Knots So Much

A pictorial homage to the much maligned cleat hitch.

Knots on a boat do not need to be complicated. In fact, the simpler the better.

Use the right knot for the job, do it consistently, and all will be good. So even if you have to undo the knot in the dark, with salt spray in your face, at an uncomfortable angle, it’ll be simple and straight forward. The last thing you want to be doing on the foredeck on a boat pitching in swells is to fight with a knot that won’t come undone.

The cleat knot is one of my favourites for its simplicity and speed. It’s how you tie a line around a cleat.

Here then is a a rogue’s gallery of how NOT to do it.

There are loads of videos on the internet on how to tie a cleat hitch. Most of them take way to long. Here’s a quick and simple explanation from Animated Knots.