Wire Rope Eye Splice

Rope is rope and an eye splice is an eye splice, regardless of the material.  

At a whaling museum in Flores, Azores, Portugal, I came across this impressive feat. 

It’s a wire rope eye splice done in massively thick wire rope!  

This eye splice used to be used in the terrible act of hauling dead whales from the shore to the “processing plant” where the oil was extracted from their tissues.  

The rope was used under high loads and dragged over stone roads as it hauled the load up from the volcanic shoreline. Regular hemp rope at the time would not have been able to support the load or chafe, but it appears that wire rope was up to the challenge! 

Regardless of the material, a splice is. a splice and following the pattern will result in a familiar looking result.  

Monkey Fist

This knot is a favorite for key chains and ornaments, but it has a much more practical purpose.

A Monkey Fist adds a considerable amount of mass at the end of a line, allowing this to be tossed across great distances as it trails a small messenger line. Once this line is transferred, the real mooring warp can be hauled to bring the boat into berth.

The video below shows how to tie a Monkey Fist.

Knot Fast!

Knots, they offer endless possibilities for the systems you can create in a rope, but tying them can be time consuming.

This knot, the Alpine Butterfly Knot can be tied in 5 seconds and is a great way to put a bight in a line!

Chafe Resistant Bowline

When you tie a bowline to another bowline, you risk the two loops sawing on each other and actually chafing through! To prevent this, all you need to do is pass the line a few times through the loop. 

This will take any movement out of the system and allow your two lines to hold securely without the fear of chafe.  

We do this to tie the bow line of the dinghy to the painter. The painter has a bowline tied in it and we simply tie up to the loop. Having these wraps means that we can sleep easily without worrying about the dinghy sawing through its painter and drifting away quietly into the night.  

Toe Rail Cleat Hitch

A cleat hitch is nothing more than a clove hitch tied around a cleat. Just as a Sampson Post Hitch is a clove hitch tied around a Sampson Post.

If you have a perforated toe rail, you can use this trick to tie a cleat hitch anywhere on your toerail, whether you have a cleat available or not! 

All you need to do is picture the toerail as a cleat, and begin from there. Now, the end that runs towards our dinghy painter is coming off the wrong side (the current switched and winds didn't) but I'm sure you won't make that same mistake.

Simply lead the line through the toerail and back along the side of the toerail just like you would make the first pass on a cleat. Then instead of going under the horns, you simply pass the line through the perforations in the toerail. The last step is a bit different, as you don't twist and slip over the horn, instead you have to pass the bitter end through the knot. 

If you picture it as tying a clove hitch on your toerail, you will easily and securely be able to attach any line at any point of your vessel.