K Is For Knot | Nancy Drew Investigates {A To Z Challenge}

During April, we're participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Every day (except Sundays), we'll be doing an alphabet themed post starting with "A is for Anchor" and ending with "Z is for Zodiac." Each post is an installment of "Nancy Drew Investigates the Case of the Missing Anchor" - so you may want to read the posts from the beginning, in order to follow along with the story (click here for the first post and here for an index of all the posts). At the end of each post, you'll also find some random thoughts on the day's particular topic. So, if Nancy isn't your thing, feel free to skip the story and go straight to the end.     

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When we last left you, Nancy and her friends had anchored in Moonstone Castle Cove to see if they could help the crew of Double Jinx. Bess also offered to tie the dinghy to the jetty. For some reason, no one seemed to think this was a bad idea, especially given her track record with all things sailing.

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“Bess, wait until you hear this,” said Nancy as Bess came towards them. “This is Mark and Judy from Double Jinx. They saw the guy who stole their dinghy. He had a scraggly beard and was wearing a red baseball hat with Xebec written on the front. Sound familiar?”

“Golly, Nancy. That sounds just like the same guy we had that nasty run-in with at the boat yard and who forced us into shallow waters where we grounded!” Bess looked at Nancy with wide eyes. “What will he do next? Maybe we should return to River Heights. It would be so much safer being at home than out here on the water!”

“Don’t worry Bess. The Coast Guard has already been alerted about what happened and they’ll be on the lookout for him. In the meantime, Don and Sandra are going to give them a lift back to their boat. They’re all participating in the regatta as well. Isn’t that swell?”

“Before we head back to our boats, tell me, how you girls got mixed up in all of this,” said Mark.

“Didn’t you hear about all of the stuff that was stolen from the marina, including Marvin and Shelley’s anchor?” George pointed over to their boat, The Scarlet Slipper. “It happened just the other day and they had to get a replacement anchor at last minute.”

“We were lucky that they had a Rocna anchor in the size we needed,” said Shelley with a smile.

“A Rocna. That’s the kind of anchor we have. Wouldn’t be without it for the world,” said Don.

Judy piped up, “That’s what we have as well! I sleep so much better with our Rocna. I was even thinking of writing an article about it for the yacht club’s newsletter. Maybe they would give us a free anchor to raffle off in exchange for the publicity.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” said Mark. “That’s wishful thinking. Companies that sell anchors and marine products never give anything away for free. You would be lucky to even get a discount. Although, it would be nice considering how expensive they are.”

“We picked ours up for a great price. It was a real steal, wasn’t it, dear?” asked Sandra. “What was the name of that guy who sold it to us?”

“His name was Pete. Nice enough young chap. We met him when we went out on a fishing trip with Xebec Charters. His uncle, Captain Gus, runs the charter business. Crotchety old guy, but he sure does know the waters around here.” Don stared off into the distance, daydreaming about catching snapper.

“That’s right. Pete was helping his uncle out that day. Anyway, he got us a super deal on our Rocna.” Sandra turned to Mark and Judy. “Why don’t I give you his contact details? He might be able to sort you out with a replacement dinghy.”

“Sure, that sounds great.” Mark looked over at the setting sun. “We should probably be heading back to the boat before the sun goes down.” He turned to Nancy and her friends. “Thanks again for stopping by to check on us. We’ll see you tomorrow at Grande Isle after the race.”

As they all made their way up to the jetty, Nancy whispered to Bess and George, “Did you hear that? They were talking about Pete. The guy whose name and number were written on the back of that Xebec Charters business card we found by that white catamaran in the boat yard.”

George nodded, “And that suspicious guy on the catamaran was wearing a Xebec Charters hat. It sounds like they’re all in it together.”

They came up to their dinghy and noticed Marvin staring down with a perplexed look at the painter which Bess had tied to the jetty. It consisted of a series of complex and intricate knots. “Um, Bess, what kind of knots did you say you had been learning? This doesn’t quite look like a clove hitch.”

Bess looked down at the knot uncomfortably. “Well, I couldn’t quite remember how to tie a clove hitch. So, I figured the more knots, the better.”

Nancy smiled and said, “Let’s just call this one the Bess Special knot. It’s one of a kind, just like you.”

Tune in on Monday for the next installment of Nancy Drew Investigates – L is for Lazy Jacks.

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Lots and lots of line. Try tying knots in these bad boys blindfolded with people yelling faster, faster at you.

I have a confession to make - I hate tying knots. I'm bad at it under pressure (and without pressure of any kind whatsoever, if I'm honest) and it's rather embarrassing.

Actually, let me rephrase that. I have an announcement to make - I hate tying knots and I'm proud of it.

There, now I feel like someone on the Jerry Springer Show. I've taken something that most people would be ashamed of and turned it into a virtue. Now, all I need is my own reality show.

Unfortunately, being able to tie knots quickly and under pressure is an important skill to have on a boat. The Bess Special knot didn't come out of thin air. It's based on a little episode we had on our old boat in New Zealand, where I handcrafted a truly unique knot, which Scott dubbed the Ellen Special.

I recently found a little knot tying kit on the free table at our marina. I guess whoever left it has already mastered all of the 50 need-to-know knots for boaters. More power to them. Maybe they've moved on to diesel engine repair, another skill set I need to acquire. The kit comes with a little length of line and illustrated cards of various knots. It even has challenge cards - you can gain points for each knot you tie correctly.

So, now I spend my nights practicing knots and watching old episodes of Monarch of the Glen, while wearing sweatpants. Glamorous and riveting stuff. Totally has the makings of a reality show, don't you think?

By the way, if the nice folks from Rocna Anchors are reading this (and, if you are - wow! why?), feel free to send me all sorts of lovely swag for the mention. We really do love our Rocna.

What's something you need to learn to do and how are you going to go about doing it?

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