Page 92 - Frank Rosenow "Seagoing Knots"

Slipped Knots

One man is down early on the low riverbank of the Nile. With the pale
blue sky still tinged with crimson, Akasha Falifa Mohammed Mahmud
begins to lay out his new sail on a level, sheltered piece of ground at the
water’s edge. With a pair of tailor’s shears, he cuts each cotton panel to
length as he lays it down, squinting hard with his one good eye at the
result.
“Salaam.” Akasha’s boat boy, Ahmed, slides down from the high river

bank, scattering kingfishers from among the bushes.
It is meet for every felucca man to have a boy. With a boy stationed
amidships, in charge of the centerboard, the yard tackle, and the boom
hoist, the main man need never leave the tiller and the mainsheet, a fortu¬
nate circumstance, as we shall see.
Having finished the sail, as the sun travels over the Valley of the Tombs
of the Kings, Akasha fetches a tin of red lead paint from the cuddy forward
and betters the outline of the watchful eyes of the mythological falcon
Horas which gazes from the bow of his boat. In flowing script, in spite of a

bristling brush, he then traces up the Arabian characters for Onass. His
hand hesitates when he is to fill in the name again where it is written in
Roman letters. Here, this writer is able to render some assistance and, with
a courteous gesture, is invited to partake of the new sail tryout.
The river wind from the north blusters a bit but there is nothing to pre¬
pare you for the brutal weather helm that the shallow, barn-door rudder
induces. Even less am I able to cope with the wrenching pull from the
three-part mainsheet. No fancy cam cleats here, not even a cleat on deck.
Ahmed smiles complacently from the windward rail as Akasha unobtru¬
sively takes over the helm. He does not even try holding the tiller but con¬
trols it by bracing his bare feet against the muski-wood leeward rail and
keeping the tiller against the small of his back. The mainsheet is tamed in a

twinkle by jamming the doubled end in a slipknot, as the drawing shows.
Taking our cue from Akasha’s slipped half hitch, there is in fact a
slipped version of all the other essential knots: the square knot, the clove
hitch, the sheet bend and the bowline.
They are a serviceable lot whenever quick release is of the essence and
the only wonder is that they are not used more frequently. Once you begin
to employ them, there is no turning back.

SEAGOING KNOTS