Best knot?

[Krusty]

Hi.

 

What's the best knot to use when tying up the centre rope to a lock bollard, that wont slip with the wash from the emptying lock?

 

Thanks. K.

 

Edit: Sorry didn't explain it well.

 

I meant the lock mooring bollards, while waiting to go into the lock....

 

K

Edited October 7, 2014 by Krusty

[Boat&Bikes]

Probably best if it does slip...

 

Ian.

[RLWP]

Dunno, I never use ropes in a lock. Just let the boat rest on the gate

 

Seriously, something that slips is what you want, say two turns around the bollard. I'm sure you are aware, for those that are not - don't tie the boat so far back it can get caught on the cill.

 

The first boat we hired, we were warned not to use ropes in locks. 'Have a look at the lock sides and see how many bits of rope are jammed between the coping stones' they said. They're right!

 

Richard

 

We really, truly never use ropes in locks. It just slows the process down

[NickF]

I always use a clove hitch on the centre line if I tie it as it is really quick to drop over the bollard, having said that I don't often tie the centre line and if i do its only for a short while, may be while i walk to the bow to get a bowline.

[PaulG]

Hi.

 

What's the best knot to use when tying up the centre rope to a lock bollard, that wont slip with the wash from the emptying lock?

 

Thanks. K.

I wouldn't tie up while inside the lock.

Do you mean tying up to the bollards at the lock landing?

[Stilllearning]

Dunno, I never use ropes in a lock. Just let the boat rest on the gate

 

Seriously, something that slips is what you want, say two turns around the bollard. I'm sure you are aware, for those that are not - don't tie the boat so far back it can get caught on the cill.

 

The first boat we hired, we were warned not to use ropes in locks. 'Have a look at the lock sides and see how many bits of rope are jammed between the coping stones' they said. They're right!

 

Richard

 

We really, truly never use ropes in locks. It just slows the process down

When locking uphill on broad locks, single handing, I can't see a way to avoid using at least one line, especially if there is only my boat in the lock.

[alan_fincher]

If waiting outside a lock, then use a boatman's hitch.

 

If inside a lock, don't tie to anything, normally.

 

Not a fan of clove hitches round bollards or stakes - they can go from either extreme to just slipping through, to jamming absolutely solid.

 

Boatman's hitch is the knot for tying up in 90% of canal situations where you tie around something, be it bollard, stake or stud.

 

Only place it can't easily be used is when tying through something like a ring.

[Krusty]

Dunno, I never use ropes in a lock. Just let the boat rest on the gate

 

Seriously, something that slips is what you want, say two turns around the bollard. I'm sure you are aware, for those that are not - don't tie the boat so far back it can get caught on the cill.

 

The first boat we hired, we were warned not to use ropes in locks. 'Have a look at the lock sides and see how many bits of rope are jammed between the coping stones' they said. They're right!

 

Richard

 

We really, truly never use ropes in locks. It just slows the process down

 

Dunno, I never use ropes in a lock. Just let the boat rest on the gate

 

Seriously, something that slips is what you want, say two turns around the bollard. I'm sure you are aware, for those that are not - don't tie the boat so far back it can get caught on the cill.

 

The first boat we hired, we were warned not to use ropes in locks. 'Have a look at the lock sides and see how many bits of rope are jammed between the coping stones' they said. They're right!

 

Richard

 

We really, truly never use ropes in locks. It just slows the process down

Sorry. Just edited the op...I meant the lock landing.

I wouldn't tie up while inside the lock.

Do you mean tying up to the bollards at the lock landing?

Yes

[PaulG]

 

Sorry. Just edited the op...I meant the lock landing.

Yes

Lighterman's hitch:

 

http://www.animatedknots.com/lightermans/

[RLWP]

Ahh, that makes more sense

 

I assume you are single handing (we never tie up on lock landings otherwise). With our 70' boat I like to shove the bow in the lock mouth and use the stern line. I'd use a boatmans hitch

 

Richar

[Grace and Favour]

Aye, I use a lighterman's hitch

[The Bagdad Boatman (waits)]

Use a bargmans or lightermans hitch. wrap the rope round the bollard at least three times then put a loop under the part of the line from the boat, over the bollard and add a couple of wraps

https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=lighterman%27s+hitch

Do not use a clove hitch as it will pull tight and be difficult to undo. use a bow rope to prevent the boat from pulling into the flow from the lock.

