Alternate ring hitching, also known as Kackling or Keckling, is a type of ringbolt hitching formed with a series of alternate left and right hitches made around a ring. Covering a ring in hitching can prevent damage if the ring is likely to chafe or strike against something, such as a mooring line or mast.
As a means of dampening sound in row boats when a covert night operation was being undertaken, oar handles were wrapped in keckling knots to prevent wood rubbing on wood.
Famous quotes containing the words alternate, ring and/or hitching:
“I alternate treading water
and deadman’s float.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“Ring out, ring out thy mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“Look not too long in the face of the fire, O man! Never dream with thy hand on the helm! Turn not they back to the compass; accept the first hint of the hitching tiller; believe not the artificial fire, when its redness makes all things look ghastly.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)