Read Ebook: The Seaman's Friend Containing a treatise on practical seamanship with plates a dictionary of sea terms customs and usages of the merchant service by Dana Richard Henry

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Ebook has 1442 lines and 87849 words, and 29 pages

TO RIG IN A JIB-BOOM.--Reeve the heel-rope come up the stay, martingale stay and guys; unreeve the jib-stay, station hands at each guy, clear away the heel-lashing, haul in upon the guys, and light the boom on board. In most cases the boom will come in without a heel-rope. Make fast the eyes of the rigging to the bowsprit cap, and haul all taut.

BENDING AND UNBENDING SAILS.

To bend a course. To send up a topsail by the halyards--by the bunt-lines. To bend a topgallant sail--a royal--a jib--a spanker--a spencer. To unbend a course--a topsail--a topgallant sail or royal--a jib. To send down a topsail or course in a gale of wind. To bend a topsail in a gale of wind. To bend one topsail or course, and send down the other at the same time.

TO BEND A TOPSAIL.--Make fast the head and reef-earings to their cringles, passing the end of each reef-earing through the cringle above its own and making it fast by a bowline to its own part. Put robands to each eyelet-hole in the head. If the sail is to be sent up by the topsail halyards, lay it on deck abaft the foot of the mast, make it up with its head and foot together, having the head and first reef cringles together and out, and also the bowline cringle and the clews out. Bight the sail in three parts on a pair of slings, having the end of the sail that belongs on the opposite yard-arm on top. Have the fly-block of the topsail halyards above the top, and rack the runner to the topmast backstay or after shroud. Hook the lower block to the slings around the sail, hoist the sail up into the top, cast off the slings, unhook the halyards, and pass the upper end of the sail round forward of the mast, ready for bending. Get the clewlines, buntlines, sheets, bowlines, and reef-tackles ready for bending, the clove hooks of the sheets being stopped to the topmast rigging. Hook or clasp the sheets to the clews, reeve the clewlines and reef-tackles, toggle the bowlines, clinch or toggle the buntlines to the foot of the sail, and stop the head to the buntlines. Hoist on the buntlines and haul out on the reef-tackles, bringing the sail to the yard, and then pass the head-earings and make fast the robands as for a course. If the sail is to be sent up by the buntlines, lay the sail on the deck and forward of the mast, overhaul the buntlines down forward of the yard, on each side of the topmast stay and on the same side of the lower stay. Clinch the ends to the foot of the sail, bight them around under the sail and rack the bights to their standing parts, and stop the head of the sail to the standing parts below the rackings. Bend one bowline to the centre of the sail, to guy it in going aloft. Have the earings bent and secured as before described, and the bights of the head-earings hitched to the buntlines. Sway it up to the top, and haul the ends in on each side of the mast; reeve the clewlines and reef-tackles, make fast the bowlines and sheets, the ends of which, if chain, should be racked to the topmast rigging, ready to be made fast to the clews. The gear being bent, hoist on the buntlines, haul out on the reef-tackles, pass the head-earings, cut the stops of the buntlines, and make fast the robands. Middle the sail on the yard by the glut, or by the centre cringle.

TO BEND TOPGALLANT SAILS AND ROYALS.--These are generally bent to their yards on deck; the royals always. After being bent to the yard, they are furled, with their clews out, ready for sending aloft. If the topgallant sail is to be bent aloft, send it up to the topmast cross-trees by the clewlines, or by the royal halyards; and there bend on the sheets, clewlines, buntlines and bowlines, and bring the sail to the yard as with a topsail.

TO BEND A JIB.--Bend the jib halyards round the body of the sail, and the downhaul to the tack. Haul out on the downhaul, hoisting and lowering on the halyards. Seize the tack to the boom, the hanks to the luff of the sail, and the halyards to its head. Reeve the downhaul up through the hanks and make it fast to the head of the sail. Seize the middle of the sheet-pennant to the clew.

In some vessels the hanks are first seized to the sail, and the jib-stay unrove, brought in-board, and passed down through the hanks, as the sail is sent out, rove in its place and set up. This is more troublesome, and wears out the jib-stay.

