I've read a few books by Don Street and have a couple sailing videos of his
as well. I respect his knowledge while I consider him a bit excentric. His
boats and sailing gear and methods always seem well on to the "Salty Side"
of the scale. One thing for sure, "Don doesn't have to explain" why he does
the things he does when it comes to onboard routines". At least that's the
impression I get..

I have watched his sailing video of one of his Atlantic crossing on "Isle
Aire" with a crew that seemed to worship him and his ways.

One thing from that video that leaves me with a question that I haven't been
able to resolve.

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot in the
end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of sailing. To me,
it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through the sheet lead block.
Anyway, if there was a reason for "not" putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet
end, it must have been edited out of the footage I have seen and no where in
his books does he mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

(You see, I'm getting old and grouchy to.)

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

(You see, I'm getting old and grouchy to.)


A stopper knot could prevent you from dumping the sheet in an emergency,
probably more important with spinnakers and large genoas than jibs.

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

(You see, I'm getting old and grouchy to.)


A stopper knot could prevent you from dumping the sheet in an emergency,
probably more important with spinnakers and large genoas than jibs.

Steve wrote in message
...

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot
in my
sheets??

When I was working rigs using natural fibre (that shows my age .
.. .) one of my gnarled old skippers insisted on never using
stopper knots. His reason: if you tied a stopper knot in a dry
(natural fibre) rope, strained it tight, then it became wet, the
rope swelled and the knot became more difficult to undo.

He was talking in the context of gaff rigged vessels whose
halyards were double ended, with a purchase on one of the ends.
The significance of this was that when you had to lower the gaff
in a big hurry, you needed to be able to release only one end and
let it unreeve - and a stopper knot, especially a wet one tied
dry, slowed down this emergency action.

He extended this view to all ropes. His view on sheets was that
if you allow the habit in one place, it may spread.

His view was also that if you allowed a rope to unreeve
accidentally, your seamanship was wanting, and you needed a
lesson in re-reeving to remind you of your error!

You could call him a traditionalist.

With modern fibres, jamming is not an issue, and with modern rigs
the penalty of losing a halyard end up the inside of the mast is
a penalty I'd prefer to avoid. Sheets? well, they're easy to
re-reeve, though the whipping you may suffer in a strong wind is
a bit of a dis-incentive. So I can't persuade me not to use
stopper knots.

One of his habits I still keep though - I never use hitches (some
call them jamming turns) on a cleat, and on my boat I prefer
others not to use them. But I'm not going to try to convert the
rest of the world to this view. It's just my quirk, and a good
way of letting me know if anyone has been adjusting my warps for
me!

JimB

Steve wrote in message
...

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot
in my
sheets??

When I was working rigs using natural fibre (that shows my age .
.. .) one of my gnarled old skippers insisted on never using
stopper knots. His reason: if you tied a stopper knot in a dry
(natural fibre) rope, strained it tight, then it became wet, the
rope swelled and the knot became more difficult to undo.

He was talking in the context of gaff rigged vessels whose
halyards were double ended, with a purchase on one of the ends.
The significance of this was that when you had to lower the gaff
in a big hurry, you needed to be able to release only one end and
let it unreeve - and a stopper knot, especially a wet one tied
dry, slowed down this emergency action.

He extended this view to all ropes. His view on sheets was that
if you allow the habit in one place, it may spread.

His view was also that if you allowed a rope to unreeve
accidentally, your seamanship was wanting, and you needed a
lesson in re-reeving to remind you of your error!

You could call him a traditionalist.

With modern fibres, jamming is not an issue, and with modern rigs
the penalty of losing a halyard end up the inside of the mast is
a penalty I'd prefer to avoid. Sheets? well, they're easy to
re-reeve, though the whipping you may suffer in a strong wind is
a bit of a dis-incentive. So I can't persuade me not to use
stopper knots.

One of his habits I still keep though - I never use hitches (some
call them jamming turns) on a cleat, and on my boat I prefer
others not to use them. But I'm not going to try to convert the
rest of the world to this view. It's just my quirk, and a good
way of letting me know if anyone has been adjusting my warps for
me!

JimB

Steve wrote:

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot
in the end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of
sailing. To me, it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through
the sheet lead block. Anyway, if there was a reason for "not"
putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet end, it must have been edited
out of the footage I have seen and no where in his books does he
mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

I can make a reasonable argument against that _particular_ knot. I would
argue that the _true_ stopper knot is not the figure eight knot but rather
the double overhand version. The figure eight can indeed harden up and
become difficult if not impossible to loosen. The "stopper knot" (i.e., the
double overhand version) does not suffer this drawback. One most boats I've
encountered, it's one or the other, depending on the skipper. I vote for
the "other."

