Tarps and rope hitches

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Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
I’ve been using cheap polytarps on my boat for years. I usually get about three seasons out of them depending on how often I use them. My boom tarp is an 8’x10’ tarp and it gets used constantly. The grommets are not always centered on these tarps where you really need them and I usually need to install a couple of ½” grommets in the center of each end of the tarp where I tie on to the mast and the end of the boom. For tie downs, I use 3/16” braid line cut at various lengths where needed. I generally tie the tarp off to the end of the boom first and then tie it off to the mast. Then I come back to the Port side of the cockpit and tie off the rest of the lines to my lifelines with quick release hitches. These quick release hitches are nothing more than clove hitches which are left with a bight very similar to a reefing knot. In other words, the bitter end of the line isn’t pulled all the way through like the clove hitch.
These tarps are flammable and it’s important that they be tied in such a way that you can remove them fast if you have to, especially if you don’t have a knife handy. Outside of that, you want something that is quick and easy to install and break down in a hurry. I’ve developed a certain routine that I use for getting the boom tarp up or broken down that I use each time and it has become so automatic that I don’t even think about it.
The tarps keep my cabin nice and cool on a hot summer’s day and they’re pretty good at keeping rain out of the cockpit and allow me to keep my companionway sliding hatch open unless there’s a driving rain. The boom tarp keeps out a lot of that morning in the cockpit. The only down side to these tarps is that they can be a little noisy on an extremely windy day.
Last year I was sailing under the Mount Hope Bridge down in Bristol RI heading North toward the mouth of the Taunton River in Fall River Ma., when it started to rain. The wind was behind us as it usually is with SW prevailing winds in that area. Usually I would put on my rain gear and sit in the cockpit and steer. I also would tie a 5x7’ tarp over the entrance to my companionway hatch to keep the rain out of the cabin which makes it easy to go in and out of the cabin when I need to. This time I wanted to try something different so I poled out my Gennie with my whisker pole and I took the Main down and covered it. Then I installed my boom tarp, plus two of my 5’x7’ tarps. Penny and I sailed all the way to our yacht club as dry as a bone. We had to motor under a drawbridge inside of the mouth of the river but had no problems with all these tarps hung.
My stern rail is high enough to where I can hang a 5’x7’ tarp to it and tie the front part of the tarp to my lifelines off with rolling hitches with my boat hook to prop the tarp up. It’s a poor sailor’s Bimini Top, but it works for us on an extremely hot day sailing out on the bays. I’d love to have a Bimini top but I do a lot of trolling for Stripers and Blues and the top would just be in the way with a “fish on.”
The “Lineman’s Rolling Hitch is an easy hitch to tie. Just make five or six wraps of the line around anything, come back and bring the line under the standing part of the line and go back up to the last wrap and tie a couple of half hitches in front of the wraps. Always wrap away from the direction of pull. You can grab this hitch by the wraps and move it anywhere you like but when you get a strain on the standing part, the hitch stays put. I tied a bowline to the standing part just for the sake of clarity in the picture. I doubt if you're going to find this hitch in any knot books or knot sites but any power lineman is very familiar wit this hitch and ties it on a daily basis. I know this because I did, years back.
I use a round turn and half hitches quite a bit. A round turn can keep half hitches from binding under tension which makes removing the hitches very easy. I use a round turn and one slipped half hitch on the tarp lines that attach to the bales on my stern rail where the lifeline pelican hooks attach to this rail.
Another hitch I use is the “Highwayman’s Hitch.” I remember reading about this hitch in one of my old boating magazines like “Rudder”, years back. They called it the “Scandinavian Hitch” and claimed that it was used extensively by Scandinavian boaters on the rivers. They would anchor their boats and also run a line to a tree on shore using this hitch along with a long smaller diameter line run back to the boat so that they could trip the hitch from their boats when they were ready to shove off. I use this hitch to tie off my swimming ladder.
I use a number of knots like the bowline and reef knot, but one of my favorites for joining to lines together is the Benson Bend. Check them out.
 

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Bosman

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Oct 24, 2010
346
Solina 27 Wabamun, Alberta
For approximately price of 10 heavy duty tarps 8x10, a couple of years ago I had a local upholstery shop make me something similar out of sunbrella fabric. Serves same purpose as Trinkka's. No, I cannot use my main with it.

 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
I think that a Sumbrella tarp is well worth the money spent. I may go that route some day soon. The only drawback to Sumbrella outside of the fact that the material is a little heavier, is that you need to dry it out after a rain before you can fold and stow it. I have to do this with my Sumbrella sail cover anyway, so I really don't mind that too much but spreading it out in the cabin of a small boat to dry can be a problem for some boaters.
The polytarps on the other hand can be folded wet and stored in the lazarett. I've been thinking of making a tarp out of Silnylon which is lighter in weight and less noisy in a wind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHzZAGqIaV8&list=UUOhrLoJEnTLkrwWNYgYxAPA&index=35&feature=plcp
I'm not sure how well it would stand up on a sailboat but it would be worth a shot.
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
Thanks for sharing Joe. Another good knot is like a Christmas present!
It's my pleasure merlinuxo! A sailor can never know too many knots.

