How to Tie Sailing Knots
The knowledge of rope work and the ability to tie knots are extremely important skills in the world of sailing. Nearly every important task on a sailing ship involves a knot of some sort. Over time, a vast collection of sailor’s knots has been recorded and the humble Figure Eight is considered one of the simplest to learn and one of the most useful to use.
- Make a loop in the rope with the long end, or resting end, of the rope on the bottom and the short end, or working end, of the rope on top, like you would when making a simple granny knot. A figure eight is essentially nothing more than a granny knot with a bit of a twist that will enable it to not slip, yet still be easy to untie when you need to repurpose the rope again.
- Twist the short working end of the rope under the long resting end. Your rope should now have the beginnings of what looks like a figure eight, or more accurately an ampersand shape, which is also known as the "&" shape.
- Take the working end from where it is sticking out from the side of the resting end and pop it into the upper hole of the figure eight and pull it tight. If the knot isn’t working for you check to make sure that the working end of the rope is actually on top of the loop in this last step, not behind it. That will cause the knot to fail. Putting the working end through the bottom loop will also cause the knot to fail.