Knots and whatnot
Knots and whatnot
Tuesday, 8 November 2016
In everyday language a knot can be almost any tangle of rope or similar material, deliberate or otherwise as above, but when we are talking about tying knots it has a more particular meaning:
• a knot, as distinct from a bend or hitch, secures two ends of the same material, e.g., a bandage, parcel string or shoelace.
• a bend is a knot that joins two separated ropes or other bits of cordage together
• a hitch attaches a line to a rail, post, ring or perhaps to another rope (or even on to itself)
There is a magnificent book first published 1944 titled The Ashley Book of Knots which details some 3900 examples. You will be pleased to know that for barging purposes we can much of the time get by with just one - the half hitch, though the bowline and reef knot come in handy too. Also occasionally useful are the boatman’s or tug master’s hitch, the overhand knot, and the round turn and two half hitches.
And one more to know, so it can be avoided like the plague: the clove hitch
Before we go into examples, a couple more terms:
• the working end (or working part) of a rope is the part active in knot tying, generally held in the hand during the process.
• the standing end (or standing part) of a rope is the part at the other end to the working end, possibly attached to something.
• a bight is any central part of a length of rope between the standing end and working end, often formed into an incomplete circle held between your two hands if it is to be thrown onto a bollard or suchlike.
A mnemonic commonly used to recall how to tie the bowline is “the rabbit comes out of the hole, round the tree and back down the hole”. I’ve given it here, but I’m not fond of it as it relies upon getting “the hole” the right way round in the first instance, and the knot will spill if it isn’t.
It is intended to be a binding knot. Tie the first Half Knot on something like wrapping paper around a bottle and it may hold, but it needs the second Half Knot which makes it into the reef knot before it it fairly safe. It can be used as a quick emergency way to join two length of similar rope, but does easily slip and has a tendency to spill - if you pull the standing and working ends of the same length of rope in opposite directions for instance.
It is often made with load on the standing end. Once the initial pass under and around the standing end and the reverse turn is made the load is immediately easier to handle. You can take two complete turns around the bollard before commencing the hitch as that will reduce the strain before you start.
The common knot for tying a fender to a stanchion is a round turn and two half hitches. The round turn is generally made in fact as two turns of the working end around the rail. Take this around the standing end to make the first half hitch and pull it tight. Continue in the same direction to make the second half hitch and pull this tight to complete the knot.
I find a variant of the boatman’s hitch is much easier. Take the working end around the rail, take it around the standing end and back around the rail again in the opposite direction. It will already take the weight of most fenders at this stage, but now repeat the whole sequence once more. Finish by taking the working end as a half hitch on the standing end. I can’t for one moment believe I invented this so it is probably in Ashley’s book somewhere.
For those who wish to look further into knots this site offers a free download of Ashley’s book:
http://www.libramar.net/news/the_ashley_book_of_knots/2011-05-20-414
link to Tam’s RYA Book of CEVNI Regulations and DVD Barge Handling in France
(All text and photographs copyright © Tam & Di Murrell unless otherwise credited)