This series of exchanges occurred on the Scuttlebutt sailing forum in February 2005. Just goes to show there is often more than one answer to a simple question.

LETTERS TO THE CURMUDGEON 2/21/05

(Letters selected for publication must include the writer's name and may be
edited for clarity or space - 250 words max. This is not a chat room nor a
bulletin board - you only get one letter per subject, so give it your best
shot and don't whine if others disagree.)

* From Rick Van Mell, Chicago/San Francisco Bay: (edited to our 250 word
limit) When I grew up, a long time ago, I was taught to belay a line on a
cleat with: 1) a full round turn, 2) a figure eight, and 3) a final round
turn. I was also specifically taught that putting a half hitch on the cleat
was a sure way to court disaster.

But today it seems all the sailing schools are teaching folks to cleat a
line with a half hitch at the end (albeit done the right way and not
crossed). I have personally stood on Pier 40 in San Francisco and watched
as one of the Hornblower 80' cruise yachts' deck hand cast off the bow line
on the dock (it had a half hitch), then went aft to release the stern. With
20+ knots blowing the bow off the dock, the bow started across the narrow
slip. Unfortunately there was so much strain on the stern line that the
hitch had pulled tight and could not be budged, exacerbated by the skipper
trying to control the swing with the engines. When the bow reached the other
side of the slip, with the stern line still locked by its half hitch, a
nice tall concrete piling cleanly pierced the windows in the hull. If that
cleat had been tied "the old fashioned way" there would have been no problem.

I've tied mine the "old fashioned way" for 40 years and never had one slip.
So why the half hitch?

2/22/05 Responses

• From Andrew Bray, Editor, Yachting World: Rick Van Mell questions the
  need for the half hitch on a cleat. Like him I was taught never to use one
  but there was a very good reason. With natural fibre ropes when they get
  wet they swell which completely locks up a half hitched line. When
  synthetics came into use they were much more slippery and so came undone
  more easily. Hence the half hitch.
  
  And talking of being old fashioned how many boats do you see being made
  fast with bowlines? If you sail in tidal waters it's a habit you rapidly
  lose - have you ever tried undoing one when it's well loaded? The correct
  one, I was taught, is the round turn and two half hitches.
  
  
  * From Chris Ericksen: Regarding Rick Van Mell's "old-fashioned way" of
  belaying a line ('Butt 1780): I, too, learned to belay a line "a long time
  ago" as a Sea Scout, not as a yacht-club junior. The method I learned was
  the same as Rick's--right up to the "final round turn." The key to this
  process is the initial round turn: with that, the load is completely held
  by the turn. If the initial round turn is made before the figure eight, the
  half hitch should not jamb. The problem with a final round turn is that, if
  it does work loose, the entire knot can slip; the round turn holds the
  figure eight that holds the initial round turn.
  
  It was not until I became a racing sailor and started sailing boats with
  "modern" cleats made of plastic that I was introduced to the
  final-round-turn method. These cleats were often different than traditional
  cleats in that the clearance between the deck and the horn of the cleat was
  small enough that the final round turn would presumably jamb and hold the knot.
  
  Finally, I have more than once had to put the tail of a final-round-turn
  style of belaying onto a winch to release a load-induced jamb; I have never
  had a problem with a round-turn, figure-eight, half-hitch knot.
  
  
  * From Dave Ellis, Sailing Instructor: Fifty years ago and longer we used
  the extra round turn on a cleated line to hold the crossed line in place.
  Nobody used hitches because the cotton, hemp or manila line would shrink
  and be difficult to remove even when not under strain. Today at pro sailing
  schools we teach to make a round turn and then the hitch, the correct
  direction, as was noted. However, experienced instructors also counsel to
  instead use the finishing round turn for lines that must be removed under
  strain and in a hurry. A halyard on a smaller vessel, a dock line when
  ready to be removed or an anchor line come to mind. Incidentally, it is the
  first turn that holds the line. The passes over the top holds the first
  round turn. The final hitch, or round turn holds the 'X' pattern.

2/23/05 Responses

* From Spencer Ogden: I was raised on cleating with a half hitch, but
quickly learned working on large yachts that, especially with heavy dock
lines, the hitch is unnecessary. In fact, contorting some of the larger
lines is impossible. However I think on small sailing boats the hitch has
its place. Today we use light, thin, stiff lines, that won't stay neatly in
place with the jostling and shaking on a small boat. For contrast, I've
been using the "new-fangled way" for 16 years and never had one jam. Know
you lines, know your knots, and don't learn seamanship on an 80' yacht.


* From Margaret Tew: Almost forty years ago I was sailing in Area A Sears
Cup Eliminations in Luders 16s at the Northeast harbor fleet (Maine). As
jib trimmer on the genoa I was responsible for making the tacks as swift
and smooth as possible. During a practice round another crew member (our
alternate) put a half hitch on the jib sheet cleat unbeknownst to me. When
we went to a practice crash-tack, I came in off the rail and was confronted
with the half hitch. I started swearing a blue streak about it as I fumbled
to uncleat the sheet. I was normally very quiet, so the rest of the crew
was startled by my outrage and thought something was drastically wrong.
When I explained what the problem was, they were chastened and promised
never to do it again, but mostly were amused by my outburst. We one every
race of the subsequent series and had a fantastic trip to the Sears Cup
finals held by the St Francis YC in San Francisco. Heady stuff for a
sixteen-year-old back then.

Curmudgeon's Comment: Normally we don't cut off threads so soon, but I
think this ship is in the slip. Time to cleat off the docklines, half-hitch
or not, and walk away.