el cid

This is true. Saying that some historians today still try to claim otherwise. No other nation with stronger ships had the same run of victories in single ship actions and that in itself is impressive.
 
I don't subscribe to nationalistic reasons for victories in any war. Man for man all men are equal and it is training, leadership, equipment and logistics that tends to make the difference not 'a ship with 10 brits will easily beat one with 200 french' etc etc versions of history (replace with whatever war you fancy). It doesn't stop such assertions being made mainly to increase confidence and sometimes nationalistic fervour/pride. Therefore the system shock when it sometimes proves to be incorrect can be extreme. It is one reason why incorrect history can and has killed people and will probably continue to do so. 
 
 
 
 

Hello all,  I'm Tom from Shanghai, China. My English is not very good. I use Google translation software to communicate   I am very grateful to MSW, the communication platform, for letting me see a lot of excellent works, for letting me see a lot of production experience, and for letting me learn and progress from it   Now I have a small studio cafmodel. We mainly develop the kit of the model,   Previously, La salamander, Le Requn, La Belle, La renommee, La jacinthe, HMS enterprise, HMS Bellona have been developed   At the beginning, I didn't pay attention to the copyright, but now I gradually understand that my product has the problem of infringement, and I think I should make changes   I make a statement   CAF models has recently been contacted by Chuck Passaro of the Nautical Research Guild. I am very thankful for his guidance. Chuck has worked with me to address my use of Ancre plans for my kits that all of you are familiar with. He has made it possible for me to meet Mr.Berti of Ancre so we can discuss rectifying the situation. He introduced me to Mr Berti. I apologize to Ancre for copying their plans without permission or compensation and through this introduction I have now come to an agreement with Ancre which now enables me to sell my kits with a legitimate relationship between us. I appreciate the time and professional relationship I now have with Chuck, Didier Berti and the NR G. Chuck has informed me that CAF models and my kits will now be welcomed on Model Ship World and I am very grateful for this. Thank you   I hope to get the understanding of Ancre publishing house that I will stop selling all infringing products before obtaining production authorization   Tom

You aren't so bad, Bob! (no matter what they say)
'Going to hell in a handcart' is a phrase that comes to mind.

Just a bit of semantic sparring in good fun. Given the politics of the moment, it would seem neither the US nor England can justify riding a high horse!  

I dated a girl that fits that description. Name was Robin but everybody called her Bob. Not exactly sure what attraction I saw in her,  her crooked smile, the glint in her eyes that she got after a couple of drinks, or maybe it was the way she handled herself with a belay pin in one of the many bar fights at the Tall Ship Lounge where I hung out with old salts that sang sea shanties till the wee hours of the morning..........but then I digress

Well, no “tallship” experience here, just small power and sail boats and modern warships.  I’ve found that a properly led single figure 8 with a final twist seems to hold most everything fine, even with synthetic lines.  As for needing extra figure 8 turns to safely slack a line under tension, in my experience it can be done easily with only half a figure 8 turn around a cleat (and presumably a pin). Even large mooring line tension can be safely slacked with only half a figure 8 on the bitts.  It was  however common practice to make extra figure 8 turns on bitts when moored.
 
fwiw,
 
Keith

Well, no “tallship” experience here, just small power and sail boats and modern warships.  I’ve found that a properly led single figure 8 with a final twist seems to hold most everything fine, even with synthetic lines.  As for needing extra figure 8 turns to safely slack a line under tension, in my experience it can be done easily with only half a figure 8 turn around a cleat (and presumably a pin). Even large mooring line tension can be safely slacked with only half a figure 8 on the bitts.  It was  however common practice to make extra figure 8 turns on bitts when moored.
 
fwiw,
 
Keith

Well, no “tallship” experience here, just small power and sail boats and modern warships.  I’ve found that a properly led single figure 8 with a final twist seems to hold most everything fine, even with synthetic lines.  As for needing extra figure 8 turns to safely slack a line under tension, in my experience it can be done easily with only half a figure 8 turn around a cleat (and presumably a pin). Even large mooring line tension can be safely slacked with only half a figure 8 on the bitts.  It was  however common practice to make extra figure 8 turns on bitts when moored.
 
fwiw,
 
Keith

I hear what you're saying, Frankie, but it doesn't comport with my own experience. Myself, I've never had any problem easing off a length of line from a pin, or horsing up from one, either. If you can hold the line before you even throw it around the bottom of the pin, you ought to be able to hold it just as well when casting it off. If for some reason, you want more friction, it's easy enough to take a quick turn around the top of the pin. 
 
