The advent of wire rigging and steamships marked the decline of marlinspike seamanship and today a great many so-called sailors are woefully ignorant of any but the simplest knots and ropework. On the old square-riggers and in the days when sailing vessels were supreme upon the seas, the sailors prided themselves upon their knowledge of knots and splices. Today one may now and then find an old deep-water tar who can tie every knot and make every splice ever used aboard ship, but each year these men are becoming fewer and marlinspike seamanship, unless kept alive by those who sail boats for pleasure, will soon be a thing of the past.
Before commencing to tie knots or to make splices one should learn about the various kinds of rope and the names of the rope’s parts.
Ordinary rope is known as three-stranded and is made of three pieces, or strands, twisted together. These run from left to right in a spiral and each of these several strands is made up of smaller pieces known as yarns, which are twisted together from right to left or left-handed. Other ropes are made of four strands, while bolt-rope has a central strand around which the other strands are laid or twisted. Some ropes are laid up left-handed with each strand composed of yarns twisted right-handed, but when made in this way the rope becomes a cable or a cable-laid rope.
The ropes ordinarily used are the three-stranded, right-hand kinds and they may be made of cotton, jute, Manilla or hemp, the Manilla being the best and most widely used.
Small ropes are usually termed lines by sailors, and one never hears a seaman speak of “string.” Instead he says “twine,” “line,” “yarn,” or “marline.” Twine is small right-handed line. Spun-yarn, or yarn, is loosely laid, left-handed hemp, tarred and rubbed down. Marline is line made of two finely dressed hemp yarns laid left-handed and usually tarred.
Whenever a rope is used for tying a knot or making a splice certain terms are employed to designate the various parts and as these names are used in the directions for making knots you should become familiar with them.
The principal portion or longest part of the rope is called the standing part; the portion bent or curved is the bight, and the shorter portion used in making the knot or splice is the end. Fig. 1.
There are various types of knots, some employed for everyday useful purposes and some for purely ornamental uses. As the former are the easiest to make and are most important, it is a wise plan to learn how to tie them before attempting to master the more difficult ornamental knots.
Useful Knots and Splices