Check out Black Sails, there's a scene in one of the later episodes of the season that portrays the measurement of speed using the chip board and knotted rope. The term "knot" immediately clicked for me when I saw that.
OT to the article, but the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=On_Lh1wiSjk is a nice examination of the instrument used for the unique sounds in the opening credits of Black Sails.