The "Benson Bend" was invented by a guy named Fud Benson and it was illustrated in Brion Toss' book entitled, "The Rigger's Apprentice."

Last year I sent the Benson Bend and the Lineman's Rolling Hitch to Grog so that he could put them on his site.
http://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.grogono.com
He replied to my email and said that he'd look into them but he never did put them on his site.
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
I think the "Fud Knot" would have been a better name. ;)

I like the knots, though.
I use that knot quite a bit when I want join two of my 24' mooring lines. It's simple to tie and untie.

The rolling hitch has a million uses. I've taken a 3/16"X 15" braid line and tied a single sheave to it and attached it to my back stay with that hitch and hauled my Stern's Sunshower up on it to get a little more height for taking a shower in the cockpit rather than hanging the bag on the end of the boom. Years ago I used to use the rolling hitch to attach my baby stays from my pivot bridles, to my lower stays in mast raising/lowering with my Gin Pole.

After I bought my CDI Roller Furler and installed it on my boat, I started using this hitch to secure my furler's vinyl luff to my Gin pole when I raised/lowered my mast by myself. This is where that hitch comes in pretty handy.
What I do is tie the hitch to the vinyl luff about 2' up from the Gin Pole. Then I take two wraps of the line around the Pole about 2/3s of the way from the mast and pull it up tight and add two half hitches to the rope. I usually leave the furler on the Starboard side of the Gin Pole and bring the excess rope around the furler luff and tie two half hitches around the Gin Pole thereby entrapping the luff to the Gin pole so it doesn't flop around while I'm raising or lowering the mast.
With the right type of rope, this hitch will hold just about anything.
 

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Jul 28, 2010
914
Boston Whaler Montauk New Orleans
That's pretty cool, Joe. The wraps don't mess up your furler luff?
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
As kids we braided alot of things- string,rope, girls hair (not mine), whatever. In your third picture of the loop at the stern rail, reach through the loop, grab the bitter end, pull it back through the loop far enough to make a second loop. Continue this way until you use up all the bitter end. It is just a series of your loops, and my crew is surprised to just pull the end and it all comes undone quickly. You can"capture" the lifeline/rail/the line to the tarp, by alternating once in a while the "braiding" to the other side of the rail then back, and so forth. It's a nice way to secure the excess fender lines onto the lifelines.
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
That's pretty cool, Joe. The wraps don't mess up your furler luff?
No it doesn't. I suppose it could if you were to put a block & tackle on it and pulled the snot out of it, but I only pull it up hand tight. The beauty of this is that you can raise or lower your mast by yourself with the aid of the Gin Pole and baby stays without worry of the furler falling over to one side and messing up the balance of the mast which can cause it to topple over sideways.

This happened to a lady I know who owns an O'Day 222 like mine just a couple of weeks ago. She was standing on the bow of the boat holding the disconnected furler and her helper was standing on the closed companionway hatch ready to lower the mast down. He was trying to get the mast started on it's descent by pulling it toward him a little and she was holding on to the furler probably with too much tension thereby fighting each other. He gave the mast a sharp pull to get it started and she went forward losing her balance, tripped and fell over on her face. The furler got loose and went over the side and took the mast with it.
Fortunately, they were able to remove the hinge plate and get it straightened out. Luckily no one was hurt. What really made matters worse was that the wind was coming from abeam as they were lowering the mast. Not good!
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
As kids we braided alot of things- string,rope, girls hair (not mine), whatever. In your third picture of the loop at the stern rail, reach through the loop, grab the bitter end, pull it back through the loop far enough to make a second loop. Continue this way until you use up all the bitter end. It is just a series of your loops, and my crew is surprised to just pull the end and it all comes undone quickly. You can"capture" the lifeline/rail/the line to the tarp, by alternating once in a while the "braiding" to the other side of the rail then back, and so forth. It's a nice way to secure the excess fender lines onto the lifelines.
I never did much braiding until I became a lineman for a power company Ron. The line Foreman taught me how to make eye splices and short splices in three strand rope. Probably the hardest thing was getting the first three tucks right. It took me years of practice to figure out how to get it right every time.

The knot in that third picture is just a round turn with a slipped half hitch. It's so easy to tie and untie which I do a lot on the Port side of the boat when I board my kayak. I usually tie or untie it while sitting in the kayak with Penny. I wouldn't dare to let Penny jump out of the kayak and up into the boat with the lifeline and tarp line in place. It would be a disaster if she hit one of those lines and fell back in my lap as I'm sitting in the kayak.
 
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