TO BEND A SPANKER.--Lower the gaff, and reeve the throat-rope through the hole in the gaff under the jaws, and secure it. Sometimes the head of the luff fits with a hook. Then haul out the head of the sail by the peak-earing, which is passed like the head-earing of a topsail. When the head-rope is taut, pass the lacings through the eyelet-holes, and round the jack-stay. Seize the bights of the throat and peak brails to the leech, at distances from the peak which will admit of the sail's being brailed up taut along the gaff, and reeve them through their blocks on the gaff, and at the jaws, on each side of the sail. The foot brail is seized to the leech just above the clew. Seize the luff of the sail to the hoops or hanks around the spanker mast, beginning with the upper hoop and hoisting the gaff as they are secured. The tack is hooked or seized to the boom or to the mast. Hook on the outhaul tackle. This is usually fitted with an eye round the boom, rove through a single block at the clew, and then through a sheave-hole in the boom.

Some spankers are bent with a peak outhaul; the head traversing on the jack-stay of the gaff.

THE FORE AND MAIN SPENCERS are bent like the spanker, except that they have no boom, the clew being hauled aft by a sheet, which is generally a gun-tackle purchase, hooked to an eye-bolt in the deck.

TO UNBEND A COURSE.--Haul it up, cast off the robands, and make the buntlines fast round the sail. Ease the earings off together, and lower away by the buntlines and clew-garnets. At sea, the lee earing is cast off first, rousing in the lee body of the sail, and securing it by the earing to the buntlines.

TO UNBEND A TOPSAIL.--Clew it up, cast off the robands, secure the buntlines round the sail, unhook the sheets, and unreeve the clewlines and reef-tackles; ease off the earings, and lower by the buntlines.

TO UNBEND A JIB.--Haul it down, cast off the hank seizings and the tack-lashing, cast off and unreeve the downhaul and make it fast round the sail, and cast off the sheet-pennant lashings. Haul aboard by the downhaul, hoisting clear by the halyards.

The rules above given are for a vessel in port, with squared yards. If you are at sea and it is blowing fresh, and the topsail or course is reefed, to send it down, you must cast off a few robands and reef-points, and pass good stops around the sail; then secure the buntlines also around it, and cast off all the robands, reef-points and reef-earings. Bend a line to the lee head-earing and let it go, haul the sail well up to windward, and make fast the lee earing to the buntlines. Get a hauling line to the deck, forward; ease off the weather earing, and lower away.

To bend a new topsail in a gale of wind, it has been found convenient to make the sail up with the reef-bands together, the points all being out fair, to pass several good stops round the sail, and send up as before. This will present less surface to the wind. One course may be sent up as the other goes down, by unbending the buntlines from the foot of the old sail, passing them down between the head of the sail and the yard, bending them to the foot of the new sail, and making the new sail up to be sent aloft by them, as before directed. Run the new sail up to the yard abaft the old one, and send the old one down by the leechlines and the head-earings, bent to the topmast studdingsail halyards, or some other convenient rope.

One topsail may be sent up by the topsail halyards, got ready for bending, and brought to the yard, while the old one is sent down by the buntlines.

WORK UPON RIGGING.--ROPE, KNOTS, SPLICES, BENDS AND HITCHES.

Kinds of rope. Spunyarn. Worming. Parcelling. Service. Short splice. Long splice. Eye splice. Flemish eye. Spindle eye. Cut splice. Grommet. Single and double wall. Matthew Walker. Single and double diamond. Spritsail sheet knot. Stopper knot. Shroud knot. French shroud knot. Buoy-rope knot. Half-hitches. Clove hitch. Overhand knot. Figure-of-eight. Bowline. Running bowline. Bowline-upon-a-bight. Square knot. Timber hitch. Rolling hitch. Blackwall hitch. Cat's paw. Sheet bend. Fisherman's bend. Carrick bend. Bowline bend. Sheep-shank. Selvagee. Marlin-spike hitch. Round seizing. Throat seizing. Stopping. Nippering. Racking. Pointing. Snaking. Grafting. Foxes. Spanish foxes. Gaskets. Sennit. To bend a buoy-rope. To pass a shear-lashing.

