Then one day I was shown how to tie a bowline in a completely different way … and it stuck.

Since then I’ve shown lots of people my method and almost all of them report that they now know how to do it. I recently came across the instructions and a diagram for this method for the first time. I have reproduced it here – thanks to John Jamieson† of www.skippertips.com

So what’s the secret? Well, to make it clear, you need to learn some terminology that applies to marine knots. Here we go (it isn’t difficult)

MARINE KNOT TERMINOLOGY

* Standing part: The part of a line attached to something, like a boat cleat. You can think of it as the part of the line you can’t move – it stands still.

* Bight: A loop in a line. A single bight in a line is one loop, a knot may contain more than one bight, and a coil is made up of many bights.

* Bitter end: The bitter end means the part near the end of a line – the bit you that is free for you to move.

* Slack: The opposite of taut – there is some “give” in the line.

FIVE STEP BOWLINE IN FIVE SECONDS

1. Turn and face the standing part of the line.

2. Hold the standing part with your non-dominant hand. Keep some slack in the standing part.

3. Pick up the bitter end and make a loop. Lay the bitter end on top so that it crosses over the standing part. Place your thumb underneath and your index finger on top (it should look like illustration 1).

4. Twist the bitter end away and under the bight (see the arrow in illustration 1). After you do this, it should look similar to the second illustration. Leave a few inches of bitter end to finish the knot.

5. Pass the bitter end around the standing part, and back through the small bight (illustration 2 and illustration 3). Hold the standing part and pull on the bitter end to remove all slack from the knot.

Practice these five steps until you can tie the bowline knot in five seconds or less!

USES FOR THE BOWLINE

The bowline is probably the yachtie’s favourite knot and being able to tie a bowline quickly is important. It has many uses, including several that could be life-saving.

For everyday use you can make a bowline in the end of your shoreline to pass to someone ashore. Two bowlines can be used to join ropes together when passing a strong line for towing for instance. On our sailing courses yachts frequently anchor overnight in a bay on the island of Dhokos. They moor using the anchor and a line that is taken ashore in the dinghy (usually by Competent Crew candidates). Their task is to find a large tree or rock around which they can tie the rope in a bowline to hold the yacht safely overnight.

Tying a bowline around something rather than tying it and then dropping it over a bollard is quite tricky but this method can help you.

If you are ever unlucky enough to have a man overboard, you can toss them a line with a bowline on the end to pass over your shoulders, giving you a secure tow.

Once you have mastered the bowline try these exercises to see how good you can get:

• Tie a bowline around the leg of a chair to practice what it’s like to tie one around a tree
• Tie a bowline behind your back (this is a climber’s trick)
• Tie a bowline with one hand. If you can do this you’ll even impress Captain George, the Master of Marine Knots.

† Captain John Jamieson with 25+ years of experience shows you the no-nonsense cruising skills you need for safer sailing worldwide.  Visit his website at ww.skippertips.com for a free issue of the highly popular “Captain John’s Sailing Tips” newsletter.  Discover how you can gain instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, e-Books and more!

Check out our smart new website at www.aegeansailingschool.com. We’ve tried to make it fun and modern (just like us! …) and to improve the ease with which you can find what you are looking for.

Please let me know what you think. I’ll be especially grateful if you can tell me if you notice any typos or mistakes or find anything that does not appear to be working properly.

You can take an RYA Competent Crew course or, if you have sufficient knowledge and expreience, an RYA Day Skipper course. Or alternatively you can just come along for the sail.

Start 18:30 on Sunday 12 June, finish 17:30 Friday 17 June. You can stay on board until Saturday morning.  Start & finish on Aegina Island, easy to reach from Athens airport.

Contact me now to book at melody@aegeansailingschool.com or +30 22970 32265

You can take either the RYA Competent Crew course (for beginners) or the RYA Day Skipper Practical course (for those with some experience and knowledge of basic navigation & chartwork).

We have two people already booked (possibly three) but there are two places still available.

The price is 916 euro / 832 UKP for single occupany of a cabin and we’ll offer a 30% discount for two people sharing a cabin, making it 640 euro / 582 UKP each.

This includes everything except getting to us and evening meals – we provide linen and towels, food for breakfast and lunches, use of waterproofs (unlikely to be needed in June though)

Our school is on the island of Aegina, easy to reach from Athens airport.

If you are interested please email Melody melody@aegeansailingschool.com

Here’s a link to a very good article by Simon Jinks of the RYA. It explains mainsail angle and twist and tells you exactly how to get the best out of your mainsail.

