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SHEEPSHANK

Firstmethod

Thesheepshank
belongstothegroupof
seamen'sknots.and.
likealltheotherknots
thatsailorsuse.ithas
certainspecialfeatures:
itdoesnotchafe,unties
easilyafteruse,andhas
a goodjammingaction.
Itisusedparticularlyin
towingboatsandon
therunningrigging.It
doesnotaltershape,
evenifithasbeenleftin
usefora longtime,and
theropedoesnotwear,
providedthattheparts
areunderequalstrain.
Thesheepshankisthe
bestknottousefor
considerablyshortening
a longrope.The
numberofhalfhitches
madeontherope(a
minimumofthreeanda
maximumoffive)
determinesboththe
gripoftheknotand
howmuchtheropeis
shortened.

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