Page 77 - Frank Rosenow "Seagoing Knots"

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Knot

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“But what can I co do with dese fellows, mon?” he said, pointing the
paddle at his cousin Welton, who grinned sheepishly under a newly pur¬

chased knitted cap with bands of bright yellow, violet and green.
“Dat no child’s play, mon!”
The knot was a double overhand on the standing part, best known as a
fisherman’s eye, which if loosely tied, will make a running noose that snugs
up comfortably around a floating object by simply pulling at the end.
The basic configuration used is that found in the more common fisher¬
man’s knot—which is called a knot but is by definition a bend when it
joins two ropes. The rope ends are overlapped and overhand knots made
on the opposing standing parts. It ties well in all rope dimensions, and
holds well but jams pretty hard. The lines joined should be reasonably

compatible. . .and, you guessed it, it is also known as the true lover’s knot.
The configuration lends itself to joining slippery, synthetic cordage lines.
In my youth, it was tied in lengths of plastic-covered wire to hold drying
fish on drying stands on the island. I never saw a fish fall down.
To increase security, for, say, trailing warps, or tying Kevlar lines
together, make it a double fisherman’s knot, which is then called a grape¬
vine knot.
Again, this knot ought to be called a bend, for uniformity’s sake, but let
us rather honor the exceptions, especially as there is another knot called
the fisherman’s bend. In any case, it was one half of the grapevine knot
that Moodey employed in his rescue mission.

KNOTS
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