To continue the sea stories subthread, I crewed on a Cal-40 racing in
Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico for about 15 years. I don't recall a
bowline ever working itself loose on our boat. I don't even remember anyone
checking before tacking. When on a tack, the windward sheet (line) is slack
and tension is off that bowline knot at the genoa clew while the leeward
sheet has the strain.
Out in the Gulf, there were opportunities for being on one tack for hours
and hours, even days (Galveston-Vera Cruz race).
I think that if there was a concern about the bowline going loose and
possibly letting go, it wouldn't have been used or we would have done
something to preclude it.
Maybe the conditions onboard weren't conducive to knot loosening.
Under exactly what conditions will an unloaded bowline knot become loose?
73,
dale, kg5u
>
> You're close. The only problem with a bowline is that if it's under
> no load, it tends to loosen. You can make it more secure in various
> ways. I believe that it is one of the good knots that maintains more
> of the strength of the line. OTOH, the figure-eight loop is easily
> tied, even in the middle of the line and seems to stay tight, but
> loses more of the inherent line strength, and perhaps as the obverse
> of the above, is hard to untie. Many of us think a knot should be
> easily untied.
>
> BTW, I've seen figures that indicate an eye splice is actually
> stronger than the line, and a cunt splice is the absolute strongest
> way of fastening two laid lines together. But I still don't know how
> to make an eye splice in the braided lines I like.
>
> 73, doug
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