Page 118 - Knots You Need to Know Easy-to-Follow Guide to the 30 Most Useful Knots

A Coachwhipped Wheel

For all its trim appearance and sturdy functionality, the shiny metal-
rimmed wheel that has become standard equipment on most modern
boats of any size has certain practical drawbacks. It can become almost

unmanageably slippery when wetted by a rain squall or by windblown
spray, and in cold weather it is likely to be icy to the touch. However, by
wrapping the rim with cotton seine twine—or any similar small-diameter,
hard-laid line—the boatman can produce a nonslip surface of relatively
constant temperature. Moreover, a neatly wrapped wheel acquires a
distinctly salty look, and the wrapping technique is simplicity itself,

involving as it does only a single elementary knot—the familiar half hitch.

1. Take the bitter end from a skein of cotton line and lay about six inches
along the wheel rim. Starting to the right of a spoke, wind the skein
around the rim in a series of half hitches (above), burying the bitter end