Knots and Might (K)nots

I run a family owned rigging business and I'm the only one in the family that can tie a knot.  There, I've said it and I feel better now that it's out there.  It's been a struggle but we still love each other and I think we'll see this through.  Sometimes it's hard to acknowledge that what may come somewhat easily for one does not necessarily come easy for others although I am reminded of this every time my teenage son and I try to play music together and it's all I can do to keep up.
My own love affair with cordage started off simply enough.  As a child the family always had a sailboat.  First a Victoria 25 followed by a Morgan Tigercub.  The boats really predate my first childhood memories so there were just always there and although they were enjoyed they were taken for granted.  Life intervened, my parents divorced, and eventually the sailing just sort of went away and frankly I didn't even notice what I'd lost on the water.
That all changed thanks to a best of Jimmy Buffet album and a stack of early 80's Cruising Worlds I discovered in my fathers house as a preteen.  Those summer months were filled with pictures of far off lands, dreams, and Buffet on a loop.  The problem was that the boat was long gone.  Sailing wasn't an option but the lure of it was strong and I discovered I could live my fantasy, at least in part, though the traditional craft of the sailor - Marlinespike Seamanship.  I soaked up any bit of fancywork I could find, starting with my trusty boy scout manual, and moving on to others as I could find them (notably Harvey Garret Smith's books).  Just before my thirteenth year I moved to Corpus Christi and fantasy turned to reality.  I joined the Sea Scouts and shortly after that started racing J boats.  In my late teens I became a full time volunteer at the Columbus ships.  Fancywork took a backseat to actual time on the water and to this day I don't remember half of what I could do then although I now know much more of the practical side of the craft such as splicing, serving, and applied knots.
Through dealing with my family and their knot-less handicap I have discovered that my background is far from universal.  To the contrary, their experience seems more on the normal side of the spectrum.  Daily I'm invited aboard boats owned and skippered by people I have enormous respect for, many of whom are better sailors than I will ever be.  However, knot tiers they are not - defaulting instead to the dreaded "might knot".  It might hold it might not.  You might be able to untie it, you might not.  The adage, "if you can't tie a knot tie a lot" has become the standard aboard many an otherwise shipshape craft.
I've read books that begin by trying to do away with the language of knot tying in an attempt to simplify what at times seems esoteric.  I firmly believe this is wrong.  A "knot" falls in to different categories and knowing what each is will allow you to know which one to apply to a given task.  Ropes are really only called upon to do a couple of different tasks and each task has it's own term.  If you know one example from each category then you will be able to handle pretty much any situation you might be called upon to do.

Hitch - To tie a line to something fixed is to hitch the line to it.  Examples include using a cleat, tying a fender to a lifeline, securing a dockline to a piling, etc.  There are a million hitches, each with their own fancy name and purpose.  The midshipman, the timber, the constrictor, the larkshead, the bollard, and the prussic are all handy and worth knowing but are frankly not necessary for the modern sailor.  What is is the ubiquitous clove hitch.  This one, sometimes combined with a half hitch, is the right tool for the all of the jobs mentioned above.  A correctly tied clove hitch has it's beginning and ending running parallel to eachother with a cross riding over it.  Note the examples below.

Bend - To tie a line to another line is to bend them together.  Examples are lengthening a line with another such as a springline that's just a bit too short or using one line to pull another such a tying your spinnaker lines together when moving your setup from one side of the boat to the other.  As above, there are countless examples, most of which are trying to gain a bit more security.  Although not the most secure by a long shot the easiest and most frequently tied is the Sheet Bend.  This basic form is simply a half hitch tied on the bight (loop) of another line and you'll see it again below on the queen of all knots.

Knot - To tie a knot is to tie a line to itself, either to create a loop or to create a stopper that will prevent it from being pulled through something.  The most famous of these, and in fact the most useful thing you can do with a piece of line is the bowline.  You'll note that this is the same structure as the sheet bend just tied with a single line instead of two.  Although a knot, the bowline can generally be used in place of a hitch or bend.  I trust my life and my sons life to a well tied bowline on a nearly daily basis.  If you know only one knot - this is the one to know.  That said, if you learn it they you've already learned the one bend you need meaning there's just one hitch and one stopper you need and you've rounded out your knot inventory to suit nearly 100% of your needs.

