Biggzie
"floaty thing tied to the do dahs on the thing'a'me'jig "
You know something, I understood that.
Now back to the securing question.
Bee could have a a look on :
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/knotlink.htm or
http://www.marinews.com/bk_knots.htmor
http://www.neropes.com/pleasure_marine/knots.html Hope these help.