Most of the lines on an average boat are either double braided or twisted three-strand, but single braid does show up on occasion. If you do have it, here's how to splice it.

My advice: Avoid single braid rope. Splicing it is very tedious (an hour or two per eye for 12-strand, although 8-strand is much faster), and without a protective cover it's more easily damaged and more prone to chafe than double braid. But now and then, you just happen to have some, and wouldn't it be nice to have proper spliced eyes in it instead of bulky bowline knots....

(If you do have double braid, the splicing procedure is more complex but much quicker- for details, see "How to Eye Splice Double Braid Rope" c/o The Coastal Passage.)

We start by separating out the individual yarns of the 12-strand nylon braid, and securing their ends so they don't fray. Here, I'm using white glue (PVA) for this, but warm wax would probably work better.

We make a loop of the desired size (usually just a bit larger than the biggest cleat on the boat) and separate the yarns into two groups of six. One group will go on each side of the rope, making a reasonably symmetrical splice. The yarns are threaded back along the same path as those in the original rope.

A woodworker's awl makes a decent substitute for a rigger's fid. Use it to lift the braided yarns....

then pull the awl or fid out and pass the yarn through the gap. Each yarn of the splice should follow the path of an existing one, to the extent possible. This 12-strand braid uses an over-two, under-two pattern, all with the same right-hand lay.

It's easier to keep track if you pull one yarn through several braids before starting on the next yarn, or work on a group of three at a time. As the yarns get doubled up, the braid will get very stiff and tight. The last two or three are a real bugger to pull through.

All those in-and-out braids make for a lot of friction between the yarns, so you can probably get away with a relatively short splice. This one goes for about four inches in 3/8" line. Not coincidentally, this is about the limit of my patience for this particular activity. Thick waxed twine would be the ideal material for whipping or stitching the loose ends, but dental floss is close enough. It's a good idea to give it a nice hard pull to set the splice before whipping it.

The finished splice looks a bit crude, compared to pro versions, but seems to hold up well under load. I made two of these, to be used for securing loads and as extra dock / towing lines for Sunset Chaser.

They're nice eyes and I'm sure they'll come in handy, but this is the last time I'll buy single-braid rope for a boat. The cost savings are virtually nonexistent and the extra hassle is hardly worthwhile.