Trimming the mainsail | Boat Handling – Sail | Cruising | RYA.

Many of the students we have taught to sail over the years have gone on to charter yachts themselves in subsequent years. They often ask us questionsand so I’ve put together some information for first time charterers.

This first instalment deals with choosing a charter yacht and the costs you need to consider.

Choose a Reputable Company

Biggest is not always best and there are some excellent boats to be had by chartering through small companies or directly from the owner, but for your first charter we’d recommend sticking to one of the major companies. They should have good, well maintained boats and will have the resources to come to your assistance if anything breaks or stops working. Sun and salt water make the ocean a hostile environment for anything mechanical or moving – even new boats will have problems from time to time.

We now act as agents for some companies that have charter yachts in Greece and can get you quotations for prices from two or three good companies.

Don’t Charter Anything Too Big

You’ll have enough to worry about when you first set out as a skipper without pushing your skills to their limit. We’d suggest choosing a yacht a few feet smaller than the boat you trained on. Our main teaching yachts are 44 and 45 ft so, if you’ve passed your Day Skipper successfully at Aegean Sailing School, you’ll find anything up to about 42 ft easy to handle. Many people prefer to start chartering on a 36 – 40 ft yacht and this is a nice size for a first yacht, with room for family and friends.

Have Enough Cabins

Unless you are on a tight budget, we’d recommend that you have enough cabins for everyone to sleep in a cabin, rather than having to use the saloon. Berths are often shown in the format 10/4. This means the yacht can accommodate 10 people, but only has 4 cabins. The other two people will need to sleep in the saloon, where there is a fold-down table that converts into a bed. If you will need to use the bed in the saloon make sure the company show you how to convert it as part of the handover – I’ve scratched my head a few times trying to work out how to do this on a strange yacht.

Age of Yacht

The newer and bigger the yacht the more expensive it will be. You may have to choose between newer or bigger to fit your budget. If you book with a reputable company you should find that their older yachts will still be in good condition, although obviously not as shiny and bright as the new ones. For your first charter avoid anything very cheap and old, however, as the chances of mechanical or other problems will be greater. You don’t want the worry of having to deal with a problem when you are inexperienced.

Extra Items

Check what is included and not included in the price of your charter. You may have to pay extra for GPS or outboard engine. Most companies provide linen but some do not include towels in the price. End cleaning of the yacht is typically not included; you will pay this in cash on arrival.

Start and End Days and Times

Most yacht charters in Greece start at 17:00 on Saturday and finish by 09:00 on the following Saturday. If you want different start and end dates you will need to shop around. You will find it very difficult and expensive to have a charter that overlaps a weekend. The company will lose the potential for chartering two week and so they will charge you accordingly.

You will need to return the yacht to the base the evening before your charter ends so plan to be in port not too far away on the penultimate night.

Information You’ll Need to Provide

For chartering in Greece you will need to provide copies of two sailing licences or sailing resumes for two people who will be on board to prove that you have sufficient experience to charter. One of the licences can normally be RYA Competent Crew but the other must be at least RYA Day Skipper Practical.

You’ll also need to give the company full names, nationalities, and passport numbers for all crew members. This is needed for the crew list that they must submit to the port police before you can take the yacht.

Normally the licences and crew details are required two weeks prior to the charter start date.

Terms and Conditions

You will need to pay a deposit, typically 50%, to book your yacht. This will generally not be refunded if you have to cancel so you should ensure that you take out travel insurance to cover you in the event of cancellation. Most companies will try to oblige you if you need to change the date of your charter but it will depend upon availability of yachts.

The Security Deposit

Before the company lets you sail away in their expensive yacht you will need to provide a security deposit. This is an amount that they retain against any damage to the yacht. There are two types of security deposit – refundable and non-refundable.

All companies will offer a refundable deposit. This is normally around 1300 – 1500 euro, although it may be more for larger yachts. It covers the excess on their insurance policy. You leave the amount on deposit with the company, either in cash or on a credit card, when you take the yacht. At the end of your charter, the company will check for any loss or damage. If they find anything amiss they will deduct an amount to cover the loss. If you are unaware of the cost of items such as fenders in Greece, it can come as a nasty shock when you have to pay for a replacement. Take care.

In the event of a major problem, such as hull damage or loss of dinghy and engine, you will lose the whole of your security deposit, with the rest of the repair or replacement being covered by the yacht’s insurance.

