List of Boating Knots
How to Tie Boating Knots | Boating Knots
Midshipman's Hitch : The Midshipman's (Taut Line) Hitch is an adjustable loop and can be used for tying Spring Lines.
Alpine Butterfly Bend: The Alpine Butterfly Bend provides a secure method of joining two pieces of rope. It is based on the better known Alpine Butterfly Loop. This page provides links to three other very closely related bends: Ashley, Hunter's, and Zeppelin.
Alpine Butterfly or Linesman's Loop: The Alpine Butterfly provides a secure loop in the middle of a piece of rope. Strain can be applied from the loop to either end or between the two ends.
Anchor Hitch: The Anchor Hitch - or Fisherman's Hitch - is suitable to attach a line to an anchor. It is like a Round Turn and Two Half Hitches with the first Half Hitch passed under the first round turn. Add one or more Half Hitches for security
Ashley (Oysterman) Stopper Knot: The Ashley makes a reliable bulky stopper knot in the end of a rope. This page also provides links to other stopper knots.
The Bowline: The Bowline makes a secure loop in the end of a piece of rope. It can be used to secure a line to a ring or post. When there is no strain it can easily be undone.
Bowline on a Bight: The Bowline on a Bight creates a double loop in the middle of a rope. It has a similar structure to a normal bowline. A bight of the rope is used to enclose both "standing ends".
Running Bowline: The Running Bowline is identical to a normal bowline but is tied around the standing end so that it can slide, e.g., up to a tree branch.
Buntline Hitch: The Buntline Hitch was originally employed to secure buntlines to square sails. It makes a secure hitch to a ring or a pole. A heavy load tends to tighten the hitch and may make it difficult to untie.
Carrick Bend: The Carrick Bend joins two ropes securely and can readily be untied - even after a heavy load. It is recommended when joining two large tow-line hawsers. The knot deserves to be better known and more widely used.
Chain Splice: The Chain Splice securely attaches a three-stranded rope to an anchor chain using a modified eye-splice. It allows the rope to follow the chain over the windlass and into the chain locker without tangles.
Cleat Hitch (Deck): The Cleat Hitch attaches a rope to a cleat. It is frequently used to secure a mooring line to a dock cleat. It has many other uses, e.g., for dinghy bow lines, and sheets. Linked to this page is a another page about cleating a halyard.
Cleat Hitch (Halyard): The Cleat Hitch attaches a halyard to a cleat.
Rolling (Taut Line) Hitch: The Rolling Hitch secures a rope to another parallel rope. It is one of the few knots which can be tied and untied while there is a load and can be adjusted without it being untied. It can take the load while a rope is transferred or secured elsewhere.
Clove Hitch (End): The Clove Hitch can be made by passing the end round a bar. Made this way it is useful for attaching boat fenders or adjusting stage scenery. It is tied off after adjustment.
Constrictor: The Constrictor Knot consists of a simple Half Hitch which is gripped by an overlying turn of the rope. This is what binds the knot and makes it hard to undo. This page also links to two other pages which demonstrate alternative ways tie this knot.
Double Overhand Knot: The Double Overhand Knot makes a reliable stopper knot. It forms the basis for other knots such as the Double Fisherman's Bend.
EStar Stopper Knot: The EStar Stopper does not slip even when tied in very slippery rope like Dyneema.
Eye Splice: In three-stranded rope, the Eye Splice creates a secure loop in the end of the rope. It may used, for example, to secure a rope to the bow of a dinghy, or a rope to a bucket handle.
Figure 8: The Figure 8 is a stopper knot - it prevents the end of a rope sliding through a pulley or it can be used to add security to another knot. It is relatively easy to undo, is preferred to the Overhand Knot, but is not as secure as the Double Overhand.
Halyard Hitch: The Halyard Hitch is a very compact knot used to join a halyard and shackle at the head of a sail.
Trucker's Hitch (Lorry, Haymaker's, Harvester's): The Trucker's Hitch is used to secure a load or a tarpaulin down to a hook or other fixed point. It provides a three to one purchase which makes it easier to tighten the rope and reduces the strain on the final knot.
Heaving Line Knot: The Heaving Line Knot is a method of weighting the end of a rope so that it carries further when thrown.
Icicle Hitch (Loop Method): The Icicle Hitch is an excellent slide and grip knot. Here, it is tied by passing a loop over the end of a pole. It is possibly the most secure Slide and Grip knot. This page provides a link to how to tie same knot using the end of the rope.
Lighterman's Hitch: The Lighterman's Hitch is a simple robust way of securing a tow line. It can be safely released without risk of jamming.
Rat Tail Stopper: The Rat Tail Stopper is a friction hitch which takes the load on a Mooring Line while it is transferred to the Bitts.
Pile Hitch: The Pile Hitch provides a quick and easy way to attach a line to a mooring pole.
Round Turn and Two Half Hitches: An excellent knot for securing a rope to a post or ring. The initial turns take the load, e.g., of a mooring line during docking. While one hand holds the strain, the knot is then tied with the other.
Soft Shackle: The Soft Shackle employs hollow braided rope to create a strong, light alternative to the standard metal shackle.
Soft Shackle (Edwards): The Edwards Soft Shackle employs hollow braided rope to create an alternative to the standard soft shackle.
Stevedore Stopper Knot: The Stevedore Stopper Knot is a secure stopper of intermediate size which is relatively easy to undo after a heavy load..
Zeppelin Bend The Zeppelin Bend is one of a family of knots based on interlocking overhand knots. It joins two ropes of roughly the same size.
Boating Knots
These animated knots are primarily for boaters, but many are useful for anyone who uses rope and values safety.
SelectionThe selection of knots is based on many years of sailing combined with feedback and advice from several helpful captains. The knots are arranged in alphabetical order.
Boating Knot Characteristics
Rope used in boating is durable and expensive and is often handling heavy loads, e.g., when berthing, mooring, towing another vessel, preparing for a storm, or managing sails. The emphasis, therefore, is on safety, reliability, and convenience. In contrast to the fishing knots, value is also placed on being able to use the rope repeatedly and untie each knot without difficulty.
Standing End, Tail, and Bitter End
In many knots there is Standing End - which takes the strain, and a Tail - the loose end in your hand.
Mooring Lines and Names
Mooring lines on large ships are nearly always made of a high-modulus polyethylene (HMPE) such as Vectran® or Dyneema®. These ropes float and their minimal elasticity reduces risk of injury due to "snap-back" in the event of a breakage. Each line serves a specific purpose. On large vessels two lines often run in parallel ("doubled up") for safety. The following diagram shows a typical arrangement:
Doubling-Up and Sharing a Bollard
When two lines run to the same Bollard, especially when they are from different ships, the second line should be threaded up through the eye-splice of the first. This is called Dipping the Loop and allows either line to be released with out tangling.
Make a selection from the images above.