Install a Dummy Line

After you’ve set your anchors on both sides of your arrays, install a dummy line to help you link the system together, and ensure that your anchors are the correct distance apart. Either size your dummy line to be the exact same dimension as your growline or mark the dummy line with black tape at the exact dimension you intend your growline to be so that you know where to tie off to the other side of your array.

In this video, Bren describes what dummy lines are and why they’re so useful.

A dummy line is used to help place your anchors at the correct distance apart and prepare your arrays weeks before outplanting.

In the video below, we show how a dummy line is strung between two sides of the array. Note that in this video we’re using a dummy line that’s been pre-spliced with a loop on either end to the exact distance of our growline. This makes it easy to demarcate the appropriate distance between the anchors. You could also use a longer line and connect to your anchoring systems with bowline knots, but be sure to pre-measure your dummy line on land to the length of your growline and mark it with black tape so you know where to tie your knots to best match the span of your eventual growline.

A dummy line is installed to connect the two anchoring systems of an array.