Last is the stopper and for this I'll fall to the figure eight.  Granted it's not quite as secure as some others but it's the easiest to tie, untie and the most just generally useful.  Take the time to learn these four simple knots (two of which are the same) and you can be secure in the knowledge that you know enough to take out the right tool for the task at hand.

Easy quilted hatch cover tutorial

The hatch cover can be a deceptively tricky thing to fit.  Frequently owners resort to snaps and other fasteners in the hatch or the deck but that introduces its own set of problems.  Here's a simple quilted hatch cover that looks good, uses a minimum of materials, and secures with shock cord.  The shock cord should probably be replaced yearly but that's easy to do.  A heavy home machine could probably handle this but it would be tough as you have to sew through five layers of canvas plus a layer of batting.

The pattern is traced directly off the hatch and then a half inch seam allowance is measured and drawn around that. Cut to the outside line and use this one pattern for everything else. Remember to measure the height of the hatch and mark that as well.

Two pieces are cut out to the pattern and the four side pieces are cut as well. To determine the size of the side pieces measure the height of the hatch and then add 1 1/2" for seam allowances. The width will be the straight portion of your pattern plus 1" for seams.

A half inch is turned over on the short sides and a full inch is turned over along one of the long sides. This are both sewn down and 1/8" from the edge.

Lay one of your big pieces down face up. Place all four side pieces in place face down (outside to outside) and baste the back one down with a 1/2" seam. We've sewn a label in place here with care instructions for the sunbrella. It's primarily there to help identify the back.

Place the top piece face down and stitch around using a 1/2" seam. Note the large gap at the bottom. This is the back of the hatch in this picture and that is left to allow you to turn it inside out.

Polyester batting is basted in place. Don't inadvertently sew up the gap in the back just yet. Clip the corners and turn everything rightside out.

Here everything is turned rightside out and sewn down with a topstitch 1/8" from the edge.

Sew straight lines all the way across athwartships to bind everything together. On this one we spaced them 2" apart. String 1/8" shockcord all the way around as pictured. Pull some tension on this and then tie it in a square knot. Clip the ends short and then work the cord around until the knot is in one of the pockets.

Hardtack

Hardtack and salt junk formed the backbone of the sailor's diet through much of seafaring history.  Hardtack is a hard, thin, unleavened bread not unlike a cracker of sorts.  To this day it still has a place aboard.  Its tasty, stores well, and makes a good snack.  What follows is a not-completely-authentic recipe that I picked up years ago and is a favorite at home.

5 cups flour
1/2 cup shortening
1 3/4 cups milk
2 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp salt

Mix everything and knead well.  Roll it out as thin as possible on a well floured surface and then bake at 400 deg.  When it starts to brown, flip and when it hardens flip it again.  Cook until it's rock hard.  Let it cool, and then break it up in to cracker sized pieces.  Stored well and kept dry this can last for months.

Replacing a Norseman Fitting

Here is a badly installed norseman fitting. It's a testament to the strength of mechanical fittings that this held at all.

Step one is removing the fitting from the old wire. This can be done in place but it's much much easier to do it at the bench. First you unscrew the fitting. If it was put together with red loctite like it should you may need heat but brute force generally gets it done. After you get it apart clamp the cable in a vise just behind the fitting. Typically a wire diameter or less. Give the fitting a good smack with a mallet, lead hammer, or other non-marring tool. This should pop it loose from the cable and let you slide the fitting up. After you do that, cut the cable and remove the fitting.

Old fitting cleaned up and installed on a new wire. On Norseman's and Stalok's the cone must be replaced. On Hi-Mod's you can reuse all of the parts. The wire is evenly splayed out (no twisted or crossed strands) and the cone is inserted over the core with the taper pointing towards the fitting. The cone is inserted 1 1/2 wire diameters from the end of the cable. Cone placement is critical and is the number one causes of bad installs. I can't stress enough how important it is that the cone go on the entire core correctly. On this old fitting only two of the internal seven strands was inserted. I've even seen a "professionally" installed fitting where the rigger had filed or ground the core wires to make the cone fit easier. If you don't have an easy fit you need to reassess what is going on before continuing. It is NEVER necessary to alter the fitting or the cable in anyway. Norseman are the least user friendly fitting at this step.

