I'm celebrating my love for you ...

[tyggerjai]

With a pint of beer and a new tattoo!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81856156@N00/tags/tatt/

Well, he's new to the whole tattoo thing, which is why it's on my ankle :)

Have to go back next week when it's stopped itching to clean up the bit where he got confused about which rope goes over what, but that's ok :) The magic, in this one, is in the symbolism, not the execution. And I wanted the rough Sailor Jerry style anyway, which I think he's captured :)

The rope around the ankle is a sailor's charm against falling. The reef knot is not one modern riggers use a lot, but it's a sailor's classic. This one is also a wedding ring, in a sense, it's a symbol of constancy, of holding fast, of faith and trust. Which carries through professionally as well. So there's all that wrapped up in it. At some point I'll get the left ankle done, and then the wrists, which are more charms against dropping than against falling, and that will complete the set.

Comments

[tyggerjai.livejournal.com]

The reef knot, as I understand it, gains its name from exactly that - reefing sails. It's handy for tents (though we use ratchet straps these days, on the tents I've built) - roll up a tent side, throw a rope around it, put a quick reef in the top.

But for anything else? It's a terrible knot for joining lines - it capsizes too easily, when you have options like a sheetbend ( I wouldn't use bowlines either - you focus the pressure where the lines meet - a good bend will spread it over several contact points). For making a loop in something like a bag cord, a simple overhand knot is faster, and a figure eight more solid. I'm hard pressed to think of "alternatives" for a reef, because I'm hard pressed to think of anywhere I would use a reef :)

We must use it sometimes, I recall tying one the other day. But it's a throwaway knot, you'd never use it for proper rigging. Bowline, sheet bend, clove hitch. That's it, for day to day work. Double fishermans instead of the sheet bend as a joiner if you like.

[shevek.livejournal.com]

Ah, makes sense. :-) I use a figure-eight loop as well when I'm lazy. I miss the simplicity of life of being on board ship, or living in the desert. So much of the day-to-day of being a software analyst seems irrelevant to humanity when I just think about the joy of sailing.

[tyggerjai.livejournal.com]

When I go home, I'm going to volunteer crew on this baby.

And yes, I'm here because I got sick of writing stupid code our clueless BAs asked for because our stupid clients' BAs insisted they needed it even though their end users couldn't give a pair of fetid dingo's kidneys.

Pizdyet, as my crazy Russians would say.