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I now know what job I would NOT have taken in the Navy :)

blindfire

blindfire

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Had I been able to join, I definitely would NOT be a boatswain's mate.

I have this uncanny ability to take a rope and within 5 seconds of me touching it, it turns into a slithering pile of tangles, kinks and knots.

I was prepping my OCF dipole last night for hanging on Friday. I had purchased 500 feet of 3/16" dacron and was stringing it through the insulators so it would go up faster on the day of the install. I was trying to be slick about it and was going to put zip ties on either side of the insulators so the antenna wouldn't slide up and down the rope. (Found out later, the friction caused by the weight of the ballun and wire pretty much negates the need, but this is my first dipole).

So, one thing leads to another and I have to cut the freakin' rope because when I took the zip ties off...I nicked the rope really bad and it would have broken otherwise.

I managed to salvage the rope and just tied off each end at the ballun. Which in a way...solved the first concern about it sliding up and down the rope.

Well, we'll see how it goes. Wish me luck and listen for me on the HF bands!
 
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CoastieRon said:
Hahahahahahahaha

Says the retired Chief Boatswains Mate......


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Click to expand...

I don't know. Spent many a years watching Boatswains Mates scrape, chip and paint rust away day after day. Loved the electric needle scalpers especially when I was trying to sleep. Then again, I spent all of my time on the flight deck making sure my plane didn't rust. Hummmm......
 
I think every service has their own version of this - pretty sure the Army's involves razor wire.

Mine would be aircraft ground cables...

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(shamelessly misappropriated pic)
 

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Rockrivr1 said:
I don't know. Spent many a years watching Boatswains Mates scrape, chip and paint rust away day after day. Loved the electric needle scalpers especially when I was trying to sleep. Then again, I spent all of my time on the flight deck making sure my plane didn't rust. Hummmm......
Click to expand...

There's that. However in the CG, I was running SAR cases in a 41' utility boat as the coxswain at BM3, not married to a pneumatic chipper....


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AHM said:
You're laughing already and he didn't even say what knot he used...
Click to expand...

Knot? What's that? [rofl]

I need to take a class from Coastie so he can teach me some basic knots. My dad was career Navy and never dealt with that crap. Like Rockrivr1, my dad started out on the deck as an ABH and then moved up to AC and finally MA. He knew some knots, but never really taught them to me. <sigh>
 
blindfire said:
Knot? What's that? [rofl]

I need to take a class from Coastie so he can teach me some basic knots. My dad was career Navy and never dealt with that crap. Like Rockrivr1, my dad started out on the deck as an ABH and then moved up to AC and finally MA. He knew some knots, but never really taught them to me. <sigh>
Click to expand...

Believe it or knot, there's an app for that!

1c34b54e0a9c9267e31833523063a257.jpg





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CoastieRon said:
Bowline. Always bowline. I use them for everything, except for when I need a dragon bowline.....


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Dragon bowline..... Thanks![angry]
After scouring the web I now feel like a tenderfoot scout that just spent the last half hour asking at every patrol's campsite for a left-handed smoke shifter.[laugh]
 
CoastieRon said:
Bowline. Always bowline. I use them for everything, except for when I need a dragon bowline.....


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Click to expand...

+1, says the guy who passed knots at Ranger school. A bowline secured with a half-hitch is something I use surprisingly often. At least a few times a week.

Other useful knots are the wireman' s and the retraced figure 8.
 
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cockpitbob said:
Dragon bowline..... Thanks![angry]
After scouring the web I now feel like a tenderfoot scout that just spent the last half hour asking at every patrol's campsite for a left-handed smoke shifter.[laugh]
Click to expand...

So sorry but

I'm laughing so hard I'm crying right now. Was it near the gallon of prop wash on the shelf with the relative bearing grease next to the 100 ft of shoreline?

I pull the dragon on the scouts all the time. Actually stumped the district chair as well...

Sorry man, old habits die hard.

