Page 389 - Brion Toss - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Figure 11-15. How the Sailor Made Many Knots
in Little Time. He made many Half Hitches on his
thumb (A,B), passed the left end through all the Half
Hitches (C), gently cradled the hitches in one hand,
and pulled handsomely on the end with his other
hand (D). End of contest.

thought he might run out of string before the time There was an exultant tone in the father’s voice
was up. Flying fingers. as the count neared 50, and the clerk had just about
The sailor, meanwhile, began methodically given off trying to make any more knots, when the
looping Half Hitches around one thumb (Figure sailor gently removed the hitches from his thumb,
11-15A, B). Now, a half hitch is a fine knot with threaded the end through them, pulled on it hand-
many uses, but it is not an Overhand Knot and somely, which at sea means slowly and carefully,
never will be. The count went past 30 and he still and a plentitude of Overhand Knots emerged like
hadn’t tied anything but a lot of hitches (he had a pearls from his hand (Figure 11-15C, D). He tied
long piece of string and great large thumbs). The the string around his true love’s throat as a necklace,
count went past 40 without a single Overhand Knot, they tied the archetypal knot the very next day, and
and his sweetheart can be forgiven for tearfully they both lived happily ever after.
wondering if this was a particularly inelegant way
of skipping out on her.

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