custom order
Anchor Line Assembly Diagram
Houseboat In A Slip Diagram
Houseboat Shore Line Diagram
• Typical Knots include the Cleat Hitch or 2-Turn Half Hitches
• If you have a Long Tail (extra rope at the bitter end) then perform the Knot using the rope on a Bight
• Performing the Half Hitch Knot on a Bight is usually easier to untie then otherwise
• In Stormy Conditions add a minimum of one line per side
Custom Made-to-Order Tow Lines
Towing on a Lake? We custom assemble single leg tow lines for recreational and commercial towing applications like this one on Lake Powell, Utah / AZ.
Single Leg Tow Line Diagram
Pleasure Marine Tow Diagram
Tow Line Diagram Notes
- Overall Tow Line Lengths are recommendations only subject to alternations, review, and approval by the Captain
- Overall Tow Line Lengths are effected by towing speed, weather conditions, and the resultant location of the towing boat's "wake sweet spot" of least turbulence
- Pull-In or Pay-Out Tow Line Rope and or Adjust Towing Speed as needed to optimize the towed boats location within the wake sweet spot
- The amount of force on the tow line is proportional to the towing speed squared (double the towing speed quadruples the force on the tow line)
- The Tow Lines for the Runabout and Houseboat are Single Leg Tow Lines
Thimble Eye Splice / Hard Eye — Use a thimble splice to protect the rope against chafing when using mechanical hardware connections like hooks and shackles. We specify Heavy Duty Wire Rope Thimbles when using 12-Strand Dyneema Rope. We offer Light Duty and Heavy Duty Stainless Steel & Galva-nized Thimbles.
Eye Splice / Soft Eye — Use a soft eye when connecting to a cleat. Cover the Eye in Chafe Guard (covered eye) to protect the rope against chafing. Soft Eye connections are lighter in weight than hard-ware connections. We typically specify covered eyes for tow bridle applications. Some customers will omit the eye splice and use a bitter end. We prefer to utilize lightweight soft covered eye splices to join the legs together forming a Y-Point Connection.
Single Leg Tow Line — As the name implies, a single piece of line is assembled with the required splices and or hardware on each end of the line. Specify how the tow line is connected to the stern of the towing vessel (eye splice or bitter end) and how the tow line is connected to the towed boat’s bow eye via a hard eye with hook or shackle. Use an eye splice if connecting to a cleat. The tow line can be fitted with a rope float(s).
Custom Made-to-Order Tow Lines & Tow Line Assemblies - Please consider that many of our tow line requests are for double braid nylon construction; however, we can generally utilize any of the rope materials described in Chapter 2 “Rope Selection Guide” and Chapter 5 “Bulk Rope”. Note there are additional diameters and rope lengths available upon request. All our tow lines are custom made-to-order, so we do not have part numbers for custom tow line assemblies, but description of components for each portion of the tow line assembly. Do not see what you are looking for, just ask. Yes, there are exceptions to every general rule stated above.
PDF Table Downloads — Use these table downloads to help specify your Recovery Rope / Tow Line. A Recovery Rope or Tow Line is similar to a dock line or an anchor line, but used for towing purposes.
