PPT Slide
It is appalling to walk the docks and see proper yachtsmen with proper yachts fitted with shiny and expensive brass bells from which hang clappers fitted with either machine-made atrocities, or rat-tailed pieces of cordage. To my knowledge, it is impossible to buy a proper bell pull in today’s commercial marketplace.
This series of knots creates a proper pull for a smallish bell. It can be raised and embellished to match any size bell if the tyer has an adequate level of knotting knowledge, enough patience and an abundance of time. The sequence of tying, from start to finish is . . .
- 4-strand Square Sinnet (Ashley’s #2999) - Full or Double Matthew Walker (Ashley’s #678) - Double Diamond, lead above (Ashley’s #694) - Doubled 4-strand parallel reverse (alternating) Crown Sinnet (Ashley’s #2928) - 8-strand Star (Ashley’s #727, but much better shown by Hervey Garrett Smith in “The Marlinspike Sailor”, page 32) - (optional) 8-strand Doubled Crown (Knotting Matters 44, Oct. ‘93, page 26; 1st part of Bernard’s Dahlia knot - Full Matthew Walker around the shaft of the bell pull above the star.