Marlinspike Seamanship
By Ted Walsh
Junk and Rope Mats
Junk: ORIGIN late Middle English (denoting an old or inferior
rope): of unknown origin.
All of us have to replace lines from time to time. One of
the byproducts of this evolution is a coil of rope that is no longer
safe to use for its originally intended purpose, but which has
usually attained a softness and worn quality that is nice to the
touch, aesthetically pleasing to the eye, and too nice to throw out.
Traditionally, sailors of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries called
this spent rope “junk”, and they put it to work.
Worn, soft, old rope that is no longer structurally sound is the
very best material for making rope mats.
The illustrations below are for making a “thump-mat”.
A thump-mat is placed around a ring bolt or eye in the deck
where a block is hanked and where that block has the potential to
“thump” on the deck causing wear to both deck and block. It is a
pretty simple item to make and will use up some of that old junk
and give it a second life protecting deck and block.
There are a number of ways to tie this knot; you can go
on the internet and find videos that might help you understand the
process, but here are a few tricks to make the mat easier to tie.
The mat described below is an oblong shape based on a
knot known as a Napoleon, and is triple passed, or “three
strands”.
What you will need:
•
A flat board
•
The actual width of the line you are using.
•
Some small pegs approximately 2” long and 1/8” to ¼”
thick. (You can use pieces of dowel or whittle pegs out of sticks.)
Tip #1. Make a tying board. Take a scrap piece of wood
and diagram out the knot as I have here. This will not only ensure
that the knot is tied and dressed correctly, but if you need two
matching mats, say one for a starboard block and one for a port,
they will be the same size and match. As you diagram out the
board you will need to decide whether you are tying a two strand,
three strand, or four strand knot. The diagram here is for a three
strand.
Tip #2. Drill holes for the pegs and place them in your tying
board.
Tip #3. Most books and videos will start the Napoleon knot in the
center and work out with both ends. It is easier to teach the knot
that way if you are not using a board.
What I have found is that the whole knot is easier to tie
if you start at one end of the line and lay out as much of the knot
as possible by laying rope bight on top of rope bight on a board.
The longer you can put off
the process of pulling the
bulk of the rope under bights
in the knot, the less tangled
things get. Therefore, these
illustrations show a method
that starts at one end of the
rope and lays out 2/3rds of
the knot before you have to
pass the working end under
any part of the knot (see #2).
As you start to tie
the mat follow the diagram
on the board going around
the pegs until you have
completed
following
the
diagram one full time around
(see #3).
Start your second
time around following the
path of the first and parallel
to it (see #4).
By the time you
start the third time around,
you will need to pull out the
pegs, from here on in they
are just going to get in the way.
Dress the finished knot. Make sure the bights are even
and take up any slack by opening up the middle of the mat so that
it can pass over the ring-bolt or deck eye.
There you have it!!
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