Click Here to Download Denver Rope - Dock Line & Mooring Lines DBN Part Number Table
Click Here to Download Denver Rope - Dock Line & Mooring Lines 3-Strand Nylon Part Number Table
Click Here to Download Denver Rope - Anchor Lines & Mooring Lines 3-Strand Nylon Part Number Table
Click Here to Download Denver Rope - Anchor Lines & Mooring Lines DBN Part Number Table
Click Here to Download Our Boat Line Hardware & Selection Guide PDF
Solid Rope Colors
Please continue to our ROPE COLORS webpage to consider the available rope colors and read the applicable restrictions. If not otherwise specified, Solid Black or White is typically the default rope color. [Continue to ROPE COLORS webpage]
Custom Color Combinations
We offer 5 customizable rope patterns on the double braid rope machines. Please continue to our DENVER ROPE MIXER webpage to design your double braid custom color combination and read the applicable restrictions. [Continue to DENVER ROPE MIXER webpage]
Dock Lines and Dock Line Style Shore Lines - Denver Rope custom assembles Dock Lines & Mooring Lines made from rope on our own braiding machines and then using our own professional rope splicers. We offer the following types of Dock Lines: Double Braid Nylon Dock Lines, 3-Strand Nylon Dock Lines, and 12-Strand Nylon Dock Lines, where Double Braid Nylon Dock Lines are by far the most popular rope construction we sell. Multiple Solid Colors and Patterns are available. Our Dock Lines are Custom Made -to-Order. [Continue to DOCK LINE webpage]
Anchor Lines and Anchor Line Style Shore Lines - Denver Rope custom assembles Anchor Lines & Mooring Lines made from rope on our own braiding machines and then using our own professional rope splicers. We offer the following types of Anchor Lines: Double Braid Nylon Anchor Lines, 3-Strand Nylon Anchor Lines, 3-Strand Heat-Set Nylon Anchor Lines, 8-Strand Nylon Anchor Lines, and 12-Strand Nylon Anchor Lines, where Double Braid Nylon Anchor Lines are by far the most popular rope construction we sell. Multiple Solid Colors and Patterns are available. Our Anchor Lines are Custom Made-to-Order. [Continue to ANCHOR LINE webpage]
Whipping Twine - Double Braid Lines are whipped with waxed seine twine at the eye splice throat and bitter end. The splicer will choose the closet whipping twine color match for your lines unless otherwise specified. Consider to select a different whipping twine color for each set of lines. Lines other than double braid construction may be whipped for an additional charge. [Continue to WHIPPING TWINE webpage]
Nylon Web Slings - We also offer Yellow Flat Nylon Sling Straps to be used along the shoreline for wrapping around trees and rocks instead of using traditional anchors and heavy chain. The nylon sling can take the friction whereas the rope fibers might otherwise fray. We have our Own In-House Industrial Grade Sewing Machines needed to custom assemble your nylon sling. Our Yellow Flat Nylon Slings are Custom, Sewn-to-Order, and are offered as Type IV reversed tapered eye and eye slings. Chafe gear on the eyes is an option.
Boat Fenders and Mooring Buoys — Denver Rope carries a wide selection of boat fenders and mooring buoys in multiple shapes, sizes, and colors in order to protect your boat from banging against the dock when the boat is moored in a slip. We also carrying mooring buoys for just that purpose (mooring applications). Need your boat line or wire rope to float, consider a in-line rope float. We can also set in place rope floats for tow lines and mooring pendant applications. [Continue to MOORING BUOYS, BOAT FENDERS, BOAT FENDER LINES, & ROPE FLOATS webpage]
Fender Lines / Fender Whips — Denver Rope custom assembles fender lines / fender whips for your boat fenders and buoys, which are made-to-order per the customer’s specifications. Our fender lines / whips come standard with whipped and sewn bitters ends (each end), but we can splice soft or hard eyes and or provide hardware as required by the customer. The fender lines can be directly spliced to the eyelet of the fender or mooring buoy. [Continue to MOORING BUOYS, BOAT FENDERS, BOAT FENDER LINES, & ROPE FLOATS webpage]
[Continue to GENERAL MARINE HARDWARE webpage]
[Continue to ANCHORS webpage]
[Continue to ANCHOR CHAIN webpage]
[Continue to GALVANIZED HARDWARE—MAIN PAGE webpage. Scroll to the bottom of this webpage for additional hardware specific links]
[Continue to STAINLESS STEEL HARDWARE—MAIN PAGE webpage. Scroll to the bottom of this webpage for additional hardware specific links]
[Continue to SECURITY HARDWARE—MAIN PAGE webpage]
Above an example of a custom colored 3/4” X 15ft bow dock line with a 12” covered eye splice. A large houseboat like this one usually requires a minimum of four dock lines per side along with the required boat fenders / mooring buoys and boat fender lines. If your lines are subject to chafing, then add chafe guard to protect the rope. This custom rope pattern is black/gold snakeskin.
