Ever tied something to the top of your car and been a little worried about leaving your load in the road? Or perhaps lacked the needed confidence that someone else’s IKEA purchase would stay where it was intended and not wind up in the middle of the freeway?

Or maybe you’ve judged someone at the next campsite over as they struggle to rig their tarp/hammock/string lights/whatever, while you sit, warm and dry, beneath your neat tautline hitches?

Don’t even start with me about walking down the docks to see the creativity with which people secure their fenders, much less boats.

Much like smoke alarms, seatbelts, or spare tires, knots don’t get much attention until suddenly they’re all that matters.

Knots save lives and solve everyday problems. A good one holds when it’s supposed to and lets go when it’s not. Thousands of them have been passed down from generation to generation—taught by one person to another in the middle of the ocean, on the side of the road, or at the top of a mountain. They’re equal parts engineering, muscle memory, and trust.

When you work on the water, you have to know the right knot for the job. One of my most memorable ‘right knot’ moments was during the launch of the 165-foot motor yacht Evviva here in Port Townsend.

Hundreds of people lined the beach to watch this huge vessel make its way down a plywood road and into the water. I was on the crew and happily riding in the dinghy, camera in hand, capturing the excitement—until someone decided the boat needed a little help reaching deeper water.

Someone handed me the tow line, and suddenly it was my job to secure a 12-foot dinghy to a 165-foot yacht and make something happen. I was so nervous—I’d tied a hundred knots a thousand times but this was a big moment.

Luckily there wasn’t time to think and my hands knew what to do.

I tied a couple of bowlines, and we pulled the boat into deeper water. I was so grateful that I had learned to tie them, inside out, and upside down. At that moment, I felt like I could do anything. All because I knew how to tie a knot.

Knots are a huge part of maritime culture, and I’m so excited to feature them more at this year’s Wooden Boat Festival. 

For the first time, Sue Pennison will be hosting a ropemaking and knot-tying booth this year. Sue has spent decades preserving one of the oldest and most practical arts of the sea.

Sue is a rigger and UK Chair of the International Guild of Knot Tyers, and her work spans the full range: the technical precision of period rigging, and decorative knotwork that genuinely stops people in their tracks.

Join us and learn the basics, or get into the deep lore of ropework that has combined form and function for hundreds of years.  

— Barb, Festival Director