All tied up in knots Part 2: Forwards, backwards and upside down

Knots seem to be plotting together to try and take over my life. 

Now that I've mastered them in the comfort of my own home where I can take my time over getting them just so, they have been whispering to me that I need to be able to do them faster, at all sorts of strange angles, and equally well with my left hand as my right. 

Hmm.

The results have been mixed so far - figure of eights, reefs, bowlines, round turn and two half hitches, clove hitches,  and admiralties all seem fine with my left, but left-handed single and double sheets are eluding me. I seem to end up in a ridiculous tangle whenever I try and my right hand keeps having to come to the rescue.

I heard mutterings about blindfold knot tying tests next...I fear a mutiny is in the making.

Round turn and two half hitches

Admiralty

Rolling hitch

All tied up in knots

Knots - no more complicated than just a simple twist of a shoelace, right? Boy, I did not realise just how wrong I was. There seems to be a different knot for everything in sailing, all with strange sounding names and instructions seemingly written in hieroglyphics. 

Fortunately, thanks to my lovely crewmate Laura Shellcock, I have been saved from attempting to tie bowlines, reefs, double sheets and more using scraps of wool (that idea was doomed from the start really wasn't it). After receiving some spare off-cuts of rope in the post to practice with, I just spent a fantastic hour or so mastering a few of the many knots I'll need out on the Clipper yachts. 

I'm seriously proud of my bowlines - that is one complicated knot to get your head around for a beginner! It may even have just become my party trick to impress my non-sailing friends.

Next up - admiralty knots, round turn and two half hitches and rolling hitches. These all look more complicated than the bowline, so I expect to spend quite a long while getting tangled up before I get eventually them right! Any tips much appreciated...

Bowlines

Bowline

Clove hitch

Double sheet

Single sheet

Figure of eights

Reef