If you don’t know a knot, tie a lot?

[Nick J]

I’m proud of knowing how to tie a proper cleat hitch, clove, and bowline. It’s not that difficult of a skill to have, yet it’s surprising how few possess it as evident by walking the docks. If it’s such a common problem, why do you rarely see fenders floating in marinas or boats coming off their mooring or sails flogging from halyards coming undone? It leads me to wonder what knots are essential, what are nice to haves, and which ones are just yachty people doing yachty things?

If you’re not too concerned about the ease of untying the knot, “tying a lot” is a viable alternative. So which knots do you think are essential?

I’ll throw a strange one out there to start, the prusik. I didn’t even know about it until my wife and I started climbing a few years ago. It never came up in the sailing books I read or bumming around on other people’s boats, but it proved to be invaluable last year.

We were short taking to an anchorage for the day and this was going to be the last tack before furling the sail. A new guest was eager to get the sheet pulled in, I wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing and I hadn’t explained the importance of avoiding an override. Before I knew it, we had a gnarly override, the sail was loaded, and we were on a course to run into our anchorage at 7 knots. Thankfully, I had purchased a few prusik loops to test out climbing the mast a few months before which made it even easier. We were able to run a spare line through a snatch block to the other primary winch and attach it to a prusik tied a few feet ahead of the overridden winch. With a few turns of the second primary winch, the load was relieved, and the override was easily removed. I can’t think of another knot that would have done a better job and I don’t think “tying a lot” would have provided enough friction to take the load.

So, what knots do you think are essential?

 

[Loren Beach]

Hmmm. You have covered the important ones for sure. I do like the "halyard hitch" and do use it for all four of our halyards. This makes it easier to take them down every other year and wash them (and reverse them).

Halyard Hitch

A very compact knot used to join a halyard line to a shackle. The Halyard Hitch is extremely compact which makes it an admirable choice for a halyard.

www.animatedknots.com

I have also used the "anchor hitch" for this.

Anchor Hitch

The Anchor Hitch, or Bend, is also known as the Fisherman's Hitch and is an excellent knot to use for attaching an anchor line to an anchor.

www.animatedknots.com

The idea is to avoid having a splice with the required amount of "bury" that creates a fat section of line that can jam in a sheave at the top of the spar.

 

[southofvictor]

I’ve always found this one handy for putting good tension on a line when lashing items to the deck or even hanging a clothesline.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trucker's_hitch

 

[G Kiba]

Besides the already mentioned bowline, half hitch and anchor hitch. Double fisherman to join two lines. Alpine loop to create a quick eye for a purchase, and figure eight follow through for attaching my climbing harness to go aloof .

 

[driftless]

Instead of a prusik loop a rolling hitch is a good one to know for the override situation you describe above Nick. Since it's a single strand you can take it right to the 2nd winch, without needing to tie into the prusik. It is directional though, so you have to tie it the right way to get it to cinch for your direction of pull.

In addition to all the others mentioned above a round turn and 2 half hitches is an amazingly simple and surprisingly secure way to attach fenders or tie to a post or pile. More secure then a clove hitch since it doesn't require tension to hold.

 

[Christian Williams]

I confess I am still trying to get the upsidedown bowline into my permanent memory.

This is the knot used to make a loop over the end of the boom to pull it aside from the cockpit, or to put a bowline on a piling, when the usual squirrel-in-hole procedure can seem awkward and "upsidedown."

 

[TKBLACK]

I’m proud of knowing how to tie a proper cleat hitch, clove, and bowline. It’s not that difficult of a skill to have, yet it’s surprising how few possess it as evident by walking the docks. If it’s such a common problem, why do you rarely see fenders floating in marinas or boats coming off their mooring or sails flogging from halyards coming undone? It leads me to wonder what knots are essential, what are nice to haves, and which ones are just yachty people doing yachty things?

If you’re not too concerned about the ease of untying the knot, “tying a lot” is a viable alternative. So which knots do you think are essential?

I’ll throw a strange one out there to start, the prusik. I didn’t even know about it until my wife and I started climbing a few years ago. It never came up in the sailing books I read or bumming around on other people’s boats, but it proved to be invaluable last year.

We were short taking to an anchorage for the day and this was going to be the last tack before furling the sail. A new guest was eager to get the sheet pulled in, I wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing and I hadn’t explained the importance of avoiding an override. Before I knew it, we had a gnarly override, the sail was loaded, and we were on a course to run into our anchorage at 7 knots. Thankfully, I had purchased a few prusik loops to test out climbing the mast a few months before which made it even easier. We were able to run a spare line through a snatch block to the other primary winch and attach it to a prusik tied a few feet ahead of the overridden winch. With a few turns of the second primary winch, the load was relieved, and the override was easily removed. I can’t think of another knot that would have done a better job and I don’t think “tying a lot” would have provided enough friction to take the load.

So, what knots do you think are essential?

Prusik knots are so handy!

 

[Gaviate]

A wise man once told me...."If you learn nothing else, learn the bowline".... to this day it is my go to knot since it now requires no thought and has never failed...ever! That said, I have become a bit of a knot nerd and practice different knots for variety of uses including all of the above as well as the butterfly loop and now a double loop bowline for emergency sling or for fun

 

[tenders]

In my misspent youth the summer sailing program I participated in had been set up by a WWII-era naval architect, and required everyone in their first year (9 and up) to learn six knots: the proper cleat (along with debate on whether this is actually a knot), the figure eight, half hitch, fisherman’s bend, clove hitch, and bowline.

Aside from natural variants - two half hitches, the rolling hitch which is really an extended clove hitch, etc. - I can’t say I’ve ever NEEDED to tie another knot. I do know the carrick bend, because it enables joining two lines of very different diameters or even a line to a shroud, and it is also pretty to tie, but I have not actually had to use it.

(I don’t count decorative knots like the monkey’s fist.)

Most of the time I’ve found a clove hitch sufficient to get enough tension on a genoa sheet to be able to slacken a wraparound. But its success depends heavily on the angle you have to the backup winch.

 

[G Kiba]

I had forgotten to mention, probably because they are fairly easy to tie, the dyneema splices! The brummel lock for both and one-side free, Soft shackles, and loops. Amazing what you can do with YouTube, a chopstick and a length of monel wire.

 

[goldenstate]

Somewhat timely:

These are the knots going on a knot-tying speed contest board/system I am contriving for my son's boy scout camp this summer:



The Trucker's Hitch is not in the standard Boy Scout canon and is my favorite knot, after the bowline.

 

[Nick J]

Agreed, I forgot about the trucker's hitch when I was writing the initial post, but we use it frequently to lash the dinghy to the deck. I like the taut line hitch too. I had to look that one up, but looks like a really useful one.

 

[goldenstate]

Agreed, I forgot about the trucker's hitch when I was writing the initial post, but we use it frequently to lash the dinghy to the deck. I like the taut line hitch too. I had to look that one up, but looks like a really useful one.

Yes! Taut line hitch is ideal for tightening rain fly lines on a tent.

 

[Mr. Scarlett]

A rolling hitch works well in an override situation.