Skill drill

How to Tie a Clove Hitch

Two turns round a piling or rail with the end tucked under the crossing: the quick way to make a line fast to a post for a short time.

5 steps, about 3 minutes

Tie it in 3D one decision at a time. Choose wrong and you will watch the line come free.

When to use it

Tying up to a piling for a short stop, hanging a fender from a rail, or making a line fast to a post. California's boating course and the Corps of Engineers both call it a temporary tie for small boats, so back it up for anything longer.

The steps

Round the post
Cross and go round again
Tuck the end
Pull it taut
Back it up

A drill is practice. Tie each knot a few times at the dock before you rely on it.

The written guide

Step by step

1
Round the post
Pass the end of the line round the post, so the turn comes back across the standing part.^{[1, 4, 5]}
The first turn is half the hitch. On its own it holds nothing; the second turn and the tuck are what lock it.
2
Cross and go round again
Cross over the first turn and take the end round the post a second time, in the same direction as the first.^{[1, 4, 5]}
The second turn has to go the same way as the first. America's Boating Club's guide says to make it in the same direction and to cross over the first wrap so the second lies on top of it.
3
Tuck the end
Pass the end under the second turn where it crosses, so it comes out beside the standing part, heading the other way.^{[1, 2, 4, 5]}
That tuck is what turns two loose wraps into a hitch. The two ends leave from under the same crossing, in opposite directions.
4
Pull it taut
Pull the hitch taut. On the back of the post, the two wraps should lie parallel and tight.^{[1, 4]}
A clove hitch left loose can work itself out. The Coast Guard's handbook says one that is not tied tight enough may come undone.
5
Back it up
For anything longer than a short stop, lock the clove hitch with half hitches round the standing part.^{[1, 2, 4, 5, 6]}
A clove hitch can slip if the line is not kept under steady pull, or if the post lets it turn. Every boating source here backs it up for longer stays: the Coast Guard with a half hitch, California, Boat Ed and America's Boating Club with two.

Avoid these

Common mistakes

Leaving a boat on it for hours
It is a temporary hitch. California's course says to lock it with two half hitches for longer periods, and Discover Boating says never to use it for heavy-duty jobs like securing a boat to a dock.^{[2, 3, 5]}
Second turn the wrong way
Both turns go round in the same direction, the second crossing over the first.^[4]
Stopping at one turn
One turn and a tuck is a single half hitch, which the Coast Guard warns may slip easily.^[1]

Watch & learn

Clove hitch on video

Picked from our video library. These are other creators' videos, so where one differs from the drill, the drill's sourced steps are the ones to follow.