Contrary to your assertion, the coefficient of friction in line under load is not a "linear equation." Each of the turns does not carry an equal portion of the friction or of the load. The first turn carries most all of it. Additional turns are just "window dressing." Ever notice how nothing comes free until you get down to the last turn or so? And, obviously, nobody ever "casts the line off the pin and lets the line run" more than once. 
 
Belaying pins are designed to take vertical strains more or less parallel to the direction of the pin and never horizontal (shear) strains at right angles to the pin, which can snap a wooden pin. The pin itself isn't meant to take the majority of the strain from the line, but rather it's the pin rail itself where the greater part of the strength, as well as friction, comes from. Sheets, which generally carry horizontal strains, should never be belayed directly to a pin rail.  Sheets should be carried through a block or around a winch to provide a fair lead to a cavel or deck cleat. Pin rails are for halyards and other lines from aloft. 
 
I've belayed lots of lines to pins and hitched lots of sheets to cleats in my 70 years and I've never, ever, "needed a knife to get it off," nor even a fid.  That's the advantage of a half-hitch.
 
This thread got me curious and I did a bit of googling. It seems there are many sites purporting to show how to belay a line and hang a coil and almost as many ways the people posting those instructions say it should be done as there are people posting. Welcome to the internet, the world's largest collection of self-appointed experts!  As the saying goes, "Different ships, different long splices." I suppose. Being "of a certain age," when I was growing up and infatuated with all things maritime, having a father in the shipping industry in San Francisco when it was the busiest working seaport on the West Coast, there were still a fair number of old timers around "on the beach" who'd served their apprenticeships "before the mast" sailing around the Horn in the big four-masted barks and all sorts of smaller sailing craft. Some were kind enough to share what they knew (and probably nobody else cared to hear them talk about) with kids like us. That's how we learned our basic seamanship. Somewhere along the way, we lost the continuity of that maritime culture. Today, it's become quaint and of interest to many, but it seems much of it has had to be recreated, rather than handed down in a direct line. A lot of the detail got lost along the way. There was a lot more to it than those "playing pirates" and singing "sea chanteys" today will ever know.  
 
 
 
 

Well, what do you expect from anybody who calls them "tall ships?" Rubes for sure!  There wasn't any such thing as a "tall ship community" in the age of sail. Neither did real seamen spend half their time singing "sea chanteys" to the music of insufferable amateur concertina players.  
 
Three turns will hold without a locking hitch, but that takes more work than a single turn and a half hitch twist. The three (or more) turns build an unnecessary wad of line on the pin and take that much longer to cast off.  Consider doing it that way with soaking wet inch and a half diameter line and I think you'll agree. Some say multiple turns are required with modern synthetic cordage which is more slippery than natural cordage, and there may be some truth to this, although I've never experienced it in practice. Others say they do it that way on the "dude schooners" because they can't be sure the "guests" really know what they are doing.
 
It is not uncommon to take two opposing half-hitches on a mooring cleat, however, when the intermittent strains imposed by the vessel's surge alongside a pier or dock may cause a single half-hitch to work loose.

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

My thinking is the mast would be stowed in the boat or lowered down to the boat crew after launch, then rigged.  Seems like a boat with mast rigged and protruding fore or aft would be difficult to maneuver through the ships rigging. 
 
FWIW,
 
Keith

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

If nothing else, you might consider doing a “wash” to help make the engine details pop,
 
I’m really enjoying your build.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

My thinking is the mast would be stowed in the boat or lowered down to the boat crew after launch, then rigged.  Seems like a boat with mast rigged and protruding fore or aft would be difficult to maneuver through the ships rigging. 
 
FWIW,
 
Keith

My thinking is the mast would be stowed in the boat or lowered down to the boat crew after launch, then rigged.  Seems like a boat with mast rigged and protruding fore or aft would be difficult to maneuver through the ships rigging. 
 
FWIW,
 
Keith

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

If nothing else, you might consider doing a “wash” to help make the engine details pop,
 
I’m really enjoying your build.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

If nothing else, you might consider doing a “wash” to help make the engine details pop,
 
I’m really enjoying your build.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

To me the engineering spaces always smelled like diesel fuel, hot lube oil, and ozone.  
 
Cheers

If nothing else, you might consider doing a “wash” to help make the engine details pop,
 
I’m really enjoying your build.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith

If nothing else, you might consider doing a “wash” to help make the engine details pop,
 
I’m really enjoying your build.
 
Cheers,
 
Keith