Posted by Jonathan Labaree on January 18, 2001 at 23:37:26 from 207.5.232.29:
In Reply to: A knotty problem aboard "WELCOME" posted by Mathew Walker on January 17, 2001 at 17:09:50:
I wanted to address Matthew's first question: whether these esoteric wherryman's knots would be of interest to the young Coot Club. I would most certainly have been transfixed by a real sailor showing me the technical knots of his trade. I remember being that age and learning all sort of strange tangles the names and uses of which have long since faded into oblivion because I never used them. I suspect many of us went through a very nautical stage during which we thought more salty knowledge was better. I definitely identify with the Coot Club's fascination.
In reality, though, my boat-centered life rarely requires more than a half dozen knots: square knot, half-hitch, clove hitch, bowline, sheet bend, and rolling hitch. Flyfishing requires a few more be added to the arsenal, but not many. I haven't tied one of my favorites, the monkey’s fist, since my stint (20 years ago) demonstrating nautical skills to crowds of tourists at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.