The bowline: the most useful sailing knot

It’s been a frustrating process, and it’s taken much agonizing, but Lala finally mastered the bowline knot yesterday!

Most people teach the knot by describing the standing part of the rope/line as a “tree” and the loop at the bottom of it as a “rabbit hole.” Then the end of the line is the “rabbit” who pops up through the hole, runs around the tree, and then dives back into his hole.

That’s an easy description, but getting the fingers to understand the process of tying the knot is a much different matter.

The bowline is an excellent knot because it makes a loop at the end of a line, it is easily untied, and it does not jam after being heavily loaded, and it does not horribly decrease the strength of the line.

Any knot decreases the breaking strength of a line. Many decrease the strength of the line by over 50% because the knot becomes the weak point. But, the bowline is popular because it doesn’t decrease the strength of the line that much.

So if you don’t know a bowline, then check out the picture and grab a rope or string and see if you can figure it out! It’s one of the most useful knots around!

Capt’n K