A crew needs only a handful of knots, each for one job, and a few habits with lines: let a cleat or a bollard take the load, keep every line out of the water, and make your end fast before you throw.
Which knot makes a fixed loop to drop over a bollard?
A bowline: a fixed loop that cannot slip or tighten, over a bollard or round a person. To join two lines you tie a sheet bend; a fender hangs on a clove hitch.
A good knot holds, and comes undone when you want it to. Learn these seven by the job they do: the skipper will ask for them by name.
| Knot | Job |
|---|---|
| Bowline | A fixed loop that cannot slip or tighten: over a bollard, round a person |
| Figure-of-eight | A stopper in the end of a sheet, too fat to run out through a block |
| Reef knot | Tying round a bundle: a sail tie round the furled mainsail |
| Clove hitch | A fender on the guardrail: quick to tie, easy to adjust |
| Round turn and two half hitches | A line to a ring or a post that will be jerked for hours |
| Sheet bend | Joining two lines, even of different thickness |
| Rolling hitch | Gripping a rope, a spar or a chain against a pull along it |
A reef knot is tied right over left, then left over right, and lies flat. It is for binding, not for joining two lines that take a load. In a sheet bend the thicker line makes the loop and the thinner one is tucked round it.
What knot do I use to tie a dinghy painter to a quay ring?
A round turn and two half hitches. The full turn round the ring holds the strain by friction, so you tie the half hitches in slack line, even with the wind pulling the boat away.
A clove hitch is two turns round the rail, the second crossing over the first. It is easy to adjust, which is why fenders hang on it, but the rolling of the boat can work it loose. Lock it with a half hitch round the standing part, the part of the line that carries the load.
For a line that will be jerked all evening, such as the tender's painter on a quay ring, use a round turn and two half hitches. Pass the line twice round the ring: the friction of that full turn holds the strain, so you tie the half hitches in slack line, even with the wind pulling the boat away.
How do I tie a line off on a cleat properly?
With a cleat hitch: a full turn round the base from the far end, one or two figure-eights over the top, then a single locking hitch. The turn holds the load; extra hitches only jam.
More locking hitches add nothing, and they can jam just when the line has to come off in a hurry.
To ease a loaded line, take off the locking hitch and the figure-eights but keep the turn round the base. Then let the line slip round the cleat a little at a time, with your hands well back from it.
The turn holds the load; the hitch only keeps the turn in place.
How do I hold a mooring line when a gust pushes the boat away?
Take a turn round a bollard or a cleat and hold only the tail: the friction does the work. Never try to hold her by strength, and never wrap the line round your hand or body.
A yacht pushed by a gust pulls far harder than you can. Do not try to hold her by strength, and never wrap a line round your hand or your body: it can drag you into the water. Take a turn round a bollard or a cleat and hold the tail. The friction does the work.
A loose line is a danger too. People trip on it, and one that slips over the side can wrap round the propeller. As soon as you have left the berth, coil the mooring lines and stow them.
To finish a coil so that it hangs in the locker, wrap the end several times round the coil, push a loop of it through the top and bring that loop back over the head of the coil.
How do I throw a mooring line to someone on the pontoon?
Make your own end fast on a cleat first, split the coil in two, throw one half and let the other run out from your open hand. Aim a little upwind of the person catching it.
Make your own end fast before anything else, or a good throw sends the whole line ashore or into the sea. The half of the coil in your throwing hand carries the line; the other half runs out freely from your open hand. The wind carries a flying line sideways, so with the wind from your left you aim a little to the left of the person catching it.
If the line falls short into the water near the stern while the engine is in gear, tell the helm at once and haul it in fast, before it reaches the propeller.
No line in the water while the propeller is turning.
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
You are on fender duty, and the skipper will want the fenders raised or lowered as you come in. What do you tie them on with?
D. Clove hitch
A clove hitch is quick to tie and easy to slide up or down to change the height.
The snubber must grip the chain when it is pulled along it. Which knot do you tie?
B. Rolling hitch
A rolling hitch grips a rope, spar or chain against a pull along its length.
You are making the stern line fast on this cleat. What does the line do first?
A. A full turn round the base of the cleat
The turn round the base takes the load; then figure-eights and one locking hitch.
You cannot hold the boat by hand. What do you do?
B. Take a turn round a bollard and hold the tail
A turn round a bollard takes the load; a line wrapped round you can drag you in.
You are about to throw the stern line. Where do you aim?
B. A little to the left of the marinero, upwind
The wind carries the line sideways as it flies, so aim upwind of your target.
The skipper wants a loop in the end of a line that a swimmer can slip over their head and under their arms. It must not tighten. Which knot?
A. Bowline
A bowline makes a fixed loop that does not slip or tighten under load.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.