Other (serious) useful knots to learn:

Clove hitch
Slip clove hitch
Beckets (sheet) bend (single & double)
Prusset knot
Figure 8 (stopper knot)
Taught line
Bowline in a bight
And you can modify the bowline to slip. It's actually pretty awesome.



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Last edited:
This is stuff is hilarious. "It's a show about nothing."

CoastieRon said:
So sorry but

I'm laughing so hard I'm crying right now. Was it near the gallon of prop wash on the shelf with the relative bearing grease next to the 100 ft of shoreline?

I pull the dragon on the scouts all the time. Actually stumped the district chair as well...

Sorry man, old habits die hard.

Other (serious) useful knots to learn:

Clove hitch
Slip clove hitch
Beckets (sheet) bend (single & double)
Prusset knot
Figure 8 (stopper knot)
Taught line
Bowline in a bight
And you can modify the bowline to slip. It's actually pretty awesome.



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Click to expand...
 
CoastieRon said:
So sorry but

I'm laughing so hard I'm crying right now. Was it near the gallon of prop wash on the shelf with the relative bearing grease next to the 100 ft of shoreline?

I pull the dragon on the scouts all the time. Actually stumped the district chair as well...

Sorry man, old habits die hard.

Other (serious) useful knots to learn:

Clove hitch
Slip clove hitch
Beckets (sheet) bend (single & double)
Prusset knot
Figure 8 (stopper knot)
Taught line
Bowline in a bight
And you can modify the bowline to slip. It's actually pretty awesome.



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Click to expand...

[rofl]
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CoastieRon again.
Click to expand...
It's all good. I love knots but have a bad memory so if I don't use them in a while they evaporate from my head. Googling for the elusive dragon bowline got me a good refresher on a bunch of knots.

Besides, in the words of President Kennedy "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." j/k[grin]

Edit: do you think that relative bearing grease will work on my muffler bearings?
 
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cockpitbob said:
[rofl]
It's all good. I love knots but have a bad memory so if I don't use them in a while they evaporate from my head. Googling for the elusive dragon bowline got me a good refresher on a bunch of knots.

Besides, in the words of President Kennedy "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." j/k[grin]

Edit: do you think that relative bearing grease will work on my muffler bearings?
Click to expand...

Only if you're heading in the right direction!


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I always say 'If you can't tie a knot, tie a lot.'

But weirdly, untangling rope, lines, chain has always been one thing I have actually had the patience for.
 
Shamelessly stolen from SimplySailing.com
A not neat not need not be tied.
Click to expand...





BTW, here's probably the worlds best dock line handler. She can tie a line to a cleat without getting her hands within 3 feet of it. Worth the 67seconds.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cockpitbob said:
Shamelessly stolen from SimplySailing.com






BTW, here's probably the worlds best dock line handler. She can tie a line to a cleat without getting her hands within 3 feet of it. Worth the 67seconds.
Click to expand...


Where's your closest CG station? Go to it and ask them to show you how to rodeo a cleat. Easier than it looks....

Edited to add: I remember way back in 1990, seeing MK1 Tony D'Auria (RIP), do that to a tow bit from the INSIDE of the cabin of the 41' utility boat at Station Manasquan Inlet. Once I saw him do it, I had to learn. It can be done on anything. After 3 figure 8s, there's no need for a half hitch. Just a round turn to start around the base and 3 figure eights on the horns. It's no more than a flick of the wrist.....

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Last edited by a moderator:
CoastieRon said:
Bowline. Always bowline. I use them for everything, except for when I need a dragon bowline.....


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Click to expand...


Ohhh know...(k)not falling for that one! I met a few BMs when my dad was in. One of got me with that one!
 
blindfire said:
Ohhh know...(k)not falling for that one! I met a few BMs when my dad was in. One of got me with that one!
Click to expand...
My Dad joined the Navy right after Pearl, but he was a Chief Radio Tech. He taught me to solder real good, but didn't teach me enough Navy & rope stuff to keep from completely swallowing Coastie's hook[rofl]
 

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