WORMING a rope, is filling up the divisions between the strands, by passing spunyarn along them, to render the surface smooth for parcelling and serving.

SPLICING, is putting the ends of ropes together by opening the strands and placing them into one another, or by putting the strands of the ends of a rope between those of the bight.

A LONG SPLICE. Unlay the ends of two ropes to a distance three or four times greater than for a short splice, and place them within one another as for a short splice. Unlay one strand for a considerable distance, and fill up the interval which it leaves with the opposite strand from the other rope, and twist the ends of these two together. Then do the same with two more strands. The two remaining strands are twisted together in the place where they were first crossed. Open the two last named strands, divide in two, take an overhand knot with the opposite halves, and lead the ends over the next strand and through the second, as the whole strands were passed for the short splice. Cut off the other two halves. Do the same with the others that are placed together, dividing, knotting, and passing them in the same manner. Before cutting off any of the half strands, the rope should be got well upon a stretch. Sometimes the whole strands are knotted then divided, and the half strands passed as above described.

AN EYE SPLICE. Unlay the end of a rope for a short distance, and lay the three strands upon the standing part, so as to form an eye. Put one end through the strand next to it. Put the next end over that strand and through the second; and put the remaining end through the third strand, on the other side of the rope. Taper them, as in the short splice, by dividing the strands and sticking them again.

A FLEMISH EYE. Take the end of a rope and unlay one strand. Form an eye by placing the two remaining ends against the standing part. Pass the strand which has been unlaid over the end and in the intervals round the eye, until it returns down the standing part, and lies under the eye with the strands. The ends are then scraped down, tapered, marled, and served over with spunyarn.

AN ARTIFICIAL OR SPINDLE EYE.--Unlay the end of a rope and open the strands, separating each rope yarn. Take a piece of wood, the size of the intended eye, and hitch the yarns round it. Scrape them down, marl, parcel, and serve them. This is now usually called a FLEMISH EYE.

A CUT SPLICE. Cut a rope in two, unlay each end as for a short splice, and place the ends of each rope against the standing part of the other, forming an oblong eye, of the size you wish. Then pass the ends through the strands of the standing parts, as for a short splice.

A GROMMET. Take a strand just unlaid from a rope, with all its turns in it, and form a ring of the size you wish, by putting the end over the standing part. Then take the long end and carry it twice round the ring, in the crevices, following the lay, until the ring is complete. Then take an overhand knot with the two ends, divide the yarns, and stick them as in a long splice.

A SINGLE WALL KNOT. Unlay the end of a rope. Form a bight with one strand, holding its end down to the standing part in your left hand. Pass the end of the next strand round this strand. Pass the remaining strand round the end of the second strand, and up through the bight which was made by the first strand. Haul the ends taut carefully, one by one.

A SINGLE WALL, CROWNED. Make the single wall as before, and lay one end over the top of the knot. Lay the second end over the first, and the third over the second and through the bight of the first.

A DOUBLE WALL. Make the single wall slack, and crown it, as above. Then take one end, bring it underneath the part of the first walling next to it, and push it up through the same bight. Do the same with the other strands, pushing them up through two bights. Thus made, it has a double wall and a single crown.

A DOUBLE WALL, DOUBLE CROWNED. Make the double wall, single crowned, as above. Then lay the strands by the sides of those in the single crown, pushing them through the same bight in the single crown, and down through the double walling. This is sometimes called a TACK KNOT, or a TOPSAIL SHEET KNOT.

A MATTHEW WALKER KNOT. Unlay the end of a rope. Take one strand round the rope and through its own bight; then the next strand underneath, through the bight of the first, and through its own bight; and the third strand underneath, through both the other bights, and through its own bight.

A SINGLE DIAMOND KNOT. Unlay the end of a rope for a considerable distance, and with the strands form three bights down the side of the rope, holding them fast with the left hand. Take the end of one strand and pass it with the lay of the rope over the strand next to it, and up through the bight of the third. Take the end of the second strand over the third and up through the bight of the first. Take the end of the third strand over the first and up through the bight of the second. Haul taut, and lay the ends up together.