If your yacht is damaged by another vessel it is up to you to get information from those involved in the incident, including a declaration from a third party. You should not be liable for damage caused by another yacht as long as you are able to provide credible and thorough evidence. You should report any incident to the local port police, taking the name and registration number of the other yacht involved.

Breakages caused by normal wear and tear are not the responsibility of the client.

Some companies offer the option of a non-refundable deposit. This is a set amount per day, about 30 euro for medium sized boats. You pay this when you take the yacht but you do not get anything back when you return the yacht. For new charterers this can take some stress out of the week. You don’t have the additional worry that you might be charged for an expensive repair if you accidentally scrape the yacht.

Fuel

As for a hire car, you will pay for the fuel you use. You will have a full tank of diesel on departure and you must return it full. You should allow 80 € – 150 € per week for fuel but this depends on how much motoring you do, the size of the yacht and the sea state you encounter. Make sure that you put fuel into the correct tank – diesel in the water tank is not a good idea.

We would like to give a warm welcome to the new daughter of John and Cathy Clark.

Here are a couple of photographs of proud mum and dad after bringing Zoe Jessica back from Athens, where she was born.

Sailing can be a great sport for all the family. Even quite young children can be useful members of the crew, learning how to tie on fenders, helping with the anchor, and steering the yacht.

Every year we teach a number of families to sail. This post has some nice photographs of the van Pappeldam family, who sailed with us this Easter. Their multilingual children were a delight to have on board.

If you are thinking of bringing your children on a ‘learn to sail’ holiday here is some information for you:

•   The RYA have an excellent book for young sailors – Go Cruising! It is accompanied by an activity book with things to colour in, stickers, crosswords and other activities to keep young crew entertained. We provide a copy free to all families who sail with us. 

• The minimum age for doing an RYA Competent Crew course is about 13, although we havc had a few keen dinghy sailors who have managed to pass at a younger age.

• Children from about 10 years old can get an RYA Start Yachting certificate if they have been useful members of the crew.

• Children who have done some dinghy sailing often get more out of the sailing tuition than those who are completely new to sailing.

• Younger children can be awarded our own ‘Sailing Dolphins’ certificates.

• If you have young childern on board we suggest that you consider taking six days rather than five days to do your course; this allows more time for swimming /snorkeling / playing on the beach, and you can make shorter trips each day but complete the same number of miles as in a 5-day course.

• Children are fine on board a Competent Crew course which has a relaxed pace, but if the adults are doing a Day Skipper course it requires rather more planning, RYA Day Skipper is quite demanding and, although we still build in time for swim stops, you must remember that this is primarily a sailing course and secondly a family holiday

• If you are going to sail with teenagers you need to explain that sailing is an environmentally friendly sport. Yachts do not have electricity at all times and the amount of water on board is limited. Most people enjoy the challenge of holidaying in an environmentally friendly way and find they can live without TV, hairdryers, unlimited hot water, and other things they normally regards as essentials .

A picture of our new yacht, Philip.

If you have taken a course with your childen please add a comment to help others. I think some of our instructors may want to comment as well.

Price 550 € / £ 500 per person including everything except getting to us and evening meals.

There is no single supplement on these dates.

We have two places left on 1 May and three on 8 May. You can do either an RYA Competent Crew or RYA Day Skipper course on these weeks, depending upon your previous experience and knowledge.

Please contact Melody for more details and to book.

On Sunday I was one of about 250 people who volunteered to clean the public beaches around Aegina.

It was a sunny and windy day (perfect sailing weather!) and everyone was cheerful as we set about the task of collecting the rubbish that had been washed ashore during the winter. It was the best example of the community working together that I have been involved in during all my time in Greece.

With the current financial crisis, it’s unlikely our Mayor will have funds for all the usual beach-cleaning operations.

Tourism is very important and visitors like nice clean beaches to sit on, but the locals also use the beaches a lot as sea bathing is very popular with most Greeks.

In the past I’ve helped clean beaches in Scotland so I was interested to notice that Greek rubbish was quite different from that we used to find on the beaches of Argyll. There are some advantages to living in a country where people do not flush paper or any other items down the toilet!

The main components of the rubbish on the beach at Agious, where I participated, was plastic straws and plastic bottles tops. Bits of straw were everywhere! The worst thing to clear up was polystyrene, which had broken into tiny pieces and was blown around by the wind as you tried to scoop it up.

I’m really glad I participated in the cleanup, which looks likely to become an annual event. Well done to the aeginagreece website who organized the event.