So turns out that those boat tie-y up-y thingies aren’t actually called boat tie-y up-y thingies. I stand corrected.

Ben – from Liquid Highway – has been in touch to fill me in on the terminology and some extra detail on what they do and why. Here goes…

“B2 are known as bollards or sometimes called cleats, although technically cleats are T shaped , but basically you make fast to these you just do a figure of 8 in and out of the two and the friction does the rest.”

“These are known as a ‘fairlead’ and re-direct the rope from an angle back onboard to the bollard or cleat on the boat but with roller edges they stop the rope from chaffing and snapping at such sharp angles”

“This type of square post with pins through is known as a “Bollard” , the pins you tie to, or if you have the eye of a rope dropped over it and the rope tied off ashore, the pins stop the rope popping up and coming off”

If you haven’t seen Ben’s website Liquid Highway, take a look here. A tonne of fascinating information on the boats that work and worked the Thames.