If you're looking for a book for the new boater, yourself, or the sailor who's knot-tying could use a little help, you can't go wrong with Peter Owens' The Book of Sailing Knots: How To Tie and Correctly Use Over 50 Essential Knots.

Published in 2008 by Lyons Press, the book provides step-by-step instructions for mastering the art of tying over 50 sailing knots using natural-fiber ropes. The illustrated guide shows you how to create stopper knots, bends, loops, hitches and many more. Learn everything from tying knots correctly to securing the rope ends and, perhaps most importantly, selecting the right knot for the task.

The author is an illustrator and, apparently, a dedicated knot-tying enthusiast whose previous books on the subject include The Book of Outdoor Knots, The Book of Decorative Knots, The Book of Camping Knots, and The Ultimate Book of Knots: More Than Two Hundred Practical and Decorative Knots.

The Book of Sailing Knots: How To Tie and Correctly Use Over 50 Essential Knots is available at Amazon.com or through your local book store. (ISBN numbers are ISBN-10: 1599213486, ISBN-13: 978-1599213484)

- Linda Hoff