Substitute knot for mast cleat

I briefly saw someone on the interweb rigging a haliard and instead of having a cleat mounted on the mast they had a red rope tied to the mast in what appeared to be a clove hitch or some other knot and it had a ready made loop on it. The guy used it instead of a mast mounted cleat. I liked the idea because I could get the ben egg fits but wouldn't have to drill holes in my mast and cause a corrosion point here in the salt water.
Does anyone have this video or information on this rigging...

Substitute knot for mast cleat