Fig. 8.
One overhand knot on the top of another will form a Reef Knot ([Fig. 8]), that is if the ends are crossed the right way; for otherwise it will be a granny ([Fig. 9]), the sailor’s detestation. The novice on board a yacht is sure to be unmercifully chaffed should he have assisted at reefing the mainsail, and a granny be afterwards discovered among the reef points. The figures will show that in the reef-knot both parts—the standing part and the end—pass through the bight the same way, not one under and one above, as in the granny.
Fig. 9.
A Common Bend ([Fig. 10]) will bend two ropes together. Take up the end of one rope into a bight, and pass the end of the other rope through the bight round both parts and under its own standing part. A common bend also serves to bend a rope into an eye spliced into the end of another rope. The signal halyards are thus bent on to the burgee.
Fig. 10.