[RLWP]

Lighterman's hitch:

 

http://www.animatedknots.com/lightermans/

 

I use that one. Isn't it surprising that 'pull a loop under the line, drop it over the bollard and repeat' can have a proper name as a knot. It's easy to untie - keep lifting loops off until the line is free

 

Richard

[ditchcrawler]

Take care with this, i still have memories of the boat going over at an alarming angle when I tied the center rope below Welsh Road lock and Diana and I both went up and opened the bottom paddles.

[PaulG]

 

I use that one. Isn't it surprising that 'pull a loop under the line, drop it over the bollard and repeat' can have a proper name as a knot. It's easy to untie - keep lifting loops off until the line is free

 

Richard

When I first started to use it I was very dubious. Experience has taught me to trust it more than a clover hitch!

[alan_fincher]

Yes, the lighterman's or tugman's hitch is basically what I mean when I say boatman's hitch.

 

I can't actually see the point of the full turn(s) around the bollard before you start laying on the hitches though - I always go straight to the hitches.

 

Obviously for temporary use at a lock you would not bother with the additional 2 half hitches shown at the end of that animated video - although knowing how long we wait for some people doing "lock-side macramé", I can only assume they are tying and untying something even more complex, (multiple times!).

[PaulG]

Yes, the lighterman's or tugman's hitch is basically what I mean when I say boatman's hitch.

Perhaps we can now have a 3-day argument over what it's called.........

[Krusty]

Thanks all.

 

I'll try the lightermans knot (or whatever it's called) on the next lock LANDING.

 

Thanks again. Krusty.

[Proper Job]

http://youtu.be/Lvcnx6-0GhA

[nicknorman]

Personally I always use a clove hitch. Quick, easy, tidy and secure and substantially less knitting than the boatman's hitch. In 40+ years of boating I have only once had some difficulty undoing one - it took 30 seconds instead of 5 seconds - and that was after I foolishly tied centre line to a bollard as a historic boat went past (not fast, but with lots of suction). I had walked away but the fact that everything was on the floor in the cabin meant the boat had heeled over to an extreme angle and pulled the rope really tight.

[patty-ann]

i think i sort of use the lighter mans knot thingy when i tie up and add a bit extra cos never feel have it quite right.

[alan_fincher]

i think i sort of use the lighter mans knot thingy when i tie up and add a bit extra cos never feel have it quite right.

 

Depending on the rope in use, after a few hitches it is not going anywhere, but we have some ropes (thinner synthetic ones) that need up to 4 hitches to be confident it will stay secure around those horrible concrete BW bollards , when other ropes manage it well on just two hitches.

 

One of the advantages or disadvantages of this knot, (depending on tour point of view!), is that if you tie it around a stake, it is rock solid, but if you draw the stake out, it falls away to just a pile of rope, with nothing to untie, (same is true of a clove hitch of course, but pulling the stake cleanly out may be harder). Of course this means if your stakes are "pulled" in soft ground, you could end up losing them, so if ground is soft I tend to use the stakes with loops on the top, and pass one of my bights through the loop, which means stake will stay attached to rope if you do come adrift. You lose the advantage of just being able to pull it out though - (obviously!).

[nicknorman]

One of the advantages or disadvantages of this knot, (depending on tour point of view!), is that if you tie it around a stake, it is rock solid, but if you draw the stake out, it falls away to just a pile of rope, with nothing to untie, (same is true of a clove hitch of course, but pulling the stake cleanly out may be harder). Of course this means if your stakes are "pulled" in soft ground, you could end up losing them, so if ground is soft I tend to use the stakes with loops on the top, and pass one of my bights through the loop, which means stake will stay attached to rope if you do come adrift. You lose the advantage of just being able to pull it out though - (obviously!).

Do you tie on to the stake? We always just pass the rope around the stake, through the security loop, and tie back onto the boat.

[ditchcrawler]

Do you tie on to the stake? We always just pass the rope around the stake, through the security loop, and tie back onto the boat.

Sometimes

[alan_fincher]

Do you tie on to the stake? We always just pass the rope around the stake, through the security loop, and tie back onto the boat.

Yes, fair comment - in virtually all "permanent" situations that is what I would be doing - wouls still be using a boatman's hitch, but at the boat end!

 

If I do tie to a stake it is usually a pretty temporary situation - for example when the tug is tied from a rope the ring on its back end rail, rather than from each of its ends. (It is easier to tie to a stake than to a ring, in my lazy world!)