Part 2

=The Shortening Tie= is used when there is too much rope and where it is necessary to use a large knot for the purpose of preventing its running too far through the eye, ring or loop. It is formed by making the figure of 8 knot at the end of a rope, then interlacing it with another rope, and when drawn taut it has the appearance of the third diagram.

=A Rope Yarn Knot= is for joining two yarns together and is clearly shown in the diagram.

BENDS AND HITCHES

It is rather difficult to say where knots end and bends begin, because a tie made in a particular way and under certain circumstances may be called a knot, but differently constructed and under other conditions it is called a bend or a hitch. The result is the same in each case. A single hitch may be merely a loop formed in a rope.

=A Half Hitch= is used generally in conjunction with other hitches. Its formation is easily seen from the diagram.

=The Timber Hitch= is used to secure the end of a rope to a spar, also for bending a rope round light cases, bales, etc., when provisioning ships. It is formed by making a half hitch with rather a long end and expanding the end backwards round its own part. It is used also with a half hitch for towing spars, as shown in the diagram below.

=The Crabber’s Eye Knot= is not well known but is one that is not likely to part when strained. To make it bring the end back to form a loop, taking it first under and then over the standing part, up through the main loop, over the standing bight again and up through its own bight. Before the turns are hauled into their places, the knot will slip on the part =A=, as in an ordinary knot. If the part =B= is hauled upon the strand, =A=, which passes through the center knot, rises and the coil which goes round it jambs, making the knot secure so that it may be used as a running knot or otherwise, as desired.

=A Buntline Hitch= is commenced as in making an outside clinch but instead of putting on a seizing, the end is passed over and through the bight, as clearly shown in the diagram.

=The Clove Hitch= is really a jamming of two half hitches and is generally used when a small rope has to be secured to a larger one and the end kept free for use for further purposes, as in securing ratlines to the shrouds, and used also for securing the end of butt slings. Its formation can be followed very easily in the diagrams.

=The Roband Hitch= is very useful when a tackle, hook, ring or another rope is to be fastened to a beam or spar. This is another simple hitch, clearly illustrated in the diagram.

=The Slippery Hitch= is valuable because of the ease with which it can be cast off in an emergency. It will hold securely while there is a strain on the rope.

=The Rolling Hitch= is commenced and finished like a clove hitch, but, as can be seen from the figures, there is an intermediate round turn between the first and last hitches. It will be seen that the round turn in Fig. 2 is taken around both the standing part, =A=, and the larger rope =B=. The great value of this hitch is that it does not slip, and this can be rendered doubly sure by backing the end, =C=, round the part, =D=, and securing the end with a strop. It is used for bending a small rope to a larger one, for putting a tail jigger on a rope, and for securing hammocks to gantlines.

=The Double Blackwall Hitch= is made by taking the bight of the rope and placing it across the neck of the strop of the block, crossing it behind, then placing the under part over the hook and crossing the upper part on top of it. It holds better than the two preceding hitches.

=The Marling Hitch= is for lashing up hammocks or putting temporary seizing on two ropes or spars. It is also used when making swabs.

=The Midshipman’s Hitch= is used at times instead of a Blackwall Hitch and it will hold better if the rope is at all greasy. It is made by first forming a Blackwall hitch and then taking the underneath part and placing it over the bill of the hook.

=The Killick Hitch= is a modification of the timber hitch. After making a timber hitch and hauling it taut, a single hitch is made and slipped over the end of a stone. This makes a secure anchor on fishing grounds on rocky coasts where an anchor will not hold.

=The Magnus Hitch= is a method of securing a rope to a spar. Take the end of the rope twice round a spar in front of the standing part, round the spar again and then pass it through the last bight.

=The Round Turn with Two Half Hitches= is used to secure a hawser to the ring of a buoy and the rope in this case should be parcelled as shown in the diagram.

=The Marlinespike Hitch= is used for heaving the turns of a seizing taut with a marlinespike or hooking the hook of tackle to any rope where a small pull is required. It is formed by the standing part being picked through a loop laid over it, so that the spike lays under the standing part and over the sides of the loop. Its advantage is that it never jams.

=The Blackwall Hitch= is used for hooking a tackle to a rope and bringing the fall of one jigger to the double block of another. It consists of a half hitch, and as soon as any strain comes on it the standing part, =A=, jambs the end part, =C=. By taking another round turn at =B=, before passing =C= under =A=, it will hold more securely.