A DOUBLE DIAMOND KNOT. Make a single diamond, as above, without laying the ends up. Follow the lead of the single knot through two single bights, the ends coming out at the top of the knot. Lead the last strand through two double bights. Haul taut, and lay the ends up.

A STOPPER KNOT.--Single wall and double wall, without crowning, and stop the ends together.

A SHROUD KNOT.--Unlay the ends of two ropes, and place the strands in one another, as for a short splice. Single wall the strands of one rope round the standing part of the other, against the lay. Open the ends, taper, marl, and serve them.

A FRENCH SHROUD KNOT.--Place the ends of two ropes as before. Lay the ends of one rope back upon their own part, and single wall the other three strands round the bights of the first three and the standing part. Taper the ends, as before.

A BUOY-ROPE KNOT.--Unlay the strands of a cable-laid rope, and also the small strands of each large strand. Lay the large ones again as before, leaving the small ones out. Single and double wall the small strands round the rope, worm them along the divisions, and stop their ends with spunyarn.

A TURKS-HEAD. This is worked upon a rope with a piece of small line. Take a clove-hitch slack with the line round the rope. Then take one of the bights formed by the clove-hitch and put it over the other. Pass the end under, and up through the bight which is underneath. Then cross the bights again, and put the end round again, under, and up through the bight which is underneath. After this, follow the lead, and it will make a turban, of three parts to each cross.

TWO HALF-HITCHES. Pass the end of a rope round the standing part and bring it up through the bight. This is a half-hitch. Take it round again in the same manner for two half-hitches.

A CLOVE-HITCH is made by passing the end of a rope round a spar, over, and bringing it under and round behind its standing part, over the spar again, and up through its own part. It may then, if necessary, be stopped or hitched to its own part: the only difference between two half-hitches and a clove-hitch being that one is hitched round its own standing part, and the other is hitched round a spar or another rope.

AN OVERHAND KNOT. Pass the end of a rope over the standing part, and through the bight.

A FIGURE-OF-EIGHT. Pass the end of a rope over and round the standing part, up over its own part, and down through the bight.

A BOWLINE KNOT. Take the end of a rope in your right hand, and the standing part in your left. Lay the end over the standing part, and with the left hand make a bight of the standing part over it. Take the end under the lower standing part, up over the cross, and down through the bight.

A RUNNING BOWLINE.--Take the end round the standing part, and make a bowline upon its own part.

A BOWLINE UPON A BIGHT. Middle a rope, taking the two ends in your left hand, and the bight in your right. Lay the bight over the ends, and proceed as in making a bowline, making a small bight with your left hand of the ends, which are kept together, over the bight which you hold in your right hand. Pass the bight in your right hand round under the ends and up over the cross. So far, it is like a common bowline, only made with double rope instead of single. Then open the bight in your right hand and carry it over the large bights, letting them go through it, and bring it up to the cross and haul taut.

A SQUARE KNOT. Take an overhand knot round a spar. Take an end in each hand and cross them on the same side of the standing part upon which they came up. Pass one end round the other, and bring it up through the bight. This is sometimes called a REEF-KNOT. If the ends are crossed the wrong way, sailors call it a GRANNY-KNOT.

A TIMBER HITCH. Take the end of a rope round a spar, lead it under and over the standing part, and pass two or more round-turns round its own part.

A ROLLING HITCH.--Pass the end of a rope round a spar. Take it round a second time, nearer to the standing part. Then carry it across the standing part, over and round the spar, and up through the bight. A strap or a tail-block is fastened to a rope by this hitch.

A BLACKWALL HITCH. Form a bight by putting the end of a rope across and under the standing part. Put the bight over the hook of a tackle, letting the hook go through it, the centre of the bight resting against the back of the hook, and the end jammed in the bight of the hook, by the standing part of the rope.

A CAT'S PAW. Make a large bight in a rope, and spread it open, putting one hand at one part of the bight and the other at the other, and letting the standing part and end come together. Turn the bight over from you, three times, and a small bight will be formed in each hand. Bring the two small bights together, and put the hook of a tackle through them both.

A SHEET BEND. Pass the end of a rope up through the bight of another, round both parts of the other, and under its own part.

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