In order to progress to becoming an Able Seaman Kydd had to learn his bends, hitches – and knots. A reef knot is a method of bending together two short ends of a rope of about equal size. Apart from the “reef knot” a seaman only speaks of a knot when he is referring to one intended to remain permanently in a rope. Otherwise he bends one rope’s end to another, and hitches a rope’s end to a stay, a spar or a hook.

A true seaman must be able to make all the bends and hitches with his eyes shut, as he never knows when he must do this underwater or in the dark.

For the curious, the key to the illustration is:

1.   Short splice.

2.   Manrope knot.

3.   Granny knot.

4.   Rosebud stopper.

5.   Matthew Walker.

6.   Shroud knot.

7.   Turk's head.

8.   Overhand knot.

9.   Reef knot.

10. Two half-hitches.

More to come...