Brion,
I spoke with the guys at Sampson Rope, and they suggested just doing an eye to eye mating. I guess it would work, but I just don't like the idea of such a tight turning radius for both lines. My next thought was a ring with thimbles, but I haven't found the hardware I am envisioning, which is why I was thinking of the end to end splice. Unfortunately I haven't found anyone who has done this type of splice, and I really don't have the testing equipment to just fiddle around with it until its right.
So if you have any thoughts on how best to attack this I would be appreciative.
On the elastic inside spectra, I have done a few as safety tethers, but I would be concerned about the abrasion on dock lines as the two lines stretched passed each other. For the safety tethers I don't see them getting enough cycles for it to matter, but for dock lines I think it could be a problem. I would certainly be interested in what you come up with though.
As for the composite dockline idea, the more I think about it, the more I like it. As least during Katrina the primary failure mechanism was the dock lines chaffing right at the chock. Placing an inelastic, chaff resistant line here I think would have gone a long way towards saving some boats. And while I am sure there are some, I haven't been able to come up with any real downsides other than cost.
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