Seamanship is choosing the method before you start: which knot, how much chain, which line first, which sail. The load, the wind and the stream decide.
Which knot do I use to join two ropes of different thickness?
A double sheet bend joins unequal lines. For a loop over a bollard use a bowline, which never jams; to grip a loaded line or chain, a rolling hitch.
| Knot | Job |
|---|---|
| Bowline | Loop for a bollard; never jams |
| Bowline on the bight | Two loops: a sling for a person |
| Round turn and two half hitches | To a ring; freed under load |
| Clove hitch and half hitch | Fenders on the rail |
| Double sheet bend | Joins unequal lines |
| Figure of eight | Stopper in a sheet |
| Rolling hitch | Grips a loaded line or chain |
One locking hitch on a cleat: more jam. Clear a riding turn by taking the load on a rolling hitch led to another winch. Put three turns on the winch before opening a loaded clutch, and ease with a flat palm, never with the tail round your hand.
Nylon stretches, for warps and mooring lines; a halyard must not; a painter should float. Splice a permanent eye, whip a cut end, coil braid in figure-of-eights. In a surge add chafe guards, doubled lines and snubbers. Lash deck gear with several turns to strong points, frapped tight.
How much anchor chain should I let out?
Work out scope against the high-water depth plus the bow-roller height: 4:1 on chain, 5:1 before a blow, 6:1 on rope. In 3 m with 3.6 m of tide to come and a 1 m roller, about 30 m.
Anchor for the forecast wind: if a shift will make the bay a lee shore, move in daylight. Choose sand, enough water at low water, and neighbours on your kind of rode: rope boats range wider than chain boats, moored boats hardly move.
Scope is rode against high-water depth plus bow-roller height: 4:1 on chain, 5:1 before a blow, 6:1 on rope.
Approach head to wind and let go as she gathers sternway, so the chain lays out in a line; under sail, come in under main alone. Go astern firmly and watch a transit abeam: if it stays closed, she holds.
What should I do if my anchor starts dragging at night?
Get the engine on first so you keep control, motor up to ease the load, then re-anchor with more scope or move. If she drags again with a lee shore astern, head out to sea.
In a rising wind set anchor watches with written orders: call the skipper if a bearing shifts, the wind passes a set force or a boat drags nearby.
| Problem | Answer |
|---|---|
| Tidal river, no room | Bahamian moor: anchors up and downstream |
| Gale, steady direction | Tandem: kedge ahead, chained to the bower's crown |
| Foul ground | Tripping line from crown to buoy |
| Stuck fast | Chain cleated short; motor the opposite way |
| Neighbour's chain on yours | Hold it on a line, lower yours clear |
To weigh, motor gently up the chain as the bow crew points: the windlass only lifts.
Which way does the stern kick in reverse with a right-handed propeller?
To port: going astern a right-handed propeller kicks the stern to port, most strongly from rest; a left-handed one, to starboard. So berth port side to, where braking pulls the stern in.
Astern, a right-handed propeller kicks the stern to port, most strongly from rest; a left-handed one, to starboard. The wash boils up on the side opposite the kick. So berth port side to, where braking pulls the stern in, and turn short round to starboard.
Ahead, she pivots a third of her length from the bow, so the stern swings the opposite way to the bow: turn away from a quay and the stern swings in towards it. Astern, the pivot moves aft and the bow sweeps wide.
Approach a berth or buoy into whichever is stronger, wind or stream, as the moored boats lie. To ferry glide, stem the stream at its own speed with the bow angled slightly in.
How do I leave a pontoon when the wind is pinning me on?
Motor ahead on the bow spring: the stern swings out, and once it is clear you go astern and away. Arriving with the wind onto the berth, stop parallel a beam off and let her blow in.
| Situation | Method |
|---|---|
| Wind onto the berth | Stop parallel, a beam off; she blows in |
| Wind off the berth | Steeper, with way; midships line first, then ahead on it |
| Pinned on, leaving | Ahead on the bow spring; stern out, then astern |
| Stream ahead, leaving | Stern spring only: the stream pushes the bow out |
| Finger berth, crosswind | Aim to windward; windward lines first on, last off |
| Raft | Own shore lines, masts staggered; from inside, leave down-tide |
Stern-to on your own anchor, let go a little upwind; if the bow sags downwind later, tighten the chain.
On a buoy lie to a slip line through the ring, both ends aboard. If the boat hook is being dragged away, let it go and come round again.
How do I heave to in a sailing yacht?
Tack with the jib sheet left made fast, ease the main and lash the tiller to leeward: with the jib aback she lies hove to. She still drifts: 4 h at 1.2 kn is 4.8 M.
Heave to: tack with the jib sheet left made fast, ease the main, lash the tiller to leeward. She still drifts: 4 h at 1.2 kn is 4.8 M.
Heavy weather helm is too much main and heel: ease the traveller, then reef. Lee helm is too much sail forward: roll some genoa. Beating into a steep sea, steer a little free, luff up the face, bear away over the crest.
Use the sail you can spill: head to wind, the main; stemming a tide with the wind astern, at a mooring, the jib alone. To sail off an anchor, back the jib to port and the bow pays off to starboard.
How do I rig a towline to tow another yacht?
Use nylon, such as the anchor warp, on a bridle at each end: both bow cleats through the bow roller on the casualty, both quarters on the towing boat. Windlass and pulpit are not built for it.
Tow on nylon, the anchor warp, from a bridle: both bow cleats through the bow roller on the casualty, both quarters on the tug, so she can still steer. Windlass and pulpit are not built for it.
Tow the dinghy with the outboard aboard, on two painters, on the back of a following wave; tie her short alongside before you reverse. Ashore at night: two trips, lifejackets, kill cord, torch.
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
You are leaving a quay in a fresh crosswind. The stern line will be under load until the moment you let it go. Which knot do you tie to the ring?
A. Round turn and two half hitches
The round turn takes the load, so the half hitches can be cast off and the line eased even while it is loaded.
You arrive in this Breton anchorage two hours after high water to stay the night. Where do you anchor?
A. B — sand, and enough water at LW
Depth at LW = depth now − 3.0 m: A 1.2 m (aground), B 4.5 m; C is weed among moorings — poor holding, no room.
You decide to stay the night here. How do you run it?
A. Anchor watches in turns, engine ready, alarm on
In rising wind someone must be awake on deck: a rota of anchor watches, with the engine and a plan ready.
You put the engine astern from rest on a calm day. What does the stern do first?
D. Kicks to port
A right-handed propeller walks the stern to port going astern, most strongly before she gathers way.
You will go stern-to this quay on your own anchor, with the wind across the harbour. Where do you let go?
C. About 45 m out, a little upwind of your slot
(7 + 1) × 4 = 32 m of chain plus 12 m of boat ≈ 45 m; let go upwind, as the wind pushes you down while you reverse.
You will sail onto this mooring buoy. With which sail do you make the final approach?
C. Jib only — furl it to slow down as you stem the tide
You stem the tide, so the wind is astern: a mainsail cannot be spilled downwind, a jib can be furled or let fly.
All 100 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.