Thimble or rope-chain spice for mooring lines
 

I recently moved my boat into a new slip and am in the process of making our mooring lines permanent. Right now I am planning on using chain to come off of the dock and pilings then haveing the chain marry with 3/4" Mega-Braid line. The real question though is would it be better to use a chain-to-rope splice here or splice in a thimble to the line and use a shackle to connect it to the chain. Both seem to have advantages to me so input would be great.

thimble. make sure the thimble cannot fall out of your eye, that its smooth and strong, and your link will be the strongest it can be.

the rope to chain is a comprimise accepted when the link must fit through anchor rollers, hawse pipes and the like,...

Options
 

Hi there,
If you use a thimble, consider a "Newco" bronze thimble, with keeper straps, which prevent the thimble's rotating in the eye. You might also consider splicing directly to the shackle, as Mega-Braid is comfortable on tight radiuses.
The rope-chain splice for basic Mega-Braid is not terribly strong, but if you have Mega-Braid II I believe there is a good splice available.
In any event I like a shackle connection here, if only because it will be handy to be able to detach the lines from the chain.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

mooring chain
 

I do a lot of dock lines like this.

I use a thimble, shackle the thimble to the chain, and then shackle the chain to the dock.

I typically use 5/8" or 3/4" cordage and 1/2" galv shackles.

I like to use 3/8" acco mooring chain. The links are large enough to allow you to shackle in anywhere along the length -- in normal chain you can only access the ends.

Bob