=A Stun’sail Halyard Bend= is simply a Fisherman’s bend with the end backed again over the last round and under the first.

=The Topsail Halyard Bend= is made by bringing the rope twice round the spar, back over the standing part, under all turns, over two turns and under the last. Then jamb all the coils close and haul taut.

=The Sheet Bend=, as its name implies, is the method of attaching the sheet to the clew of the sail. It is also used for securing boats’ lazy painters to the Jacob’s ladders of the lower booms. In making a bend the ends of the two ropes are not used simultaneously as in forming reef knots, but an eye or loop is first formed in the end of one of the ropes as seen in the first diagram and the other rope’s end is then rove through it in the various ways required. To form a Sheet Bend pass the second rope’s end underneath the eye at point =A= and bring up through the loop, then form with it a half hitch round =C= and =B=. It will hold still better and is less likely to jamb, if the end is passed round again as in the third diagram. This is called a Double Sheet Bend.

=The Fisherman’s Bend= is formed by taking two round turns around the object to which the rope is to be secured and then backing the end round in the form of a half hitch under both the standing part and the second round turn. The end may be further secured by taking a half hitch around its own part or by stopping it to it. The dotted line in the first diagram shows the direction the end =C= must take. This bend is used for bending a hawser to the ring of an anchor or a rope’s end to a bucket.

=The Hawser Bend= is so easy as to be constantly used when only a temporary purpose has to be served.

=The Bowline Bend= is the strongest of all knotted hawsers. It is formed of two Bowline knots, one crossing the loop of the other as shown in the diagram.

=The Half Hitch and Seizing Bend= is used on hawsers which are to be joined for a long period. Its formation is shown in the illustration clearly.

=The Carrick Bend= is for bending two hawsers together when required to go around a capstan. First form with hawser No. 1 a loop as in the upper diagram. Pass the second hawser under the first at =A=, bring up through the eye =B=, back it over the cross at =C= and bring up again towards you through the eye =B=, and then stop the ends of each hawser to their own respective parts as shown in the lower diagram.

=A Double Carrick Bend= is formed in precisely the same way, but a complete round turn is taken around the cross of the first hawser and then led up again through the eye and finished off.

=The Chain Hitch= is used to attach a small rope to aid in pulling a larger. When it is necessary to use a lever as a handspike the fastening in the lower diagram is used. First a clove hitch is formed to the spar and as many single hitches as required are then made. It may be finished off with any secure knot.

KNOTS FORMED ON ROPES BY THEIR OWN STRANDS

If ropes, hawsers or cables are left with their ends unguarded, they are sure to become untwisted or otherwise unmanageable. The same is true in a lesser degree of lanyards and smaller ropes. These can easily be secured with a fine whipping and the smaller yarns and threads by a single overhand or other knot. The ends of ropes at sea are variously treated. In some instances they are finely tapered to a point, to pass easily through a block or ring. While some of these knots for guarding the rope ends may seem fanciful they are by no means merely ornamental and many of them play important parts in the standing rigging of a ship.

At first glance some of these knots may appear to be very intricate and difficult to make. They are not as difficult as their pictures would seem to indicate and a little thoughtful study, carefully following the explanatory diagrams, will smooth away all troubles.

=To Whip a Rope= first lay the end of a length of twine along the end of the rope, and then, commencing at the part furthest from the rope’s end take a half dozen or more turns around both the rope and the twine, as shown in the first diagram. Then lay the twine in the form of a loop along the rope and over the turns already taken as seen in the second diagram. To finish off take that portion of the loop designated =A=, and continue taking turns tightly round the rope and part =B= of the twine until the loop is all used up. Pull through the remainder snugly by part =C= and cut off short when no end of twine will be visible as in the third diagram.

=A Palm and Needle Whipping= is a permanent way of securing a rope’s end from fraying and better than the whipping put on by hand. First place the needle under one of the strands and draw nearly the whole length of twine through. Take a number of turns round the rope with the twine, drawing each well taut in turn, and finish up by following round with the needle between each strand, forming a series of wrappings, and cut off the end of the twine.

