How many knots?

[Twister_Ken]

I think I've bluffed my way through 30 something years of sailing with the ability to tie 5 knots.

1. Bowline.
2. Reef knot
3. Figure of eight
4. That squiggly one you use to tie fender lanyards onto guard rails
5 A half hitch (or several half hitches - but is still only counts as one knot)

Is this a wooden spoon winning perfomance?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[BrendanS]

What do you want to tie knots for? I merely heave the lines at someone on pontoon or dockside and state loudly in an authorative voice:

'I say! You! Fasten those to something and I'll give you a penny for your efforts'

Everything else already has knots in it. eg anchor warp was already attached to something on the boat by the dealer when I bought it.

Do I get the wooden spoon?

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[jax]

"If you can't tie the right knot - tie lots of knots!"

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[BrianJ]

You forgot number 6 , which you do regularly and well... tie us up in " knots" with some of your postings..well done
BrianJ

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[vyv_cox]

A question I often ask myself when reading the knotting expert (Alan Budworth) contributions in YM. All very clever and interesting, but would I ever use one? The answer is always a resounding "no". I almost never use even the slightly more clever knots, e.g. a rolling hitch, unless I make a special effort to do so. A clove hitch with an extra half hitch seems to do just as well and requires no thought.

I do use a sheet bend fairly often and I have used a timber hitch for dragging firewood across the sand dunes at Abermenai, so maybe my spoon is plastic?

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[Chris_Robb]

I agree with you - I only use those, however this year I added the sheet bend to it - however I got some longer warps - so don't need it anymore! beside which - I don't understand why it doesn't come undone when slack!

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[Evadne]

I think you'd better nip out to asda and get a job lot of wooden spoons, sounds like there is a dead heat for last place in this case. Are you including ones you know the name of but can't tie without a book in front of you? (Obviously I'd exclude the ones you can't tie even with the book in front of you.)

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[Magic_Sailor]

You\'ve forgotten one!

I favour that nice little bow - or at least half a bow. Very good for sail ties and those fiddly little bits of string on the end of your sail cover!

I can't see the point of most knots.

Magic

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[Mirelle]

Shock horror!

My son Alex, aged 8, could tie a bowline, sheet bend, reef knot, fisherman's bend, clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches and figure of 8 when he was seven.

He was required to do that, to know IALA buoyage and the Rule of the Road and to swim two lengths of the local pool before being given command of the dinghy - a wonderful incentive!

Having been given Des Pawson's book for Christmas, he surprised me this summer by coming up with a perfect monkey's fist and a creditable Turk's Head.

He sails on a gaff cutter, of course.....;-)

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[tcm]

Little bit crap, but not overly so. I think you probly forgot that you can do a round turn and 2 half hearteds. Which means you can also do a Fishman's Bend - the same except the first hitch goes through the round turn. The round turn +2HH can come off easily under tension, and the fisherman's bend can also come off easily (with a knife).

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[Neraida]

Ken...

I don't wanna be shot down for this... but no doubt I will! /forums/images/icons/crazy.gif

Point 5... fender lanyards tied to guard rails???? Really? My Dad, (Classic boat man to the core.. presently a 45' Buc. 100A1.. and Master Mariner) would cut my hands off if I tied a fender to a guard rail with any knot! /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

I believe (and enforce this rule on Neraida) that this practice causes guard rails to stretch and can damage stanchions. I therefore attach my fenders to the base of stanchions, shrouds and the spinnaker "tweaker" fairlead.

Am I abit "retentive" about this?


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[IanPoole2]

All my knots seem to end up as what knots - start with good intentions, then the bits of string seem to take on a mind of their own.


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[milltech]

Well I can only do 1,2, & 5! What a hopeless backslider I am.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
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[milltech]

Huh, some people think they can buy everybody! It's people like you that put up the cost of yachting.

Whatever happened to the Good Old Days, "Ere Mister, 'elp you tie up for a farving and scub yer boat after".


<hr width=100% size=1>John
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[burgundyben]

I'm with Brendan, I'm driving the boat so I have crew to use ropes to fasten boat to pontoon, these ropes have loops in the end so they just drop over the cleat.

Other ropes, like anchor rope and flag halyard always have unwanted knots in which crew remove for me when whipped and beaten.

<hr width=100% size=1>Sod the Healey - I think I'll buy an E-Type.

 

[dulcibella]

Knots for Entertainment

Add the Hunter's bend as essential. It's no better for joining two warps than a double sheet bend, but the way it turns inside-out as it tightens is better than most conjuring tricks.

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[Capt_Marlinspike]

Terrible lubbers the lot of you. If you can't tie a six strand star knot while making the tea and scrubbing the top mast you should not be allowed at sea ah Jim Lad.

But seriously there is one knot you should all add to the repotoire, it is not only actually useful but impresses the hell out of people. The Highwayman's Hitch. When tied it is quite secure, especially under tension, but when you tug hard onj the loose end it comes completely free. This is really handy for mooring lines when single handed and a great party peice.

Too hard to explain how to tie it in words but you can find it i most knot books.

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[whiskerstay]

Highwayman\'s Hitch

I agree that this is a splendid knot. I tend to use it for dinghy/tender painters, because with the tail led back into the boat, you can cast yourself off from the steering/rowing position. The downside, of course, is that it needs a pole to work, but our mainsheet horse seems to work fine.

/<

<hr width=100% size=1>"Stop mucking about, darling, and get the bloody mud weight over."

 

[whiskerstay]

Highwayman\'s Hitch

I agree that this is a splendid knot. I tend to use it for dinghy/tender painters, because with the tail led back into the boat, you can cast yourself off from the steering/rowing position. The downside, of course, is that it needs a pole to work, but our mainsheet horse seems to work fine.

But hang on... MOST knots require a pole... goodness, I'm having one of my funny five minutes'.

/<

<hr width=100% size=1>"Stop mucking about, darling, and get the bloody mud weight over."

 

[Peppermint]

Re: Handy additions

Is the wagoners hitch. Truckers use it to sheet up loads. It allows a mechanical advantage without blocks so is great for tensioning things.

A prusic knot is a good alternative to a rolling hitch.

Never leave a loop in the squiggly fender knot as it not only aids quick release it often aids automatic release when your not looking. Thats where my fenders come from.

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