popeye2sea

I think the excerpt you included pretty much explains it. For a square rigged ship it is advantageous to have sails right forward to balance out the force exerted by the after sails. Prior to the advent of jib sails that function was provided by the spritsail named for the spar it is mounted to; the bow sprit. Being so far forward it did not have to be very large. As ships get bigger the need arises to have more sail area forward, so an additional sail, the sprit sail topsail is added. The problem with the sprit sail topsail is that it is very small, difficult to trim properly, and can only be used for very limited points of sail. Someone came up with the brilliant idea of replacing the sprit sail and its topsail with jib sails in order to increase the sail area forward. For a short period of time both were used. As the sail area increased so too the length of the bow sprit with its extensions the jib boom and flying jib boom. This creates another problem. All that increased sail area increases the upward force exerted on the sprit and jib. All of the jib stays, shrouds, and backstays are now necessary to hold the jib down and the sprit sail and sprit sail top sail are no longer able to be used, or are even necessary, with the sprit sail yard now functioning as a spreader for the jib shrouds. Regards,

The American captains of the early Navy were well known for crowding on as much sail as possible on the early frigates, which had very lofty rigs already. These sky sails were sometimes added to the rig. Regards,

Syren Ship Model Company has open hearts that you might be able to use as collars. Regards,

The primary purpose of the gaff vangs is to reduce twist in the sail by the gaff sagging away to leeward. Regards,

If I am thinking about this correctly. If you pull up on the bottom of a sail with the bunt lines only the foot of the sail is being pulled on/supported so you get the belly of the sail still hanging fairly free. Now you can neatly accordian pleat the sail up on to the top of the yard for furling. With a slab line that passes up on both sides of the sail the sail comes up in a bunch with the belly of the sail also supported. I am not certain of the utility of the slab line. Perhaps useful for spilling the wind from one side of the sail? Regards,

Bunt lines run down the forward side of the sail and are hitched to cringles on the foot of the sail. They are employed when furling the sail to gather up the foot. Slab lines run under the sail forming a large u-shape from blocks at the yard under the sail and back up to the yard where they are hitched. They are not always fitted on ships as there function largely parallels the bunt lines. They are used to haul up large "slabs" of the sail for varying purposes. Reef points are stuck through grommets directly on the sail along the reef lines. When the sail is gathered up to that reef line using the reef tackles during the shortening of sail the reef points are knotted over the yard or jack stay effectively turning that reef line into the new head of the sail. Gaskets are employed after the sail is furled. There are several spaced out and fastened to the yard. When in use they are wrapped in a spiral fashion around the sail and yard. They are what holds the furled sail tightly on the yard. When not in use they are hung in a gasket coil on the fore side of the yard. Regards,

The difference lies in the fact that the upper yards need to move up and down on the mast to set and furl sails, whereas the main yard (lowest) remains fixed in position. So you will see the upper yards held in to the mast with the roller parrels. The main yard will be held in place with a combination of gear consisting of: The halliard or jeers that hoist it into place. A sling to help take the weight and suspend the yard. A truss pendant to hold the yard in to the mast. Lifts to assist in taking the weight of the yard extremities and control the cant of the yard. Regards,

I can tell you from personal experience that every piece of brass on my signal bridge was polished all the time.😧 Regards,

On Constitution you can definitely hear people walking on the deck above you. Of course, if you consider there are rather large holes in the deck (covered with gratings) then that is not surprising. Conversations can also easily be heard. On a man-of war in the American and I think the Royal Navy no idle talking was allowed on deck. One of the places where sailors were often allowed to talk was when they were getting water at the water cask. It was a butt cask with a hole let in to serve out the water; therefore a scuttled butt or the scuttle butt. Hence, where we get the term scuttlebutt for idle talk and gossip in modern usage. Regards,

Gary, I also served in minesweepers; USS Exploit MSO 440 and USS Affray MSO 511. Also with CO MINEDIV 121. Wooden ships and Iron men! Regards,

I think you are confusing halyards with lanyards. What you are describing as the line attaching two hearts together on the stay is called a lanyard. The ones connecting two blocks is called a tackle. For the hearts and lanyards on the stays, go ahead and leave them dark brown or black as these are designed to fixed in place after setting up taut and would be tarred. For the tackles rove through blocks, such as for backstays, it is your choice. For although they are designed to be set up taut and not moved frequently they needed to be adjusted from time to time based on how much strain was being put on the masts. BTW, a halyard is the line used to haul the yard up into position on the mast. Best of luck with your first build. Regards,

