Bowline Bowline The bowline ( or ) is an ancient and simple knot used to form a fixed 'eye' at the end of a rope. It has the virtues of being both easy to tie and untie; most notably, it is easy to untie after being subjected to a load. The bowline is sometimes referred to as "King of the knots" because of its importance. It is one of the four basic maritime knots (the other three are figure-eight knot, reef knot and clove hitch). The common (ABoK #1010) bowline shares some structural similarity with the sheet bend (ABoK #1431). Virtually
Figure Eight Island is located just north of Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington. The island has an area of , most of which is marshland. Between the northernmost part of Figure Eight and Lea-Hutaff Island lies Rich Inlet, one of the few natural inlets in North Carolina. To the south, between the island and Wrightsville Beach, lies Mason Inlet. The former is a stable inlet, while the latter is migratory. Due to the island's proximity to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, the ocean temperatures off of Figure Eight are comparable to destinations much further south and considerably warmer than the ocean off