I would also submit that it is good practice to avoid any type of stopper in
the spinnaker sheets. Aside from these comments, I think what you are
seeing in Street's books are examples of a vain old man holding court.

..--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

Steve wrote:

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot
in the end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of
sailing. To me, it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through
the sheet lead block. Anyway, if there was a reason for "not"
putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet end, it must have been edited
out of the footage I have seen and no where in his books does he
mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

I can make a reasonable argument against that _particular_ knot. I would
argue that the _true_ stopper knot is not the figure eight knot but rather
the double overhand version. The figure eight can indeed harden up and
become difficult if not impossible to loosen. The "stopper knot" (i.e., the
double overhand version) does not suffer this drawback. One most boats I've
encountered, it's one or the other, depending on the skipper. I vote for
the "other."

I would also submit that it is good practice to avoid any type of stopper in
the spinnaker sheets. Aside from these comments, I think what you are
seeing in Street's books are examples of a vain old man holding court.

..--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

I don't know what it's called, but I make a stopper knot by making a bend in
the line, wrapping the bitter end around the standing part 3-4 times, then
passing the bitter end through the bend and tighten the whole thing up.
Works well, and can usually be undone fairly easily.

--


Keith
__
AI programmers only think they do it
"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...
Steve wrote:

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot
in the end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of
sailing. To me, it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through
the sheet lead block. Anyway, if there was a reason for "not"
putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet end, it must have been edited
out of the footage I have seen and no where in his books does he
mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

I can make a reasonable argument against that _particular_ knot. I would
argue that the _true_ stopper knot is not the figure eight knot but rather
the double overhand version. The figure eight can indeed harden up and
become difficult if not impossible to loosen. The "stopper knot" (i.e.,
the
double overhand version) does not suffer this drawback. One most boats
I've
encountered, it's one or the other, depending on the skipper. I vote for
the "other."

I would also submit that it is good practice to avoid any type of stopper
in
the spinnaker sheets. Aside from these comments, I think what you are
seeing in Street's books are examples of a vain old man holding court.

.--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

I don't know what it's called, but I make a stopper knot by making a bend in
the line, wrapping the bitter end around the standing part 3-4 times, then
passing the bitter end through the bend and tighten the whole thing up.
Works well, and can usually be undone fairly easily.

--


Keith
__
AI programmers only think they do it
"Armond Perretta" wrote in message
...
Steve wrote:

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot
in the end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of
sailing. To me, it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through
the sheet lead block. Anyway, if there was a reason for "not"
putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet end, it must have been edited
out of the footage I have seen and no where in his books does he
mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

I can make a reasonable argument against that _particular_ knot. I would
argue that the _true_ stopper knot is not the figure eight knot but rather
the double overhand version. The figure eight can indeed harden up and
become difficult if not impossible to loosen. The "stopper knot" (i.e.,
the
double overhand version) does not suffer this drawback. One most boats
I've
encountered, it's one or the other, depending on the skipper. I vote for
the "other."

I would also submit that it is good practice to avoid any type of stopper
in
the spinnaker sheets. Aside from these comments, I think what you are
seeing in Street's books are examples of a vain old man holding court.

.--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 23:01:09 -0700, "Steve" wrote:

I've read a few books by Don Street and have a couple sailing videos of his
as well. I respect his knowledge while I consider him a bit excentric. His
boats and sailing gear and methods always seem well on to the "Salty Side"
of the scale. One thing for sure, "Don doesn't have to explain" why he does
the things he does when it comes to onboard routines". At least that's the
impression I get..

I have watched his sailing video of one of his Atlantic crossing on "Isle
Aire" with a crew that seemed to worship him and his ways.

One thing from that video that leaves me with a question that I haven't been
able to resolve.

Don, goes on a rant about someone putting a figure "8" Stopper Knot in the
end of a sheet. Something I have been doing for 40 years of sailing. To me,
it keeps the lazy sheet from being pulled through the sheet lead block.
Anyway, if there was a reason for "not" putting a Stopper Knot in the sheet
end, it must have been edited out of the footage I have seen and no where in
his books does he mentions a reason (that I can recall).

How about it, can anyone persuade me not to put a Stopper Knot in my
sheets??

(You see, I'm getting old and grouchy to.)

Also old and grouchy, I do put stoppers on the jib sheets, but never
on the spinnaker sheets/guys.

It may be necessary in extremis to let the spinnaker fly, but the jib
can be released without losing the end of the sheet.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Wanting to meet a writer because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like pate."
Margaret Atwood