Thimble or rope-chain spice for mooring lines

[Stumble]

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.

[Brian Duff]

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,...

[Brion Toss]

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

[Bob Pingel]

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