Four knots will cover most of what you do on a boat. Learn the words, watch each knot being tied, then match the knots to their jobs.
Is it a rope or a sheet?
On a boat you hardly ever say "rope". Rope is what you buy in the shop. Once it has a job on board it becomes a line. A sheet is a line that controls a sail, and a halyard is a line that raises one. A mooring line ties you to the dock. So it is a sheet when it trims a sail, and a line for almost everything else. (The few ropes that stay ropes: the bell rope, and the bolt rope sewn into a sail.)
How to learn this lesson
Grab a piece of line, a shoelace or a phone charger cable, and tie along. First learn the words in Level 1. Then watch each knot being tied below, one step at a time, and copy it with your hands. Then take the levels. Your fingers learn faster than your eyes.
Watch it tied
Pick a knot, press Play, and tie along with your own piece of line.
The parts of a line
Four knots
Study sheet
All the words in one place, by level.
Level 1: Rope talk
Bitter end
The far end of a line, the one that is tied off or fixed to the boat.
Standing part
The long, idle part of the line between the fixed end and the knot.
Working end
The free end that you use to tie the knot.
Bight
A U-shaped bend in the line, without crossing itself.
Loop
A circle made by crossing the line over itself.
Turn
The line passed once around an object, like a post or a cleat.
Hitch
A knot that ties a line to an object, like a rail or a post.
Bend
A knot that joins one line to another line.
Level 2: Meet the knots
Figure-eight
A stopper knot shaped like the number 8.
Cleat hitch
The knot for tying a line to a cleat.
Bowline
A fixed loop that will not slip or jam.
Clove hitch
Two turns around a post or rail that grip each other.
Level 3: The right knot
Stopper
The figure-eight stops a line from running out through a block or hole.
Tying up
The cleat hitch ties your boat or a line to a cleat.
Fixed loop
The bowline makes a loop that will not slip and is easy to untie, even after a heavy load.
Quick hold
The clove hitch quickly holds a line to a post or rail. Check it, it can work loose.