popeye2sea

"Fairlead"

There may be a false stay set up beneath the stay. It would have an eye spliced in to its upper end that would be seized to the stay just below the mouse. The lower end could be set up with deadeyes or blocks just inboard of the stay on the bow sprit, or below the stay on the foremast. Regards

Correct. Served over is the same as served.

The description is exactly what you see in the last diagram. A long block is much like a sister block. It looks like two single blocks end to end. In some versions the upper sheave is larger than the lower to give some clearance between the parts of the fall. A long stropped single block simply means that the strop is longer than you would find on a regular block. It is what you see for the lower block of the tackle in the last diagram. One end of the strop holds the thimble with the hook, the other end is the becket loop where the tackle fall is bent on. Hope that makes a little more sense.

Does it look very lightly timbered to anyone else?

I can't find any reference to a score block.

That ship is the indicator loop cable layer USCG Pequot (ex army minelayer General Samuel M. Mills). Built in 1909 and transferred to the Coast Guard in 1922. She was transferred to the Navy and stationed in Boston during WW II. She was decommissioned in Boston in 1946 and sold for scrap in 1947. Indicator loop cables were laid on the ocean floor to detect submarines. Regards, Henry

Someone may offer corrections on this because I am not as familiar with fore and aft rigs, but I believe your answer is both were used. There has to be a means of hoisting the yard up into place. That is the halyard, whether it be rigged as a tye or jeers. Once the yard was hoisted to its proper height the slings were passed. Often the jeers were slacked off slightly so that the yard hung mostly by the slings. This relieved the strain on the tackles. Since this yard is not often struck or shifted the sling is semi-permanent and set up with lashings. The slings had the added benefit of holding up the yard if the halyard was shot away in battle. Regards,

For me, I love the historical, educational aspect of the ships as much as the building of them, so my current plan is to build ships that will show the evolution of ships of the line over the centuries. Ships that fit the bill are: Victory (1760's), Soleil Royal (1660's), Sovereign of the Seas (1630's), Revenge (1570's), Mary Rose (1510's), Henri Grace a Dieu or Great Harry (1510's). A side benefit is that if I go in that progression I will moving from plastic kits to wood kits to wood scratch built. Of course there is also the Constitution because.....well...you know. Regards,

Further to what was said by wq3296, the grating that the cable was coiled on was commonly called the cable tier. Regards,

I agree, there is a difference. Wore navy blue for thirty years. But I can see where people might mistake it for black.

That is the French 74 Mont Blanc and other vessels off Marseilles. The Roux painting sold at Christies for 22,500 pounds Regards,

Officers and warrants had somewhat standardized uniforms. Often the crews uniforms were dictated by the Captain and just as often were paid for out of the Captains pocket. Especially for specialized or highly visible crew assignments like the crew for the captains gig or mess men. While by the war of 1812 the majority of the military was standardizing on Federal Blue uniforms, the Navy uniforms still tended towards Navy Blue (which appears almost black). Even for standardized uniforms, there was a lot of variation in cloth dying, so the uniforms would often have varying shades. Plus the dyes they used then were not very color fast, so they faded rapidly. One thing to bear in mind if you use the USS Constitution web site for reference, and this is a pet peeve of mine, they are not wearing their trousers correctly. The trousers were high waisted. Meaning the waist band of the trousers came up much higher than your natural waist line. The front hem of the coat would cover the waist band of the trousers below the buttons. All you would see is a flat white front and the lower corners of the narrow fall seams. Belts were not used to hold up the trousers back then. You would wear braces (suspenders). Also, social standards dictated that a man would never appear without a hat and coat. Or at the very least a waist coat (vest). Walking about in just your linen shirt would be the equivalent today of walking around in your underwear. Although, I am sure that standards were relaxed somewhat while out to sea. The crew would be required to turn out in their coats and hats for muster, religious services, and the like.

Here are some photos from Harland's Seamanship in the Age of Sail that may help illustrate the process. Sorry the legend got cut off: a. Main stay tackle pendant b. Fore stay tackle pendant c. Triatic stay d. main stay tackle e. fore stay tackle f. main yard tackle g. fore yard tackle h. top burton i. rolling tackle j. guys Most of these tackles usages are fairly self explanatory. The triatic stay is set up between the main and fore tackle pendants and is roughly the same length as the boats. The top burton is set up from the top mast in the same manner as the main or fore stay tackles and pendants. In this instance it is rigged to help take the strain on the lower yards. The rolling tackles are actually the yard tackles from the opposite yard arms, stoppered halfway inboard along the yard with the lower block hooked into a strap around the mast. This tackle helps to prevent the yard from shifting and relieves some of the strain on the jeers, slings, and parrels, etc. In addition, all braces and trusses were hauled taut, the lee yardarms were topped up a little, the lee lifts and lee topsail clewlines were hauled taut to distribute the strain. Underway, he vessel would be hove-to with the main topsail aback, the main yard almost square, and the fore yardarm hauled aft. The boat is always hoisted out on the lee side. Regards,

Very nicely done crows feet.

Well, unless your lines were perfectly straight, and she was sewing perfectly straight, the chances of them lining up perfectly are low.

Did you ask to have that done by hand or by machine?

A little rust would just add to the realism . I did forget to mention that they are blackened before installation.

I made hundreds of small (approx. 1 mm) bolts to use as carriage bolt heads for my gun carriages. I made them by putting a length of 28 gauge steel wire upright in a vise and peening over the top using a small ball peen hammer. Repeated light taps with almost no force, using basically just the weight of the hammer will start flattening the top and then using the hammer off center to round over. Cut the wire to length and insert the shank into the piece and you have a very nice, rounded, hand wrought looking bolt head. Tedious as all get out to make, but they look nice. Regards,

Just so you know, I-90 is a tunnel under the harbor. Don't go looking for a bridge. Regards,

Now that looks right to my eye.

I just didn't want to see you use that as a reference.

The yards are shown in the lowered position so the sail positions are off. If they are trying to show a course, topsail and topgallant, then the course is being shown with it's foot spread by the main yard. If they are trying to show the topsail, topgallant, and royals, then they are missing the course. Hope that makes sense. Regards,

If you take the I-93 to I-95 route it goes through the coastal cities but at that time of night you will not have any problem. The first section on I-90 is only 5 minutes until you cross the harbor from the airport into Boston, then its about 20 minutes south till you get to the I-95 and from there it's a straight run down to Mystic. To me the I-90 to I-290/I-395 is more relaxed but it really works out the same. (The exit is the same one for 290 and 395) Regards,

I think it would cost much less too make your own rope