Piloting a felucca must be a tiresome affair. While modern sailboats (in my experience) seem to employ the latest in gear-and-pulley technology to take some of the effort out of holding a particular course, the felucca driver is stuck with holding a huge tiller against the wind for hours at a time. To make things more comfortable, our pilot (Captain Cook) rigged up an ingenious knot that allows him to pull in or let out rope with very little effort, and holding the same with almost none. Perhaps the sailors in the audience can benefit from this Egyptian innovation.