Inspired by our last trip to a small cove where I wanted to anchor the boat with a stern tie at high tide. I wanted to make sure the boat was beyond the low tide line the next morning. Not having any tools on a small boat this was mostly guesswork with the anchor rhode which is not yet marked (future projects).
I found that Steveston marine had 7lbs lead-line weights on sale at the end of the season. So I got to work on making a lead line. Being in Canada I decided to make the markings metric instead of the traditional fathoms.
Here is the markings I used from:
(https://www.maritimestudyguides.com/sg/bridgewatchrating/lessons/lead-lines/) (link no longer works)
1 meter, 11 meters, 21 meters One strip of leather
2 meters, 12 meters, 22 meters Two strips of leather
3 meters, 13 meters, 23 meters Blue bunting
4 meters, 14 meters, 24 meters Green and white bunting
5 meters, 15 meters, 25 meters White bunting
6 meters, 16 meters, 26 meters Green bunting
7 meters, 17 meters, 27 meters Red bunting
8 meters, 18 meters, 28 meters Blue and white bunting
9 meters, 19 meters, 29 meters Red and white bunting
10 Meters Leather with one hole, 20 Meters leather with one hole and two strips, 30 meters leather with one hole and three strips.
We shall see if this logic gets internalized over time. Most of the time I think I will be sounding in less than 10 metres. My line is 30m long and I may also use it before putting out my crab trap.
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