The splayed outer wires are now twisted back to their original place making sure none of the individual wires lies in the groove of the cone. If the cone was inserted the proper depth the wires should lay approximately as pictured. This allows the recess in the male end of the fitting to do its job.

Red loctite is applied to the threads to lubricate them for the next step. Stainless is very susceptible to galling and the lubrication prevents this. Don't skip this step. I've put together a dry fitting by hand before and needed two large wrenches to get it back apart and the fitting was destroyed in the process.

The fitting is screwed together. You will feel it if anything is going wrong. If so stop, take it apart, and inspect it.

Take the fitting apart and inspect that the ends of the outer strands are wrapped evenly over the end of the cone. I wish I had a better picture here but I was having trouble with the depth focus. Now is the time to inject any sealant. My default is either 3M 4000UV or a polysulfide sealant. This isn't the place for silicone or 5200 although 5200 would work in a pinch. Just squeeze some right on top of the wire and in to the hollow in the male portion of the fitting.

As you screw everything together the sealant should squeeze out at the base of the fitting.

Fitting finally finished with the excess sealant cleaned off.

Mechanical Fittings

Here's a picture showing the three different common brands of mechanical fittings. Mechanical fittings are superior to swage fittings in all aspects except for initial cost. Lifespan, reliability, cost of installation, and versatility all check in mechanical fitting's favor. We sell and service all of these fittings but default to the Hi-Mod when possible because of the strong points outlined below.

Norseman (top left) - hardest to install, cone not reusable. I believe the shroud terminal pictured is only available in a Norseman. Second easiest to remove because the body on the wire has the female threads

Sta-lok (top right) - easier to install because of the forming cap, a second smaller internal piece pictured on the far right. Very common. I think this had more or less replaced the Norseman fitting as the go to for most people, primarily because it's the one you're likely to find at the local West Marine. I believe the Norseman and the Sta-lok are competitively priced with each other. Like the Norseman the cone has to be replaced. It's probably the most difficult to remove and replace because the forming cap inevitably gets glued in to place with old sealant and you really need to get it all apart and clean when you are putting it on a new wire. The Norseman and Sta-lok both bend the ends of the wire over the cone so it's impossible to take them off and reinstall them back on the same wire without shortening the cable some.

Hi-Mod (bottom) - Easiest to install because of the crown ring and a depth stop that's machined in to the bottom of the threaded portion. It's also the strongest of the three fittings. The ends of the individual wires aren't bent so you can remove them and replace them from the same cable with no need to modify anything. The internal cone is reusable. All in all I think it's the best fitting. On the downside it's the most expensive. Another detail I put in the negative category is that the manufacturer recommends against filling the fitting with sealant. They argue that they do that because it limits how inspect-able they are and that it's not necessary but there is some debate between riggers about that. We follow the manufacturers spec here for liability reasons but I think a valid argument could be made on each side of the debate.

Suncor (not pictured) - The suncor fitting does not use an internal cone to distribute the load between the internal and outer strands, using a toothed collet arrangement instead to just grip the wires on the outside. They are a little fussy to install but still much easier than the Norseman and Sta-lok fittings. They are also very inexpensive, being a far east import. I have some misgivings about the internal components. They are advertised as 100% stainless but they aren't. They have at least one internal bronze piece and I have no idea what alloy the collet is. It does not appear to be stainless. To my knowledge they haven't published holding power and they haven't done well in private destructive tests. For sealant they advise adding a little silicone to the outside of the fitting after it's installed which is terrible advice as the bond between silicone and polished stainless is nearly non-existant so all the silicone there will do is insure any water that's found its way in will stay there. I won't deal in these fittings and I generally advise against them and will continue to do so until I hear some better reports.