Boat Sailing in Fair Weather and Foul, 6th ed.

by A. J. Kenealy

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.

Long Splice—Unlay the ends of the two ropes that are to be joined some two or three feet, according to the size of the rope. Place the two ends together, as shown in Fig. 1. Unlay strand C and lead it back to A; then take D and lay it up in the space left by C. Do this with the strands E and F on the opposite side. The rope will now look like Fig. 2. Give the two middle strands, G and H, a lick of tar if the rope is of hemp, and grease if of manilla, and knot them together with an overhand knot, taking care that the knot is so formed as to follow the lay of the rope. Then halve these strands and pass them over one strand and under two. Treat the remaining strands in the same way, after which stretch the rope well and cut off the ends of the strands. A long splice is the neatest way there is of putting two ends of a rope together. If well made it does not increase the diameter of the rope, and therefore renders through blocks as though it did not exist. If one strand of a rope is chafed through while the other two are sound, a new strand may be put in to replace it, and the ends may be finished off in the same way as in a long splice.

Cut Splice—A cut splice is made the same as an eye splice, only with two ropes instead of one.

Overhand Knot—It is used at the ends of ropes to prevent them from unreeving. There should always be one in the end of the mainsheet, which is difficult to reeve again in anything like a breeze.

Reef Knot—It is always used to tie the reef points of a sail. First make an overhand knot and then pass the ends so that they take the same lay as the crossed parts of the overhand knot. If passed the other way, the knot will form what sailors call a granny, which will slip when it is subjected to a strain.

Bowline Knot—Take the end (1) of the rope in the right hand and the standing part (2) in the left hand. Lay the end over the standing part and turn the left wrist so that the standing part forms a loop (4) enclosing the end. Next lead the end back of the standing part and above the loop, and bring the end down through the loop as shown. This is a very useful knot.