Instead of buying a boat for my pond I am going to build a 10’x10’ maybe 12’x12’ floating dock that I can disconnect and float to where I want it.
Going to need to rope to tie around the plastic barrels to keep them attached to the wood portion of the dock.
I’ll also have a line of the rope attached to the shore so one can easily bring the dock back. The rope connected to the dock will have a large portion of it submerged all the time with other portions being wet at times but drying out.
The tether of course will be wet and dry and pretty much always be in full sun.
What sort of rope will be the best for this?
I realize it won’t last forever but would like to get a few years out of it if possible.

Always under water, you want chain. Three strand nylon for everything else. I might consider nylon webbing for attaching the barrels.

Use a 5 gallon paint bucket, suspend one end of the chain in the middle, pour a bag of concrete in, and you have a mooring anchor.

Marine grade braided is the nicest. 3 strand marine grade nylon anchor line will also work for you.

I'd be leery of tying the flotation to the dock. Better to use galvanized strapping, or fully encase the flotation in pressure treat lumber fastened with stainless screws.

Jimmy, Boattrash and some of our other marine professionals may be able to suggest vendors where you won't get raped on the price per foot.

Having seen the medium-term effects on rope that's always subject to submersion I'm going to agree that's not your best bet. Sun, in this case, isn't your friend either.

I'd rig up some sort of cable system, but even then you'll have to use stainless ($$) or replace regularly.

Also, just to clarify before the wordsmiths do, I think your rope becomes line once you deploy it for this purpose!

Braid is nice, three strand is cheaper, easier to splice and will work just as well in this application. I've bought New England Ropes brand by the spool from Defender Industries. Samson is a good brand as well. Really don't think superior quality rope is called for in this application and Black will be served fine with whatever he can find locally.

This can be as simple or complicated as he wants to make it. He could also find a couple pontoons off a beat to snot pontoon boat and weld up a two story platform with a slide. Solar panel to keep the stereo going and let's not forget the wheels while were are at it.

Constant or oft-repeated wetting + sun exposure = short lifespan for rope.

Agree with ArtieS: Use something other than rope, perhaps, as he suggests, galvanized strapping, to secure the barrels to the deck.

For your line to the shore: Believe-it-or-not: Natural manila rope may be better than any of the modern synthetics. The modern synthetics are more resistant to rot, but are nearly all highly-susceptible to UV damage.

Of course, you could always go with a high-end, high-tech rope used on sailboats. They have high-strength, low-stretch cores and UV-resistant sheathes, but now you're talking $$$s. (I don't think any rope I bought for our sailboat cost less than $2/ft., and that was seven years ago.)

First, keep in mind that some rope floats and other sink. Its a simple answer but true. I don't like thin rope. Nylon is nice but sinks and is really expensive. The stuff we call "poly" rope floats. But its cheap. Some place out in the garage I have the worldly remains of a 600 foot roll of barge line. Its over an inch and a half and I got it super cheap, like $50 for the entire roll. Try flea markets, but you'll expend a bunch of time with little luck.

I have a 2" nylon rope that is maybe 40' long, just from memory. I paid as much for it as I paid for the roll of poly. There used to be a booth up at the Florence flea market, and its where I got both. A poster here, David Lee, works or worked that place and might be of help.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
Marine grade braided is the nicest. 3 strand marine grade nylon anchor line will also work for you.

I'd be leery of tying the flotation to the dock. Better to use galvanized strapping, or fully encase the flotation in pressure treat lumber fastened with stainless screws.

Jimmy, Boattrash and some of our other marine professionals may be able to suggest vendors where you won't get raped on the price per foot.

In theory I don’t need to attach the barrels to the dock itself.
I’ll have runners underneath holding the barrels in place. It is more of a safety backup. Not sure how much the opposite side will lift up if an adult decides to jump off.

Maybe I’ll try some plastic strapping like this
Oatey 33927 Securing Straps, 3/4" x 100', 3/4-Inch by 100-Foot https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002..._api_i_1nAoFbP3EFZ3V

Alright - I may have blown too quickly past the barrel/dock situation. If these barrels are the primary support for the floating pier (a dock is where you park, a pier is a structure!), I strongly encourage you to reconsider this. You see others recommending real strapping, and you need to attach this like your life depends on it.

Frame this with our experience with gravity. In my experience many injuries are caused by it, and gravity doesn't give warnings before it happens. Gravity happens fast. Water does not change this.

Do not dick around with how you attach the flotation to a floating pier. It needs to be secure, very secure. Unless you are on an indoor pool it will be subject to abuse you never envision while floating. The stresses of that abuse or just years/erosion in attachments manifesting itself while you or your family are standing on what you thought was a stable platform may end badly.

