Page 34 - Knots You Need to Know Easy-to-Follow Guide to the 30 Most Useful Knots
P. 34
Tie a Bowline
The bowline is the seaman’s most reliable and useful knot. A quick,
strong method for making an eye in a line, the bowline never slips or
jams. It can be tied in the end of a line or in the middle, with one loop or
two, depending on the situation. In fact, if a sailor were able to learn only
four knots in his life, this should be one of them (the others are the
square, the half hitch, and the figure eight).
To tie a bowline, form an overhand loop; hold the junction firmly between
the thumb and fingers of the right hand and turn over the right hand (1),
palm up, to form a smaller loop with the working end sticking up through
it (2). Hold the loop in the left hand and with the right lead the working
end around behind the standing part (3), then forward and down through
the small loop. The working end should finish inside the big loop, parallel
to the right side. Pull down the working end and the right side of the big
loop with one hand and the standing part with the other (4) to draw up the
knot (5).