=To point a rope= first put on a stop at two and one-half times the circumference of the rope from the end, which will leave about the length for pointing. Unlay the rope to the stop, then unlay the strands, split a number of the outside yarns and make a nettle out of each yarn. A nettle is made by laying up the yarns with the finger and thumb left-handed. When the nettles are made up stop them back on the standing part of the rope. Then with the rest of the yarns, form the point by scraping them down to a proper size with a knife and marl them down together with twine. Divide the nettles, taking every other one up and every other one down. Pass three turns with a piece of twine which is called the warp very taut round the part where the nettles separate taking a hitch with the last turn. Repeat this process by placing every alternate nettle up or down, passing the warp or filling, taking a hitch each time until the point is to its required length. You may either form a bight with the last lay by passing the warp through the bights, haul them taut, and cut them off, or, work a becket in the end by taking a small piece of rope one-fourth the size of the rope, form a bight, unlay the ends, and twist the six strands up again by two taking some of the inside yarns and lay them up as the rope, then short splice that and the becket together and marl it down.

=The Wall Knot= is used for finishing off seizings forming a shroud knot. It is also used on the end of a rope to prevent it unreeving. To form a wall knot first unlay the rope so that the strands appear as in the first diagram below.

Holding the rope with the left hand, with the right lead strand =A= in the direction indicated, viz., under strand =B= and up between strands =B= and =C= as in the second diagram.

Then with strand =B= form a similar loop, enclosing strands =A= and =C= and bringing the end of strand =B= up between =A= and =D= as in the first diagram above.

Now with strand =C= form a similar loop enclosing strands =B= and =A= by leading the end of strand =C= up through the loop =E= in strand =A= as in the second diagram. Finally work all parts well taut, whip the ends of the strands together and cut off short, at the bottom diagram.

=A Double Wall Knot= is formed by making the single wall knot first and not hauling it taut. Then take one end and bring it underneath the part of the first walling next to it and push it up through the same bight. Do the same with the other strands, pushing them up and through two bights. If made this way it will have a double and a single crown. A double wall double crowned is a continuation of the double wall. The strands are laid by the side of those of the single crown and pushed through the same bight in the single crown and down through the double walling as shown in the illustration. The middle figure shows one method of finishing a single wall by cutting off the strands and tying them with twine. The double crowned wall knot may be finished by a Lark’s Nest by interlacing the loose strands one within another by a requisite number of turns over the pudding. This forms a knot at the end of the rope.

=The Crown Knot= or crowning forms the basis of other knots. To make a crown pass the bights of the first and second strands over the second and third strands respectively, dip the end of the third down through the bight of the first and work the knot into shape. Its construction can be followed very easily in the diagram. Double crowning is done by following round each strand again alongside the first lead.

=The Manrope Knot= is used for securing the upper ends of the gangway manropes. It is made by first forming a wall and then crowning it as in the first diagram. Then follow round the wall again and lastly follow round the crown, when the finished knot will appear as in the second diagram.

=The Stopper Knot= is used in the ends of stoppers and is made by forming a wall and half a wall, putting on a good whipping about two or three inches from the knot and cut off the ends.

=The Turk’s Head Knot= is worked upon a rope with a piece of small line. Take a clove hitch slack with the rope with the line round the rope. Then take one of the bights formed by the clove hitch and put it over the other, pass the end under, and up, through the bight which is underneath. Then cross the bights again and put the end round again, under, and up, through the bight which is underneath. After this follow the lead and it will make a turban of three parts to each cross.

=Single Matthew Walker Knot= is used for securing the standing part of a rope or making beckets for buckets, etc. To make this knot begin as for the wall knot but pass the first strand =A= under both =B= and =C= as shown in the first diagram. Then pass =B= under both strands =C= and =A=, and bring up through the first loop formed by =A=, shown in the second diagram.

Similarly pass =C= under =A= and =B= and bring up through the loops first formed by =A= and =B= as seen in the third diagram.

=The Double Matthew Walker= is easily made when one notices the difference between a single Matthew Walker and a wall knot. In the wall knot each strand is simply interlaced with the strand immediately on its right coming up through the loop formed by the second strand. In the single Matthew Walker each strand interlaces the two strands to its right coming up through the loop of the third strand. Another evolution in the same order gives the double Matthew Walker. It is formed as will be seen in the diagram by making each strand contain its own loop, the other two strands and its own end, that is, each strand leads up through its own bight after interlacing the other two.

=The Single Diamond Knot= is made some distance from the end of a rope. It is therefore necessary to unlay the rope considerably more than is required in the preceding knots and as the strands will have to be laid up again, try to preserve the original lay in the strands as much as possible. Now bring each of the three strands down alongside the standing part of the rope, thus forming three bights, and hold them thus with the left hand. Take the first strand =A= as shown in the diagram and putting it over the next, =B=, bring it up through the bight of the third strand, =C=.

