We were actually going to look at common knots we would use when aboard a boat but thought we had better cover the question of marriage on a ship first. Normally, a ships captain would not have the legal right to perform a wedding at sea, however, getting married in Cyprus is very popular and doing it at sea is something special, so we do offer a compromise and perform the ceremony aboard with the following addendum:

“Any marriages performed by the captain of this boat are valid for the duration of the voyage only.”

We did wonder if ‘Tying the Knot’ had any real nautical reference so our preferred explanation of the origin is :

Illiterate sailors would send a piece of rope to their sweethearts when they wanted to get married. If the rope returned with a knot, it meant yes.

However, this would seem to be in direct contradiction to the modern meaning of ‘Get Knotted’!

Ps. Not ALL saylors are illiretate