I'm not saying I have a friend who watched his dad drown in similar circumstance, but that's only because he was inside at the time.

So gravity acts differently on a pond than a pool?

You guys never live on or vacation on an inland lake before? I could be wrong, but I'm assuming Black wants to make a swim platform for his pond. It's 4 plastic drums, a platform, a ladder, and an anchor. This does not require a NASA engineer to complete. It's a pond. I think it's safe to assume there won't be tides or significant wave action. I'm also going to assume he'll bring it out of the water in winter and we won't have to worry about wind driven ice flows as well.

quote:

This does not require a NASA engineer to complete. It's a pond.

My point was, pond, lake or ocean, if it's over 6 feet deep he needs to take care to ensure his floating pier, well, floats reliably. Make light all you want, but even your "pond" will get serious wave action in a storm.

Gravity works like an angry bitch no matter land, ocean or pond. She doesn't give a break for water as opposed to land. Look it up.

I've spent 53 years on an inland lake and seen shit torn to pieces. Of course it's not a "pond".

Pond.

Just to say it one more time as though that makes some sort of difference.

I don’t like using it because I hate the way it ties, but polypropylene rope doesn’t seem to mind being wet. Maybe 1” or thicker. I’m going to guess your framing will capture the barrels and be the primary retention.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:

quote:

This does not require a NASA engineer to complete. It's a pond.

My point was, pond, lake or ocean, if it's over 6 feet deep he needs to take care to ensure his floating pier, well, floats reliably. Make light all you want, but even your "pond" will get serious wave action in a storm.

Gravity works like an angry bitch no matter land, ocean or pond. She doesn't give a break for water as opposed to land. Look it up.

I've spent 53 years on an inland lake and seen shit torn to pieces. Of course it's not a "pond".

Pond.

Just to say it one more time as though that makes some sort of difference.

Yes, all the videos and designs I have seen for the 10x10 is that 4 barrels provide plenty of float. I plan to use 6.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
I don’t like using it because I hate the way it ties, but polypropylene rope doesn’t seem to mind being wet. Maybe 1” or thicker. I’m going to guess your framing will capture the barrels and be the primary retention.

That is correct.
Something like this but I plan use hurricane ties to help it be stronger instead of just putting deck screws into the butted boards.




Link to original video: https://youtu.be/PfflbfVfDdY

Black, just tie it in with three strand poly maybe the size of your booger finger...(Think ski rope)...get some of those screw in plastic things they use to tie down electrical conduit(we used stainless screws). Put those on the bottom of the rim joist that is surrounding the barrels. Weave the poly line across the barrels, flip the whole contraption over and chuck it into the pond.

I’ve done this twice for a buddy who lived in Emerald Isle NC (he lives on the sound side-but the water is brackish) worked fine till the hurricane got his floating dock underway.

The polys only nemesis is UV, with it on the bottom the UV won’t get to it...lashing it across the bottom will keep the wood decking on top of the barrels. As afar a a line to tie it to the pier or a giant screw anchor you might use for staking out a dog....I’d use the same three strand poly.....when the UV starts affecting it..replace it.

OK here's what I know from more than 50 years of working on boats, racing and building boats, maintaining boats, building docks and wharf's, and just in general working on the waterfront.

Nylon marine three-strand is the rope you want for the mooring part of the project and has been for nearly a century. Everything else is not what you want. There are other way stronger and more expensive choices for special purposes, but that doesn't apply to you. As for a short lifespan, using diameters that make sense even under constant use you should expect more than a decade in water, above water, in the sun, whatever. use that and ignore anything else. poly while it floats and might be useful for that reason if that matters is the worst of the synthetic ropes in sunlight and I wouldn't use it as its annoying to handle as it ages. lifespan will be a couple of years max.

As for the barrel attachment, since its not subject to UV (poly issue) and doesn't need any strength (loss of strength when wet is a nylon issue) at a practical level it makes no real difference and you can pick either. Me personally I would use nylon as its much more pleasant to touch and handle, but poly is likely to be cheaper.
The one thing you don't want to use is a non synthetic rope.

I don’t know if this is a good deal but this place is veteran owned and I’ve had zero problems with several orders over several years.
https://sgtknots.com/products/...riant=12409756057686

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Make light all you want, but even your "pond" will get serious wave action in a storm.

Cool. I look forward to pics of Black's kids boogie boarding on his pond. BTW, I don't have ponds any more.

I'd be more worried about having all the lines between land or the fixed portion of the dock and the swim platform if his kids will be swimming in their pond. I've also read many of Black's posts and know how seriously he takes his kids' safety. I figure he's got a plan to keep his kids from getting tangled in the lines.