Clove Hitch

A round turn or stacked turns take the load; the lock only keeps them there — and still breaks by hand.

• !No round turn — the lock is asked to carry surge
• !Turns not stacked, so the hitch walks on a tide
• !Expected to jam when the job was a release-able dock line

• !Left bare on a boat that surges or swings on its line
• !Tied round polished metal or wet plastic
• !Second turn taken the opposite way round
• !Tail left short, so it pulls through the turns as the hitch slips

• Turns not crossed

  This is not a clove and will not hold

  The second turn must cross over the first · step 02

• Spread / walking clove

  Walks off the rail under cyclic load

  A clove holds only while the turns stay stacked · step 03

• Left unattended on a tide

  Fender or line on the bottom

  Animated Knots: not a mooring plan · step 04

• Hitch walks off the spar

  Check

  • ?Turns stacked and dressed

  Then

  • →Back up or replace with round turn and two half hitches

• Turns not crossed

  Check

  • ?This is not a clove and will not hold
  • ?Inspect step 02

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

• Spread / walking clove

  Check

  • ?Walks off the rail under cyclic load
  • ?Inspect step 03

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

• Left unattended on a tide

  Check

  • ?Fender or line on the bottom
  • ?Inspect step 04

  Then

  • →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.

• Round Turn & Two Half Hitches