An invaluable skill is knowing knots around your vessel and identifying which situations each are best used in. Below are some of the more common knots used in boating, and the basic how-to of tying each.

Cleat Hitch

The most common way to properly tie a line to a cleat on your boat or a dock, this hitch is vital to know as a boatowner.

1. Loop the line in both sides of the cleat starting with the furthest horn from the boat.
2. Run the line over the cleat and around the first turn of the knot in step 1.
3. With the line in front, make a new loop and hang it on the other side of the cleat.
4. Pull the end of the line to tighten and finish!

Clove Hitch

A hitch that is simple to do and undo. Be noted that the knot can come undone if pressure is not kept on the line, or if the pole the knot is attached to rotates. The Clove Hitch is commonly used to secure fenders to boat railings.

1. Loop the line around the object.
2. Loop the line around again, this time crossing over the first loop. Make sure not to tighten!
3. Pass the line through the two loops, so the line is on the opposite side where it started, and now tighten!

Bowline Loop

This knot forms a loop at the end of a line that is easy to tie and untie. The loop created can be large or small and is tough and fixed. Since it is so easy to tie and untie, it should not be used in a life-threatening or otherwise critical scenario.

1. Gauge how wide you want the loop to be. Move at least double that length up the line and form a small loop.
2. Return the line under and through the loop, making sure to leave enough slack.
3. Feed the line under the line above the loop.
4. Return the line back over and through the loop.
5. Tighten with the end of the line and the parallel line in one hand, and the loop exit in the other hand to finish!

Flemish Bend

Also known as the Figure Eight Bend, the Flemish Bend is one of the simplest ways to safely and quickly join two lines. The idea is to create a figure eight loop through one line and have the second line follow the loops and bends of the first.

1. With the first line, form a loop back over itself.
2. Bring the end of the line perpendicularly underneath further down itself.
3. Feed the line through the loop created in step 1.
4. Pull the line on both ends to resemble a figure eight shape, but do not tighten!
5. With the second line, feed it back through the same loop in step 1. The second line should run parallel to the first, going the opposite direction.
6. Guide the line through the rest of the knot, following the bends of the first line, in reverse.
7. On the final loop exit, the knot should resemble a figure eight made up of two lines. Pull all four exit points to tighten and complete!