Wake Rope Repair?

So I had brought all my gear on a friends (who's a weekend warrior/partier/not frequent wakeboarder) Sea Ray a few seasons ago just incase someone wanted to take a set. I wound up leaving my rope on there. He swore he didn't have it, and it was not on any of the boats I regularly ride so I'd just given up and thought I'd lost it somewhere (which would have been possible cause I ride a lot of different boats).

Two years go by and I'm back on this guy's boat at Lake of the Ozarks and what do I find in the ski locker? He had been using it, which is no problem.... except he put a knot in it and continued to use it rather than untangle it.

It's a MasterLine mainline with the rubberish core and a spectra jacket. The knot is so tight the core is crushed and is squeezing out through the jacket. I don't want to use the line as is, I'm afraid it will snap and get somebody in the boat. Is there a way to cut the knot out and tie the two ends together? What knot would I use? Or should I just scrap it?

Honestly youll probably be fine if its just a simple overhand knot. My old rope has one too and its been doing fine for years.

There was actually a discussion about people intentionally putting a knot in their rope so that if an arm got caught in the handle, the rope would hopefully break before your arm broke on the fall. Thats a whole different discussion though...

if it's spectra it won't snap back at someone in the boat. I've had lines that were knotted break and they just kind drop. there's obviously a little recoil, but nowhere near enough to even remotely hurt someone. However, if it's not a wakeboarding mainline, then yeah, it could snap.

and I've tried with repairing a broken line by tying it together, I have yet to figure out an appropriate knot, as they consistently either come out or break again in the new tied off spot.

If you're worried about the knot you can easily modify it. In fact, I have modified all of my ropes to custom lengths so they hit the sweet spot behind my boat where I like to ride. The process is simple..... Below is the process I used for a coated rope. If your rope is uncoated the process is the same except for stripping the plastic coating off.

First cut out the knot that's bugging you. Next, strip off about 18" of the plastic coating off each end of your newly cut rope. Next take one end of the exposed rope and slide some "heat shrink" on. Slide it down to the coated section so it's out of the way for now. Next, take the exposed rope and make a loop about 9 inches long. While holding the bottom end of the loop with one hand and the top of the loop with the other, make a simple knot keeping the knot towards the bottom of the loop. This should leave you with about a 6 inch loop. Next take the "heat shrink" that you had previously slid down the rope and slide it over the loose ends of the loop. Shrink it down with a hair dryer and you are good to go.

You now have a custom sized coated rope that looks like it came that way from the factory. The simple knot you made is the same simple knot that the factory makes. It will hold just as good as new. I have been using an Accurate A-line for the last 5 years or so that I have done this to and it's holding up just fine. I have another coated rope that I ran over with the prop and cut it in several places. Rather than scrapping it I used the above method to piece it back together. It's also held up just fine over the last few years.

Thanks Richard, sounds like that will work!

Nick, it is a spectra wake line. I've never seen one break. I know most are rated at around 3000lbs so I didn't know how they would react if snapped.

just saying... i used to work at masterline and that spectra is one of the top strongest lines out there. i personally used it to pull my jet ski up on shore with a truck to drain the water out of it. super strong stuff. that being said also very easy to work with and shouldnt be too hard to cut out the knot , make 2 loops and relink. that black sheathing on the line is heat shrink might not be a bad idea to use some more of that to secure the knot

How to make a loop without a knot that looks finished and is stronger than the line itself? Go back to the age of wooden ships and iron men.

Seizing and whipping is fast, easy and looks rather cool when one can pick from colored whipping twine. A sailmaker or canvass shop will have all you need. Worst Marine sells whipping twine as well. They also sell bulk Spectra so I make my own main lines to the exact length I want but its not much savings over store bought.

How to seize and whip:

http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/seizing.pdf

Before you cut, try working the knot out with a regular fork. It's more effective than you might think.

They make a tool for sailing that I bought to get knots out. It works wonders. In fact it is one of these knives.

http://www.myerchin.com/Home.html

I have gotten out some seriously tight knots with this thing.