Page 73 - Peter Randall - The Craft of the Knot

Chapter 6

NAUTICAL KNOTS

Different knots have different properties that make them useful for specific tasks. Some
knots are especially secure, while others are good for quick release. Some are useful
because they can be easily adjusted, while others are preferred because they stay locked.
Even the appearance of a finished knot can be important, whether to confirm that it has
been tied correctly or for decoration.

Knots are an integral part of the sport and business of sailing—so much so that many

knots were first invented by sailors. In the days of clippers and square-riggers, when the
upper deck of a vessel was a maze of ropes and cords, choosing and tying the correct
knot—one that could be relied upon to do its job—could literally mean the difference
between life and death.

On shipboard, knots and ropes still control such essential things as sails, mooring,
docking, anchoring, and ensuring that cargo will not shift during the voyage. Knots

were also used by sailors to mark their speed—essential in the days when navigation
was a less scientifically exact procedure than today. The pilot or navigator would tie a
cord to a piece of wood, weighted so that it would float upright in the water and resist
the speed of the waves and of the vessel itself. Knots were tied in the cord at a distance

of 47 feet 3 inches from one another. The wood (or “chip”) was tossed overboard and,
as one sailor counted the time, another played out the cord. The ship’s speed was thus
calculated in “knots”—a knot is approximately 1.85 kilometers per hour.

Sailors were also responsible for the spread of knots and knotting techniques around
the world, since their travels took them to all corners of the globe. The knots you will
find in the following pages are only a small sampling of the infinite variety of knots we

owe to the travels of seafolk.

ANCHOR HITCH

Also called the Fisherman’s Bend, even though it is a hitch and not a bend, the Anchor
Hitch is commonly used to tie a rope to an anchor.

STEP 1 Start with a round turn and pass a Half Hitch (see Chapter 4) through both