All Gnarled Up Mystery Cache

NOTE: This cache is 1 of 16 associated with the Ol' Salty Dog's Maritime Mixer cache series.

Find your way to the physical cache container at the coordinates revealed by solving the puzzle below. In the physical cache container, attached to the log, you will find a "puzzle piece" that will get you one step closer to finding Ol' Salty Dog's Maritime Mixer.

Knowing how to tie basic knots is an essential skill for a sailor. The art of knot tying is known as "marlinspike." Good sailors take pride in their ability to choose and tie a variety of knots.

Learning to tie various knots takes practice, which can be done with a section of rope. Tying each knot multiple times will engrain a mental picture of the tying sequence. The end of the line that you work with in tying knots is called the "bitter end." The main length of line is the "standing part." With practice, one would be able to tie a variety of knots without much thought.

It is hard to define clearly the terms knot, hitch, and bend because their functions overlap. However, the terms may be generally defined as follows:

  •  Knots are used to form eyes, or to secure a cord or rope around an object. In other words,
      the line is bent to itself.
  •  Hitches are used to bend a rope to or around an object, such as a ring, spar, or stanchion.
  •  Bends are used to secure two lines together.

There are literally thousands of different knots. Below are a few of the most commonly used knots, illustrated and numbered. Utilize your sleuthing skills and match each listed knot (annotated as A through J) with the correct illustration in order to determine the correct adjacent number to assign to each missing decimal minute digit of this puzzle cache's coordinates.