Page 225 - Adlard Coles "The Knot Bible"

Three-strand plait sinnet

Sinnet is basically rope made from two or more strands of cord which can KNOT SCORE
be tied together in various different ways. It’s been used for thousands of Strength

years by Pacific islanders, and was popular on square-riggers and fi shing Security
boats alike due to its excellent hard-wearing character. Nowadays, it Diffi culty Tying
features more often in the decorative crafts, including making lanyards, Diffi culty Untying
Usefulness
bell ropes, necklaces and key rings.

Here’s how to catch a shark, if you
ever run out of food while sailing in

the Pacific. Get some coconut rope
and plait it together to make a
two- or three-strand sinnet. Form a
noose. Shake a rattle made out of an
old coconut shell underwater to
attract your shark. When the shark
appears, use a bait to guide it into
the noose. Tighten the noose and
lash it to the side of the boat, until
the shark is exhausted. Club it to
death, chop it up, and serve it
with a glass of Samoan kava.
The above is an accurate
description of the traditional 1 Take four lengths of cord, and 2 Pass the right-hand strand under
method of catching sharks in seize them together at one end. the strand to its left, then over the
Samoa (excluding the kava), and One strand will form the foundation, next (the foundation strand), and
demonstrates the impressive while the others will make the plaits. under the last.
strength of plaited rope. Sinnet (or
sennit), as this rope is called, is used
extensively across the Pacifi c, not
just for catching sharks, but for
making houses, canoes and jewellery.
Sinnet line was also used by sailors
in the northern hemisphere for
signal lines, reefing lanyards, and

fishing net lines. Its main advantages

are that it has no ‘twist’, it’s less
likely to unravel, and it’s more
resistant to wear.
There are a number of ways of
making sinnet line, either by plaiting
(as shown here and on page 226),
or crowning (page 228) or making 6 ... and a right-hand strand goes 7 Left over...
a chain (also known as a monkey under and over.
chain). Like most of the knots in this
chapter, the technique is now used
extensively in macramé, particularly
in its eight-strand formation.

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