Bitts are paired vertical wooden or metal posts mounted either aboard a ship or on a wharf, pier or quay. The posts are used to secure mooring lines, ropes,

hawser Hawser () is a nautical term for a thick cable or rope used in mooring or towing a ship. A hawser passes through a hawsehole, also known as a cat hole, located on the hawse.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, third edition, ...

s, or

cables Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

. Bitts aboard wooden sailing ships (sometime called cable-bitts) were large vertical timbers mortised into the keel and used as the anchor cable attachment point. Bitts are carefully manufactured and maintained to avoid any sharp edges that might chafe and weaken the mooring lines.

Use

Mooring lines may be laid around the bitts either singly or in a figure-8 pattern with the friction against tension increasing with each successive turn. As a verb ''bitt'' means to take another turn increasing the friction to slow or adjust a mooring ship's relative movement. Mooring fixtures of similar purpose: * A

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive v ...

is a single vertical post useful to receive a spliced loop at the end of a mooring line. * A cleat has horizontal horns.Knight, p.788

References

{{Sailing ship elements Watercraft components