Take the end of the second strand over the third and up through the bight of the first. The last strand is brought over the first and up through the bight of the second. Haul taut and lay the rope up again. The first diagram above shows the loops in their places with the ends through them before they are hauled taut and the second diagram shows the completed knot.

=The Double Diamond Knot= is made first like the single diamond and then the ends are made to follow the lead of the single knot through two single bights, the ends coming out on top of the knot. The last strand passes through two double bights. The ends are then hauled taut and laid up as for the manrope knot.

=The Shroud Knot= is of use in joining two ropes together, particularly in joining a stay or shroud that has been carried away. Each rope is unlaid the necessary length and they are then brought close together. A wall knot is formed on each rope with the strands of the other as seen in the first diagram. The completed knot is seen in the second diagram but to make a neat job the ends should be marled and served as in the third diagram.

=Snaking= or =Seizing= is done by taking the end under and over the outer turns of the seizing alternately, passing over the whole. The whole may be whipped also with small twine. The ends of a four-stranded rope may be thus secured. The end is first whipped as shown at =A= in the diagram. The four strands are then opened out. They are then brought down over the end in loops and the strands tied together, as in the second diagram, or they may be simply brought down and bound to the cable with twine, as shown in the third diagram.

=A Spritsail Sheet Knot= is made by unlaying both ends of a rope and bringing the two standing parts together as in the first diagram. Grasp both parts of the rope at =A=, with the six strands form a wall knot, that is, by passing 1 under 2, 2 under 3, 3 under 4, 4 under 5, 5 under 6 and 6 under the loop formed by 1. Now lay any opposite two of the strands across the top in an opposite direction and crown by passing the other four, each in turn, alternately over and under these two. Each of the six strands will then come out leading in a downward direction alongside the strands forming the first walling. Now follow round the walling again, when the strands will come through in an upward direction, each alongside a strand of the first crowning. Follow through the crowning once more and cut off the short ends, when a handsome and useful stopper knot will result as in the second diagram.

SHORTENINGS

Shortenings are, as the term implies, knots that take up the surplus cord and keep the ends from being in the way. A piece of rope or cord is often too long and to cut it would be waste, so a shortening knot is used. Sometimes the tie, four, five or six-fold knots are used for this purpose.

=The Single Plait=, or as the sailor terms it, the Chain Knot, is the commonest of all these knots. First make a running loop and then draw the loose end through the loop and repeat this operation until all excess of cord has been taken up. The end may be secured by bringing the end of the rope through the loop or by passing a belaying pin through the loop. These two methods are illustrated in the diagram.

=The Twist Knot= is an ordinary three plait, although it is formed with one piece of rope. It is more useful than when formed of three separate pieces, for the ends are fastened and it cannot come undone. To make this twist hold the double loop in the left hand; the side =A= is then brought over to =B=, with a half turn =B= is crossed over to =A= and the process of an ordinary three plait is continued until the end of the rope is reached, when the loose end is passed through the bight and the knot is fastened and completed.

=The Double Chain Knot= is very easily made, if the first loop is made secure by a twist in the rope as shown in the diagram, and then pass the loose end through the preceding loop right and left until the knot is finished.

=The Sheep Shank=, or =Dog Shank= as it is sometimes called, is an old-fashioned method of shortening a rope and can be used on any sized cordage. It is used for shortening a rope which requires lengthening again. Gather up the amount to be shortened in the form of the upper illustration. Then with parts =A= and =B= form a half hitch round the two parts of the bight as in the second figure.

To render it still more dependable the bights =A= and =B= may be seized or toggled to the standing parts as in the third and fourth figures.

=Bend Shortening= or =Simple Loop= is a plain, useful expedient for stout rope and has the merit of not injuring the ropes by an unnecessary strain, or crossing the fibres of the hemp. It will not, however, stand any great strain.

=The Bow= or =Knot Shortening= is very quickly made. It is simply an ordinary knot in the middle of a rope in which a double bend has previously been made. It is not adapted to heavy ropes nor will it stand a heavy strain.

=The Catspaw= is one of the easiest made loops to be used for hooking on the block of a tackle or shortening up a bale sling stop. First throw back a bight as shown in the first diagram. Then taking hold of =A= and =B=, one in each hand, twist them up as in the second diagram. Bring the two eyes =A= and =B= together and hook in the tackle.

TIES