I can't "beach" the craft if you will. I have to let the boat stay adrift at shore's edge.
I would like cast a quick, initial *guard* half-hitch
to take up any strain, and then finish with a taut-line h.
itself perhaps finished with a slip-bight slip-knotted.
(But I think that the possible "strain" here is slight,
unless some power-boaters can throw some wake ... .)
I do a fair bit of river canoing and the need to tie up still floating boats in moving water is a regular occurrence. This can be due to either an unsuitable grade at the shoreline for beaching or a desire to reduce erosion (in many cases it is both). And when leading larger groups it can be a simple lack of space at a lunch spot for all the boats to be brought ashore. I normally paddle a 13' (4m) solo open canoe. For context below, the painters are 5/8" (16mm) solid braid fine spun polypropylene, often called "Derby" rope in US stores. It is quite soft and floats. Even when it is new it holds knots pretty well, and this improves as the surface fuzzes up a little with use. I use such large rope because this type is not strong for a given size and, due to the river setting, the painters may be called into duty for pulling out a pinned boat. The only other size available locally was 3/8", and factoring in sun exposure, dirt ingress, and general wear I decided this wasn't sufficient. If 1/2" was available I'd probably have used that instead. The large size does make it quite easy on the hands.
I second Dan's suggestion of using a single "guard" half-hitch around the standing part, as it tends to better align the pull on the later rolling hitch if one has passed around a very large anchor object. If maintaining initial tension is especially desired, I've on occasion put in an awning hitch "guard" after passing around the anchor object (e.g. tree) before finishing with something else further up the standing part to maintain tension on the awning portion. Using guard hitches like this before running further back up the standing part is also handy when one wants to intentionally use up more line to prevent the end from dangling in the sand or mud. The loose solid braid rope I use is like a sponge and a dirty painter quickly leads to a dirty boat.
If I'm tying to a tree where the painter barely will reach, I will often use a slipped-buntline hitch tied perpendicularly onto the standing part. This is basically Sweeney's suggestion above of using a single turn tensionless hitch, but using a BH instead of a 'biner. (One could also think of it as an abuse of the Corned beef knot
).
One last little trick my dad showed me is tying a double sheet bend to a bundle of long grass in the manner of a heaving line bend. I can't remember if ABOK shows this, but it wouldn't surprise me. (nor would it if that's where
he learned it.) Twisting the grass slightly helps. Adjust the bight of grass to make sure the strain comes evenly onto all the roots when loaded from the expected direction. This works sort of the same way pulling on a handful of hair isn't as painful if the strain is evenly borne by all the roots -- if some have less slack they tend to get pulled out before the strain comes on the rest. This is obviously for very light-duty mooring only, but I've used it when there was nothing else to make fast to.
Incidentally, and this is JMHO, many of the rigging problems posted on the forum seem to call more for "applied knotting" tailored to the specific circumstance one encounters in the field, rather than the identification of a single "best knot". This thread is actually pretty good, but keeping this in mind when framing these discussions could be helpful.
