When we are sailing with friends with less experience we like to say, “if you can’t tie a good knot then tie lots of them”.
As a Boy Scout, I had to learn the first 10 by heart. After the 10th one on this list, the only one I recognize is the sheepshank (the very similar shawshank has some redeeming features). But, like semaphore (which I learned in half an hour and won that part of our Jamboree), I can remember only the names. I remember how to tie maybe three or four of them.
20 knots = 23.016 mph.
Is that by rote?
I’ve had 0.002378 slugs per cubic foot stuck in my head ever since I was little. One day I’ll learn it in metric.
.0012255 grams / cc ?
Yes, that’s it. Using slugs/ft^3 let me calculate lift and drag from area in square feet and velocity in feet per second. I ran sea level air density through my pocket calculator so many times that it got stuck in my head.
Of course it’s by rote. You read it, didn’t you? That must mean that I rote it.
I used to use the running knot all the time on our farm because it holds well when drawn tight and can be undone with a single pull and an unwrap. My ex-Navy Dad taught me that one. His Blue Handbook was full of cool stuff, like how to coil a rope into a perfect spiral on the deck, etc. I’ve forgotten it all and the book was tossed in a family move when I was a kid.
When we are sailing with friends with less experience we like to say, “if you can’t tie a good knot then tie lots of them”.
As a Boy Scout, I had to learn the first 10 by heart. After the 10th one on this list, the only one I recognize is the sheepshank (the very similar shawshank has some redeeming features). But, like semaphore (which I learned in half an hour and won that part of our Jamboree), I can remember only the names. I remember how to tie maybe three or four of them.
20 knots = 23.016 mph.
Is that by rote?
I’ve had 0.002378 slugs per cubic foot stuck in my head ever since I was little. One day I’ll learn it in metric.
.0012255 grams / cc ?
Yes, that’s it. Using slugs/ft^3 let me calculate lift and drag from area in square feet and velocity in feet per second. I ran sea level air density through my pocket calculator so many times that it got stuck in my head.
Of course it’s by rote. You read it, didn’t you? That must mean that I rote it.
40 knots twice the fun….
http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/f/fb/40knots.jpg
I used to use the running knot all the time on our farm because it holds well when drawn tight and can be undone with a single pull and an unwrap. My ex-Navy Dad taught me that one. His Blue Handbook was full of cool stuff, like how to coil a rope into a perfect spiral on the deck, etc. I’ve forgotten it all and the book was tossed in a family move when I was a kid.