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The seaman's friend
by Richard Henry Dana
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Excerpt:
Cutting Lower Rigging.—Draw a line from the side of the partners abreast of the mast, on the deck, parallel to the channels, and to extend as far aft as they do. On this line mark the places of each dead-eye, corresponding to their places against the channels. Send a line up to the mast-head, and fasten it to the mast by a nail above the bibbs, in a range with the centre of the mast, and opposite to the side the channel line is drawn upon. Then take the bight of the line around the forward part of the mast, and fasten it to the mast by a nail, opposite the first nail, so that the part between the nails will be half the circumference of the mast-head; then take the line down to the mark on the channel line for the forward dead-eye, and mark it as before; and so on, until you have got the distance between the mast and each mark on the channel line. Now cast off the line from the masthead, and the distance between the end of the line and each mark will give you the length of each shroud from the lower part of the mast-head. And, to make an allowance for one pair of shrouds overlaying another, you may increase the length of the pair put on second, that is, the larboard forward ones, by twice the diameter of the rigging; the third pair by four times; and so on.
The size of the lower rigging should be as much as eight and a half inches for vessels of seven or eight hundred tons, and from seven and a half to eight for smaller vessels, over three hundred tons.
For the length of the fore, main, and mizzen stays and spring-stays, take the distance from the after part of the masthead to their hearts, or to the place where they are set up, adding once the length of the mast-head for the collar.
The standing stays fchould be once and half the circumference of the shrouds.
Fitting Lower Rigging.—Get it on a stretch, and divide each pair of shrouds into thirds, and mark the centre of the middle third. Tar, worm, parcel and serve the middle third. Parcel with the lay of the rope, working toward the centre; and serve against the lay, beginning where you left off parcelling. Serve as taut as possible. In some vessels the outer thirds of the swifters are served; but matting and battens are neater and more generally used.
Formerly the middle third was parcelled over the service, below the wake of thefuttock staff. Mark an eye at the centre of the middle third, by seizing the parts together with a round seizing. The eye of the pair of shrouds that goes on first should be once and a quarter the circumference of the mast-head; and make each of the others in succession the breadth of a seizing larger than the one below it. Parcel the score of the dead-eye, and heave the shroud taut round it, turning in with the sun, if right-hand-laid rope, and against the sun, if hawser-laid; then pass the throat seizing with nine or ten turns, the outer turns being slacker than the middle ones. Pass the quarter seizings half way to the end, and then the end seizings, and cap the shroud, well tarred under the cap. Make a Matthew Walker knot in one end of the lanyard, reeve the other end out through the dead-eye of the shroud, beginning at the side of the dead-eye upon which the end of the shroud comes, and in through the dead-eye in the channels, so that the hauling part of the lanyard may come in-board and on the same side with the standing part of the shroud. If the shroud is right-hand-laid rope, the standing part of the shroud will be aft on the starboard, and forward on the larboard side; and the reverse, if hawser-laid.
The neatest way of setting up the lower fore-and-aft stays, is by reeving them down through a bull's eye, with tarred parcelling upon the thimble, and setting them up on their ends, with three or four seizings. The collar of the stay is the length of the mast-head, and is leathered over the service The service should go beyond the wake of the foot of the topsail, and the main-stay should be served in the wake of the foremast. The main and spring stays usually pass on different sides of the foremast, and set up at the hawse-pieces.
