anchoring and marlinspike seamanship 247
- Add some security. For more security, pass two or three half hitches around
the standing part. Take out the slack and slide them up fl ush beneath your
clove. Th is turns your clove hitch into a powerhouse hitch, capable of
holding your vessel securely in any berth.
DOUBLE BECKET BEND
The king of “joinery” is the double becket bend, also called the double sheet
bend. You can use two bowlines or the double becket bend to join two lines
together. Bowlines, however, take up more room and require more line than the
double becket. Use the double becket when joining two lines of different sizes
or two lines of the same size in cases where two bowlines are impractical.
- Larger line is the teardrop. Make a teardrop shape with the larger of
the two lines. Hold the teardrop with your nondominant hand, with the
pointed side of the teardrop facing up. - Bend on the smaller line. Pass the smaller line through the back side of
the teardrop and pull toward you. Form a loop with the smaller line,
leaving 6 to 9 inches of bitter end. Pass the bitter end around the back of the
teardrop and through the loop. Pass it a second time around the back of the
teardrop and through the loop (see illustration). - Make it tight and compact. Pull on the standing parts and bitter ends of
both lines. Get all the slack out to make the bend compact.
A double becket bend.