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Rope work, explained

10 articles on choosing line, tying and splicing it, and keeping it safe. Written as reference, not as marketing.

How to Start Sailing: A Beginner's Guide to Lines and Knots — illustration
Featured · Beginner

How to Start Sailing: A Beginner's Guide to Lines and Knots

The first things worth learning are not the knots themselves but what a line is doing, and which four knots cover almost everything on a small boat.

Mara Ellison 9 February 2026 9 min read
Understanding Rope Materials: Nylon, Polyester, Dyneema — illustration
Beginner

Understanding Rope Materials: Nylon, Polyester, Dyneema

Four fibres account for almost every line on a boat. They differ in stretch, sunlight tolerance, and how they behave when wet — and those differences decide where each belongs.

Tomás Reid22 January 202611 min read
Article
The Five Essential Knots Every Sailor Should Know — illustration
Knots

The Five Essential Knots Every Sailor Should Know

Five knots, what each one is genuinely good at, what it costs in strength, and the specific way each one fails.

June Okafor27 February 202612 min read
Article
Splicing vs. Knotting: Which Is Stronger? — illustration
Knots

Splicing vs. Knotting: Which Is Stronger?

A knot concentrates stress at a sharp turn; a splice distributes it along the rope. That single difference explains a gap of thirty percentage points.

Tomás Reid5 March 20268 min read
Article
Rigging Load Basics: Angles, Vectors, and Safety Factors — illustration
Rigging

Rigging Load Basics: Angles, Vectors, and Safety Factors

The most common rigging mistake is not a weak component. It is geometry — a sling angle that quietly doubles the load.

Mara Ellison18 March 202610 min read
Article
How to Inspect Rope and Rigging Hardware — illustration
Safety

How to Inspect Rope and Rigging Hardware

Rope and hardware rarely fail without warning. They fail after a long period of looking almost fine — which is exactly what makes a systematic inspection worth having.

Mara Ellison2 April 20269 min read
Article
Anchor Rodes and Mooring Lines Explained — illustration
Sailing

Anchor Rodes and Mooring Lines Explained

Scope, chain and stretch — how an anchor rode is meant to work, and why most dragging is a scope problem rather than a holding problem.

Mara Ellison16 April 202611 min read
Article
Whipping and Rope End Finishing — illustration
Maintenance

Whipping and Rope End Finishing

Every rope end has to be finished, and the finish you choose depends on whether you will ever unlay it again. Three patterns, and the reasoning behind each.

Tomás Reid6 May 20267 min read
Article
Rigging Safety: Working Load Limits and Certification — illustration
Safety

Rigging Safety: Working Load Limits and Certification

Breaking load, working load limit, proof load and safety factor are four different numbers, and confusing them is how people end up outside the margin.

June Okafor21 May 202610 min read
Article
Setting Up a Home Rigging Workshop — illustration
Beginner

Setting Up a Home Rigging Workshop

You do not need much space to splice, whip and maintain your own lines — but you do need the right few tools, and somewhere the rope can be under tension.

Tomás Reid11 June 20269 min read
Article
Articles are educational. They describe general principles and typical equipment behaviour; they are not a substitute for your equipment manual, for training, or for the regulations that apply where you sail or work.