An oldie, but as always great information, you are the Yoda of the canoe world 👍👍☕️☕️

Having spent last Monday with you Ray I had to smile when I saw this video as I remembered you showing me the exact same bowline and half fisherman’s on Monday morning on my boat! Great instruction and info as always! Rob

clear - well presented and concise - thank you for not making it over-complicated!!! always a pleasure to have you show up in my list of videos to watch. take care Ray - from Alberta

A very useful resource this video. Thanks Ray. 👍

I love the stop motion.

I  like the way you show how to tie the knots in more than once but what is better is you show how you use the knots - fabulous, keep these coming Ray.
FYI my "go to" knot is (or could be was?) a round turn and two and a half hitches.

Always room for knot in the noggin.  Nice over view with some new twists.

Some 31 years ago Ray did till me I had not tied my bowline knot incorrectly to the front of my canoe. For some 31 years I could not work out why it was tied wrongly as I did not ask Ray to explain why at the time. Now I have the answer!

Good one as always. Been on the Meuse 3 times lately, at the Belgian France border where I live , getting confident about getting in and out of the canoe .
Have fun,
Igor from Belgium

Thanks Ray just what I need 👍

thanks a lot for all your videos. Painter knot is called a "noeud de chaise" in french. a "chair knot" used to tie the sat used to hold seats used to maintain hull and rigs.

a mnemonic sentence we use at sailing school for making a bowline : “The snake comes out of the well, it goes around the tree then it goes back into the well.". Bow line is also called a "bouline" in the French navy.  British and Frenche navies have been trading captives for centuries ...

Fun factoid: All the decorations in theaters hang from clove hitches because of how easy they're to adjust. When everything is in position, the clove hitches are secured with half-hitches.

I usually prefer to have all the luggage connected into a big bundle with carabiners, soft shackles (I make mine) or short cam straps (ditto), but not lashed to the boat. All the connections go over thwarts, so that everything can fall out as a unit. I've found that my luggage rarely has enough flotation to help the canoe much, sometimes it's just enough to keep heavier-than-water gear afloat. The procedure after a capsize is to catch an eddy, lift the boat out of the water (luggage bundle floats clear), throw the bundle back in and paddle on. It also allows me to shift the luggage slightly, to trim the boat when underway. I don't use leashes, either, as I'm scared of any loose line. If my luggage floats away, I'll chase it down after emptying the canoe.

Thanks ray much appreciated as I’m new this year been to the wye twice going a third this month.
If you could do a vid on securing your barrel’s that would be great

Like that Algonquin Outfitters boat! I take it you were in Algonquin Park? Where did you paddle?!?

I do like to have a quick release knot in my arsenal too. Mainly for if I want to tie off a sheet of some sort when using an improvised sail so it can be released in a panic situation. Maybe also to secure a tow rope to the seat if I've put an empty boat on tow while we tandem through high winds etc. for similar reasons. I also use one for tying the boat up to the shore while loading, more for showing off purposes so I can quickly tug the end and set off.  I usually use a quick release clove hitch but I do appreciate the totally clean release of a highwaymans hitch which doesn't have to pull back round whatever you fixed it to.

Good stuff Ray. You know my background, and the only variation I'd add is my preference for the Figure 8 over the Overhand (both threadings). For me it looks more balanced, and I can usually pry open the 8 more easily than the overhand when it becomes tight. But that's just me...  Whichever is slick, effective, ideally adjustable, and reverable on demand, is good.

I always remember the ryhme ray ,, the rabbit goes up the hole round the tree then back down the hole 🤔 just as a suggestion ray wouldn't a Canadian jam knot suffice for the painter 🛶👍