Tumble Hitch: A Useful Knot for Rowing Out an Anchor

                                               This side takes load...                    Pull to spill...

                                               Make fast to tender                        Lead near to hand

Tumble HitchFrom www.animatedknots.com

The wooden dowel represents the anchor's shank

Seek the wisdom that will untie your knot.

-- Rumi

Tumble Hitch: A Useful Knot for Rowing Out an Anchor

Rowing out an anchor in a gale or more of wind is serious business.

After considerable experimentation, the method we settled on is as follows:

• One of us takes position at the bow, one in the tender.
• The anchor and chain are transferred to the tender.
• Line is paid out from the boat as the tender works to position.
• The line is made fast at the boat (by signal or pre-arrangement).
• Chain is paid out from the dory by hard rowing against the fixed line.
• At the perfect moment, the anchor is thrown from the tender.
• Anchor is set from the boat.

Sounds simple, right?

Well... we find that sitting toward the tender's bow depresses it to lower windage, while the stern lifts high and acts as a riding sail for easier rowing into the wind (avoids blowing off, beam on).

Tossing the anchor and last bit of chain over, clear of oars, locks, one's own feet and the gunnel is no mean feat. It can hang up in a number of ways that all fail more or less dangerously.

Enter the Tumble Hitch - a variant of the Highwayman's Hitch.

The latter was said to have been used by thieves who tied their horses with this easy-to-tie, quick-release hitch for a fast get-away. Only problem is that it's not very stable and can capsize and release prematurely. The Tumble Hitch was devised in 2004 by Dan Lehman as a more stable solution.

What's unusual about both hitches is that, where others take one or more round turns around whatever they're hitched to, these open like a hand releasing. For anchoring purposes, that means a clean, anti-fouling release without unraveling any round turns.

The Tumble Hitch doesn't slip quite as readily as the Highwayman's... consider a smoother finished, braided line similar to the one shown. Laid and 'textured' lines have enough friction to require one or more harder pulls to release.

So here's the drill...

• Make fast to the tender, slightly aft of center, with the line end that holds strain. 
• Tie the hitch around the anchor just behind the flukes, let hang a foot or two below the tender's bottom.
• Lead the spill end up and slack to a point handy to the oars(wo)man
• Row on out to position.
• Pull the slip end to release.

We haven't tried this yet, in any harsh weather. But initial tryouts are promising.

Definitely feels safer!

*****

Here are some animated tutorials for the Tumble Hitch:

http://www.animatedknots.com/tumble/index.php
https://www.netknots.com/rope_knots/tumble-hitch

TriloBoat DIY: Owner Designed and Built

CERES by Erik Andrus

If it looks like a boat, it will pretty much behave like one.
-- Harold "Dynamite" Payson

TriloBoat DIY: Owner Designed and Built

The beauty of the TriloBoat approach is that pretty much anyone can design a decent boat, armed with nothing more than common sense, graph paper and a pencil. After that, pretty much anyone can build one.

That being said, it takes a dream, determination and resources - both internal and external - to pull it off.

The beauty of doing it all yourself is that you know every twist and turn of the decisions and compromises that led you to a vessel which exactly suits you. Or at least represents your own, best shot at it. In making it so, we become expert in our own vessel. Learn for the next round.

In this post, I'm featuring three Owner/Designers who started entirely from scratch to shape and finish their own creations. All three projects are linked in the right-hand side-bar... if you haven't been following them, I'd sure recommend looking through their archives!

I'm proud to have been a small part of each of these fine vessels. And pleased to have become friends with the fine folks behind them!


CERES

Erik Andrus is a farmer of organic rice on the Vermont shore of Lake Champlain. He had a vision of an engine-free cargo boat built and run by fellow farmers to carry organic produce down the Hudson to markets in New York City.

To that end, he designed and built CERES (images above and here) along the lines of a TAB (Triloboat Advanced Barge... profile and plan view curves very nearly match). The sprit yawl rig is traditional to Thames Barges. It is powerful, handy for short crew, can be quickly raised and lowered and the mains'l sprit doubles as a cargo boom.

CERES was built for a reasonable sum (around $20K, far less than estimates for the market equivalent for a commercial vessel). She served two successful seasons, with the Vermont Sail Freight Project (VSFP), whose profit margins handily paid for her construction.

Unfortunately, both CERES and the VSFP languish in the on-going search for that rare individual who can be skipper/entrepreneur/administrator.

Is that you? Contact VSFP, here.

*****

AUTARKIA by Alan Jones

AUTARKIA is designed by Alan Jones and built with his wife, Lori. They plan to live aboard and cruise for extended periods on the waters of British Columbia.

Currently, they are detailing a very cozy interior, with luxurious room for two, and plenty for friends or family.

They're working toward a sailing rig that can be easily dropped for Fraser River bridges. One of the intriguing possibilities is Gundalow Rig, traditional on bargy hulls.

One of the things I enjoy about AUTARKIA is the number of simple, out-of-the-box solutions Alan comes up with. For example, his LED interior light mountings.

You can follow their project, here.

*****

CORNCRAKE by David Reece

CORNCRAKE was designed by David Reece and built by the whole family to serve as a camper cruiser in sheltered waters of the East Coast (sailing out of virginia).

Note the effective use of paper, rather than any sophisticated CAD drawing. Most of the vessel's shape is determined in the profile drawing (side view).

I was especially happy to watch the two young girls participate, handling their jobs with competence and good humor. After experience like this, they'll not ever fear to work toward a goal. They'll know the feel of tools in hand, and the confidence to use them.

CORNCRAKE is currently put up, ashore, awaiting the family's return from an extended stay with family in Uruguay. When they return, she'll likely get junk rigged to replace the temporary, triangular sail she sports, now.

I mean, does this boat and crew look like fun, or what???

You can follow their project, here.

A DIY Portable Pram

Ken Simpson's CPB-1 Lightweight Folding Pram
Pic from Christine DeMerchant

I love to go a'wandering

Along the mountain track.

And as I go I love to sing,

My knapsack on my back.

- I'll spare you the Fol-de-roos!

A DIY Portable Pram

Many's the time we wish we could haul our dory up to a lake, but swoon at the prospect of lugging our dory uphill and over dale. Or wish for a second ride ashore. Or to float some firewood while we go exploring.

Ken Simpson, a retired engineer of some renown, has some solutions for us.

His site, Portable Boat Plans, offers a number of simple ways to get on the water quickly and have a lot of fun for little outlay. His designs tend toward the minimal, often sacrificing performance for economy and portability. But in the sizes he deals in, the sacrifice is small and the gains considerable.

His Lightweight Folding Prams, CPB-1 (free plans) and updated CPB-2016 (plans available for purchase), are of especial interest.

These two prams are built with coroplast, the corrugated plastic sheet material used for such things as political signs. It is relatively strong for its (light)weight, and, once the edges have been waterproofed, its corrugations trap air for positive buoyancy (it floats). Edges are waterproofed and joined with Scotch(TM) TOUGH (duct) Tape, making construction a snap. Minimal stiffening components are cobbled up from common hardware store items.

The result is a boat which weighs less than 20lbs and stows and carries like a portfolio!

Imagine a fleet of four of these, tucked away on board, ready to be used for kids and other company. As tow-boats for transporting a haul of groceries. As in, "Let's go climb to that mountain lake and paddle around!"

If we pull out all the stops, these might top out at around $100 each. By comparison, a packraft might cost around $600. 

That's a lot of bang for the buck!!