How to tie a tugboat hitch knot with animated help

Learn how to tie a nautical knot, but not just any old knot... an tugboat hitch knot. You'll never have any troubles again tying tugboat hitch knots, thanks to this Marinews animated tutorial. You can learn by simply watching the knot tying animation at a moderate speed, or if need be, click on "learn by steps" to get step-by-step rope knot instructions for tugboat hitch knots.

The Tugboat Hitch is used to moor a vessel to a bollard. There are many methods of mooring a craft but the one illustrated here has many advantages including the use of two round turns to hold the load, which requires only a small amount of force to stop the turns slipping. The biggest advantages of the Tugboat Hitch are the that it can be quickly and easily tied by one person and can be untied in stages if there is a current to contend with. Anyone working with boats should have this hitch as part of their knot tying arsenal.

Rope knots can basically be divided into the following groups:

1. Bends - Joining two lines by intertwining them, without splicing, or sewing.
2. Hitches - A knot that secures a rope or line to another object.
3. Stopper – Used to bind strands at the end of a rope to stop fraying or unraveling. Also formed to stop a rope slipping through a hole or to provide a weight or handhold.
4. Bindings – Much like hitches. They are used to bind either lines or objects together. Their aim is to keep objects in place.
5. Splices – Describes the act of joining the ends, or the end and a standing part, of rope by interweaving strands. They are not knots in themselves.
6. Loops – Loops create structures used to tie, or secure, another object or line to another line. They can be formed at the end or midway a length of rope.
7. Plaits - Weaving several lines together to form a pattern and a cohesive structure.
8. Miscellaneous & Decorative – Knots that have decorative, dress or multiple category characteristics.