The selection of knots is based on many years of sailing combined with feedback and advice from several helpful captains. The knots are arranged in alphabetical order.
Rope used in boating is durable and expensive and is often handling heavy loads, e.g., when berthing, mooring, towing another vessel, preparing for a storm, or managing sails. The emphasis, therefore, is on safety, reliability, and convenience. In contrast to the fishing knots, value is also placed on being able to use the rope repeatedly and untie each knot without difficulty.
In many knots there is Standing End - which takes the strain, and a Tail - the loose end in your hand. On large ships a shore line is initially tightened with a winch. The tail is then properly called a Bitter End as it is transferred to the Bitts. To do this, a second rope is tied to the shore line with a Rat-Tailed Stopper or a Rolling Hitch to take the strain temporarily.
Breast Lines prevent rotation and should run roughly at 90o to the dock. To gain length, they should be led from the farthest part of the boat: the bow itself (or the outer hull of a catamaran) and from the far quarter of the stern.
Spring Lines prevent fore and aft movement and should run nearly parallel to the dock and may cross each other to obtain an optimal lie.
Direction: The Bow Spring may be led forwards and the Stern Spring aft, but MUST lead in opposite directions.
When two lines run to the same Bollard, especially when they are from different ships, the second line should be threaded up through the eye-splice of the first. This is called Dipping the Loop and allows either line to be released with out tangling.
Secure mooring line – easily undone.