braided dacron halyard -- twisting

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
First, make sure that your figure-8's are not in fact inducing twists: start with a twist-free rope, coil it, stretch it out, then sight along its length to see if it has twists in it.
If it doesn't, anchor one end of the rope to something solid, and pull on the other end (or some distance away from the first end), and sight along it; if the problem is in the rope, it will show up when you tension the rope.
The site you refer to was deeply mistaken to recommend clockwise coiling -- and counterclockwise would be just as bad -- but neither one is likely to produce dramatic problems, at least in the short term, so my money is on unbalanced rope. Let us know what you find out.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[tanner]

Originally Posted by Brion Toss

Hello,
First, make sure that your figure-8's are not in fact inducing twists: start with a twist-free rope, coil it, stretch it out, then sight along its length to see if it has twists in it.
If it doesn't, anchor one end of the rope to something solid, and pull on the other end (or some distance away from the first end), and sight along it; if the problem is in the rope, it will show up when you tension the rope.
Brion Toss

Thanks for the reply Brion. I have some 3/8's that I purchased from the same vendor for the main halyard....hasn't been used so I will do like you suggested. I'll report back.

All the best....

[tanner]

Originally Posted by Brion Toss

Hello,
First, make sure that your figure-8's are not in fact inducing twists: start with a twist-free rope, coil it, stretch it out, then sight along its length to see if it has twists in it.
If it doesn't, anchor one end of the rope to something solid, and pull on the other end (or some distance away from the first end), and sight along it; if the problem is in the rope, it will show up when you tension the rope.
The site you refer to was deeply mistaken to recommend clockwise coiling -- and counterclockwise would be just as bad -- but neither one is likely to produce dramatic problems, at least in the short term, so my money is on unbalanced rope. Let us know what you find out.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Hi Brion... I just checked some brandy new 3/8 I bought a few weeks ago. The fellow I purcase from has it tightly coiled up an shipped in a small mailer bag. I unpacked it laid it out on the dock and then faked it down several times doing it from both ends. Made one end off to a piling then grabbed a section about 75 ft away and leaned my weight against it several times....let it relax....then tight and made off. You could see it wanting to twist. Running your fingers over it you can feel small 'bumps' in the core. I took a sharpie and marked the tracer every fifth one. It is twisting ccw. Then I did the same with some 7/16 I bought...never out out the shipping package....same test, same results. On a side note, if the line was good and coiled up wrong, would the line always develope a twist? I think I may have cry like Joe said and buy good stuff from reputable sources. Thanks.