tied up in knots

As A kid I used to tie all sorts of knots, but none was handier than the bowline known as the King of Knots, according to Marcus Gee in the Globe and Mail. Once fashioned the loop you've made holds tight without slipping.

I’ve never been good at knowing one knot from another. Nor am I good using my fingers to work things out. The best way to express it? I'm all thumbs.

I suspect the bowline, pronounced BO-lin, don't ask me why, came in handy when keeping forts we would build up in the trees, or when camping, say in Ontario’s Algonquin Park. Tie up a canoe on the shoreline by slipping the loop over a stable branch.

As for how to tie one, I now have to close my eyes and work on it by picturing the knot in my mind. How it should look. Better still, let’s let Marcus explain it in simple terms. The rabbit goes up the hole (loop), around the tree and back down the hole.

I picked up a hefty rope from among my camping gear and tried it myself. Up through the loop, around the standing part and back down again’. Pull it taut. What do you know, it worked!

That’s good to know. Use it tying down stuff on the car’s roof rack and God knows how many other uses.

Author’s comment: If you can’t understand what I'm trying to explain, Marcus Gee refers to the Ashley Book of Knots. Which leaves me wondering why do I end up with a slip knot when struggling for the one that doesn’t slip? I’ll work on it.