Paul, I was thinking about your question and I realized that I have never really sat down and counted just how many blocks it will take to complete my build. The number is certainly in the high hundreds for a full rigged ship. In order to come up with the correct number you will have to consider how you are going to rig her; with or without sails, fully accurate or simplified rigging. Most kit rigging plans tend to leave stuff out. One way to figure it all out is to make a spread sheet listing all of rigging materials needed for each line. Again, most plans will have the information spread between several plan sheets, having you refer to diagrams, insets, block lists, belaying plans, etc. The other added benefit to compiling all the info into one spreadsheet is you will learn a lot in the gathering of data from your different sources about how the rigging all works together. I organized mine by mast section, for instance: Main top mast, main top mast shrouds, main top mast backstays, main top mast stay, main top sail yard, main top sail halyard, main topsail sheets, etc. That way I could look at a glance for everything needed for each mast segment as I rigged it. Regards,

I agree completely here. I don't think I have referred to those plates at any time while puzzling out the rigging for my Solieil Royale. The written descriptions in the text are very detailed. Regards,

The notations are all there on the plate. They are just really, really hard to read without magnification. Regards,

That is a really nice set up you have made there. Regards,

A bit more information: The notes on the plan sheets for item F 'ganci amantigli' translates literally to lovers hooks; which I think is the same as sister hooks. The inset box on the rigging sheet translates to: the hooks can be hooked to the eyebolts on the topgallant moor's heads.? If the sails are installed, hook the hooks to the clews of the topgallant sails. Regards,

You can always use the other accepted spelling cont splice. Regards,

I see what you mean about the rigging plan being confusing. For instance in the second photo there is a line #39 leading through blocks at the crosstrees then through block #262 at the yardarm terminating in a hook shaped something (F). It is depicted on a diagram showing the lifts for the yards, but it is rigged more like the topgallant sheet. What is "F"? Is that a designator for a sail? Regards,

Your method is good and sound. It does allow you to average out any inconsistencies in the wrapping. Regards,

Nice method. But it strikes me as a bit overkill. Why wrap more than one inch? Count the turns in one inch and then do the simple division. For very thin diameters you can even wrap a fraction of an inch, like a 1/2 or 1/4 and then do the appropriate math. Regards,

For what It's worth, the cerulean blue is also very close to Prussian Blue, which was a very common color used in the militaries of the period. Regards,

Great job with the photography using a plain background. I particularly like #19 with the haystack and view through the trees and the hazy view of taller buildings in the distance. Well done perspective shot! Have you spoken with the inn keeper about booking rooms? I will be on the next carriage from Paris. It may take some time. The horses are slow and the roads are bad. Regards,

I agree with Allan and the order of fitting the standing rigging over the mast head. Also, the order of setting them up (tightening) the stays, shrouds, and backstays needs to be considered. You will need to step the bowsprit and at the very least rig and set up the bob stays for the bowsprit. This will allow you to set up the fore stay. I set up the fore stay first using a temporary back stay belayed somewhere aft on the ship. This allows me to fix the mast rake at the proper angle. Then I set up the shrouds and backstays, working in pairs alternating port and starboard. I generally work from forward to aft, setting up the lower masts. I also fit the yards on each mast as I go. Then I move on to the topmasts, again forward to aft. I find that setting up the lower masts first gives me a good stable 'base' for aligning and setting up the upper masts. The only draw back to this method is that you have to get comfortable with the amount of rigging that is inevitably going to be hanging from the mast before you get to the running rigging. I estimate the lengths of running rigging needed for each line before attaching it to the yards and sails and coil it up into a hank that hangs from the yard until needed. Again, I assemble everything, sails, blocks, rigging, etc. on the yard prior to crossing the yard on its mast. And I hoist and cross the yards on their respective masts before I even step the next higher mast. I have to say, this method is not what everyone does. Each modeler finds the rigging method they feel most comfortable with. Regards,

I don't think you need to shift the rope while actually serving. What the 'endless' option provides for you is a way to take up the excess line on either end so that it does not tangle and get caught up in the handles and gears. The way I use this is to fix the rope tightly in place and serve a length of rope as far as I can. If the service needs to be continued, that is when I shift the rope to be served further along between the bobbins. Then I can continue serving. Hope that makes sense. Regards,

Underhill's Masting and Rigging the Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier describes most of the wire running rigging terminating with a block shackled in to take a simple whip of rope or whatever tackle was required. For example: sheets for the square sails were chain shackled into the clew of the sail and rove through a sheave in the yardarm then through fairleads beneath the yard terminating at a point just beyond the cloverleaf sheet block where they were shackled to wire rope which lead down towards the deck. The wire rope was then spliced into a double or triple block rove with rope to the lower block shackled to the deck. Regards,