Looking to replace your houseboat lines, then we can provide custom made-to-order houseboat mooring line package to include dock lines, traveling lines, anchor lines, shore lines, tender tow lines, and winch lines. Some of our best customers are serviced by Unlimited Houseboat Service of Antelope Point Mari-naLake Powell, Page, AZ and Adonia Yachts.
An example of a 7/8” X 10ft breast line with a covered eye splice. Most breast lines are relatively short due to the close proximity of the cleats. We also custom assemble windlass anchor lines / anchor rodes using a variety of rope materials with or without anchor chain. We also supply boat fenders / mooring buoys and boat fender lines / whips. Consider that chafe guard can also placed along the line where chafe protection is required. As with all of our lines, our assemblies and designs are fully customizable and made-to- order per the customer’s speci cations. The custom rope pattern is black/white half and half (50/50).
An example of a custom colored 3/4” X 10ft breast dock line with a 12” covered eye splice. If your boat is moored in a slip, then cover those eye splices. This custom rope pattern is yellow/black/royal blue 50 / 25 / 25.
An example of a custom colored 3/4” X 15ft bow dock line with a 12” covered eye splice. If your lines are subject to cha ng, then add chafe guard to protect the rope. This custom rope pattern is 4-tracer black background w yellow/purple/ purple/yellow tracers.
Here are two custom colored examples of 3/4” x 150 ft anchor lines. All our double braid nylon splices are hand sewn and then whipped for extra holding power. The bitter ends are melted clean and also whipped. Stainless Steel Thimble Splices are a standard offering for our anchor lines. For 3/4” lines, use 1/2” stainless steel bow shackles to connect the anchor line to anchor chain or directly to the anchor itself. The rope pattern on the left is white/gold/navy 50 /25 / 25 and the rope pattern on the right is black/purple snakeskin.
An example of a 3/4” x 150 ft custom colored double braid nylon anchor line or houseboat shore line. The 1/2” stainless steel bow shackle connects to a 3/8” stainless steel swivel eye hook, which connects to their anchor chain via another 1/2” stain steel bow shackle not depicted. Note that “Mooring Line” is a general term to include anchor lines, dock lines, shore lines, etc. Stainless Steel Hardware is standard on all our Mooring Lines.
These two houseboats are outfitted with hand crank winches for taking the slack out of their anchor lines / shore lines. There are two aft winch stanchions, one on each side (port and starboard) of the houseboat for a total of four 3/4” custom colored double braid nylon anchor lines. The bitter end is on the boat through the winch, while a stainless steel thimble splice is on the shore for mechanical connection to the anchor / anchor rode chain using a stainless steel bow shackle.
Here is a close-up of the mechanical connection to the anchor, where a stainless steel thimble splice is used to provide for the mechanical connection to the anchor / anchor rode chain using stainless steel bow shackle(s). To protect the anchor line / shore line (rope) against chafing along the ground, add a section of anchor chain between the anchor and thimble splice. Use stainless steel bow shackles to make the connections to the anchor chain. Long dock lines can also be used for the same purpose where the dock line eye splice is on the houseboat’s aft cleat and the bitter end is brought to the shore for taking the slack out using a double turn half hitches knot to a stainless steel bow shackle.
Two examples on how a houseboat might utilize mooring buoys and or boat fenders to protect the houseboat from banging against the dock while moored in a slip.
Qty(2) - 3/4” x 200ft - Gold / Black Snakeskin Pattern Custom Colored Double Braid Shore Lines. We can custom splice each end of the mooring line / anchor line / dock line per the customer’s request.
3/4” Custom Colored Double Braid Dock Lines for an Andonia Houseboat at Antelope Point Marina, Lake Powel, AZ. Typical houseboat cleats are short and stubby. Here the dock lines are specified with a 12” covered eye splice.
Click Here to Download Catalog PDF, view Chapter 10 Houseboat Lines
For customer service and inquiries please call John 303-809-7274 or email john@denverrope.comwww.denverrope.com
