Dock lines for pontoon boat

[skistud1]

I'm looking for suggestions as to what type of dock lines to get. The mother-in-law has a pontoon boat and the upkeep / whatnot has fallen to me. I need new dock lines for the 'toon. The lines that I need would be 15' long and would be in the water the whole time in the summer.

The current set up is pretty neat, I have 4 x 12' posts that I can easily piledrive down 3-4' deep with a garden hose attached to the top and then just as easily wiggle out when I pull the dock & my bu's shorestation out. The toon is 4 pointed to the posts using the lines. The problem is when I cast off, the line sinks to the bottom and I have to fish it out. I was thinking of using either floating dock line or putting a small float on a non-floating/nylonline when I pull the boat back in.

Has anyone here used floating dock line? How durable is it? I believe that it is made out of poly-pro. The toon (average size? with a 40 h.p. outboard) would be moored shallow in a small inland lake.

Thanks for any input.

[Brad B]

You're not gonna use that first 15 off section of your ski rope are you really?

[John I.]

How about making the dock lines long enough so that you can attach them to each other using snap hooks, etc. (front to front and back to back or side to side) as you cast off. Then you don't have to fish them out when you return.

[jgouveia3]

that is what i do with the lines for my Bu and air dock. One attaches to the dock, then back to the other line. when i unhitch them, they sink to the bottom, i let the air out of the lift, and drive over the sunken line. when we return, we just grab the lines attached to the dock, and the lines fed to the far poles and anchors rise up. use snap hooks on all the connections, and their is no tieing or untieing.

[MoonDawg]

I'm looking for suggestions as to what type of dock lines to get. The mother-in-law has a pontoon boat and the upkeep / whatnot has fallen to me. ....

You are not thinking grand enough here. You need remote control buoys like the ones that Dr. Jim Michaels uses on his slalom course.

Just attach the buoys to the end of the dock lines using some shock cord. Then when it is time to dock just send a command to the buoys to swim out to your pontoon using your remote control keyfob. Simple and effective

BTW: My Homeowners association would have problems with the buoys so I am planning on using self propelled duck decoys.

[Spike]

I have used floating lines for years and the new Poly Pro is great stuff.

Feel free o call my friends over at Top Knot @ 1-800-867-5668 and ask for Pam or Terry and tell them Spike sent ya!

They can also custom make your lines for any type of configuration needed at a reasonable price.

Hope this helps!

[skistud1]

I should have kept my original post shorter and just asked about the tensile strength of the floating dock line. It don't think it is rated as high as a nylon braid, but then again, due to what I believe are low requirements I should be able to get away with it.