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Top 5 Boating Knots

Rope used in boating is costly and may be used to handle a heavy load, e.g., when mooring, towing, or on a sailboat to control a large sail. The ability to readily untie a knot without damaging the rope is almost as important as being able to tie it easily and quickly. Knots, therefore, must be safe, reliable, and convenient.

First Some Cautions: until just after World War II tarred hemp was The Yachting Rope and Ashley’s Descriptions could be trusted. When the more slippery Nylon and Dacron (Terylene in the UK) were introduced, boaters became cautious and added more “tucks” to an eye-splice and additional half hitches to other knots. With the even more slippery HMPE ropes e.g., Dyneema and Spectra, knots must be avoided completely: many knots just slide undone and, if a knot does hold it will markedly weaken these very strong ropes. An excellent working rule is to assume that all knots in all ropes reduce the strength to 50% of the rated breaking strain. Then, when a particular knot or splice retains most of the rated strength, it can be remembered as the exception, not the rule.

Apart from HMPE, ropes commonly sold in marine stores for use as halyards and sheets allow knots to be tied which should hold well. Three-strand nylon is used for dock lines and anchor rodes. It is slippery enough to warrant some caution: splice five or more sets of tucks for an eye splice; add extra figure-eight turns on a cleat; and, when tying half hitches, use three rather than two. On yachts, nylon’s elasticity is regarded as an asset both for dock lines and anchor rodes. This same property, however, is regarded as lethal on ships; the snap-back of a large breaking nylon mooring line can be lethal. Polypropylene is used for water ski tow ropes and must be spliced at both ends because knots are extremely unsatisfactory and weaken the rope.

The knots described below are in common use and should be learned well by anyone involved in boating. Even something as simple as securing a rope to a cleat can be done incorrectly. Instruct your crew how to tie these few knots reliably.

These five knots are the ones we think every boater should know, but we’ve included a few extra knots to learn as you become more advanced.

   

Bowline

A Bowline creates a loop in the end of a rope. Unloaded, it may shake or float undone, but under load it is secure. It is very widely used in boating, climbing, scouting, search and rescue, towing, farming and around the home. Whenever a temporary loop is needed in the end of a rope, a Bowline is the first knot to consider. Permanent loops in rope are created using an Eye Splice or a Brummel Splice. Loop knots used in Fishing are permanent because they are not intended to be released. The one major disadvantage to a Bowline is that tying and untying it under a load are both impossible. See the Midshipman’s Hitch below.
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Cleat Hitch

A Cleat Hitch is used to secure a line to a dock or a Halyard or Sheet to a cleat. The line is directed first around the further horn and then, continuing in the same direction, around the second horn before starting figure of eight turns. When used for towing or securing a line to a dock, there are powerful reasons to add more figure eight turns and avoid the use of a locking turn. This permits sudden release in an emergency; in addition, massive strain can tighten all the turns and bind them together. By contrast, a Halyard Cleat Hitch can be safely completed with a locking turn: sudden extra strain is improbable and the locking turn minimizes the risk of the tail end shaking loose in a wind.
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Round Turn & Two Hitches

A Round Turn and Two Half Hitches provides the only safe way to secure a heavily loaded line to a dock post, bollard, tree, or pile. If the rope is wrapped two or more times around a pile, one person can control immense loads with one hand; when the load is under control, two or more half hitches can be easily added with the other hand. The “Round Turn” is really a “Turn and a Half” but it serves the critical function of ” taking the load” both when securing the line and when releasing it. In a gale, we watched a poorly trained dock hand repeatedly fail to secure our dock line using a Clove Hitch; the experience served to emphasize the value of knowing the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches.
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Rolling Hitch

The Rolling Hitch attaches a rope to another rope beside it – which needs to be almost parallel. It is also the essential component of the Midshipmans Hitch which provides an excellent alternative to the Bowline. Unlike the Bowline it can be tied and untied when there is a moderate load on it. Learn one of these knots and you have learned both. Ashley promotes it as the only knot worth considering if when sailing alone you have, with great presence of mind, left a rope trailing behind the boat. If you then fall overboard and, with even greater presence of mind, catch this trailing rope: hang on with one hand, wrap the end around you and tie a Rolling Hitch to the standing end with the other hand.
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Clove Hitch

The Clove Hitch should not be used for critical loads even temporarily: it can slip and, paradoxically, may also jam. However, it has one invaluable role: a fender can be attached to the boat’s rail and the height can be adjusted to suit the dock. When docking is complete, a couple of Half Hitches can be added to overcome the Clove Hitch’s deficiencies. When leaving the dock, these Half Hitches are readily released just like the Clove Hitch itself.
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Beyond the Basics

The boating knots above are the ones we consider essential, but the following knots can prove very useful in many situations.

Stopper Knots

A Figure 8 Stopper Knot is a convenient stopper knot, easily remembered and quickly tied. Unfortunately, it also readily shakes undone and many a small boat sailor has found the end of a sheet, or worse a halyard, no longer in reach. For this reason we also describe the Double Overhand Stopper Knot. It is merely an Overhand Knot with one extra pass. However, it is much more secure and rarely shakes undone. In practice, unlike the Figure 8, it can bind and be hard to undo – but this is usually an advantage.
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Square Knot

The Square Knot (or Reef Knot) must never be trusted for any critical load, for example yourself: a Square Knot too readily tumbles over to form adjacent half hitches and then just slides undone. However, when reefing a sail or securing a sail cover, a Square Knot is invaluable and is often completed as a slipped Square Knot or a bow. Tying the first part of the Square Knot with an additional turn forms the more reliable Surgeon’s Knot and using the additional turn for both parts makes a really reliable Shoelace Bow (Surgeon’s). Unfortunately, tying both Half Knots in the same direction creates the dreaded, and almost useless, Granny Knot.
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Sheet Bend

A Sheet Bend, also known as the Weaver’s Knot, is an excellent method of joining two ropes, even if they are of somewhat different sizes. It is a better and more trustworthy knot than the Square (Reef) Knot except for one thing: it is not a “Binding” Knot – it cannot be tightened against a bundle or a package – it has to be tied in “mid-air”. It can be used to create a climbing net – sometimes in conjunction with a Carrick Bend. When used to join two ropes of very different sizes, the knot is completed using an additional wrap of the smaller rope.
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Sailmaker’s Whipping

A Sailmaker’s Whipping provides the most secure method of finishing a rope’s end to prevent it fraying. The process requires time, patience, needle, and waxed twine. However, the final result is rewarding. Of course Nylon and Dacron rope can be melted using heat and this provides a reasonably secure end to such rope. However, rough treatment can separate the solid plastic lump from the rope’s end and fraying will occur. Modern HMPE ropes just char when heated and a free end requires a proper whipping. Fortunately, HMPE ropes are commonly finished with splices so that whipping is irrelevant.
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Constrictor Knot

The Constrictor Knot may be last on our list, but when the need arises, nothing else works so well. The fraying sheet or halyard may deserve a beautiful Sailmaker’s Whipping but, when sailing or racing, wielding a needle and thread is rarely practical. With a little practice a Constrictor Knot can be created by just imparting a little twist to the twine; the resulting loops can then be dropped over the fraying rope’s end. As you do so, you can enjoy knowing that, although still far too little used, it is the perfect knot for a surgeon to use to prevent a cut artery from bleeding.
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