Young America 1853 by EdT - FINISHED - extreme clipper

[rwiederrich]

Nicely executed Ed.

[BANYAN]

They look terrific Ed, a great technique (another I will 'steal' from you  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Bob Cleek]

Your work is a joy to behold! I've hung my share of full-size coiled falls on belaying pins in my day and I can confirm that your deciding to hang them as you have is correct.  It's done as pictured on the Joseph Conrad above, although it looks like in that picture a few more turns around the pin than is necessary (or properly shipshape) have been taken. Correctly, the fall is brought down and beneath the rail, behind the bottom of the pin, up and across and behind the top of the pin, back down and hitched over the top of the pin. More than one "figure eight" around the pin only makes for more work casting the line off the pin.

The 1870's picture of the Inuit kids on the deck also shows the coils correctly hung on the pins, although, as is clear from all the cargo and gear on deck, the vessel wasn't sailing and they were probably working on the rigging and not too particular about it at the moment, as things certainly aren't "shipshape." Still, any able seaman would automatically coil the fall into one hand, or on deck if it were too long to hold in one hand, starting at the pin end and leaving a length free from the pin, imparting a half-twist as each coil was measured out at arm's length, so the laid line would not kink, and when the fall was fully coiled, present it to the pin and reach through the center of the coil and grab the length of line between the coil and the pin, giving it a turn, or two, depending upon it's length, pulling the twisted line back through the center of the coil and up in front of the coil and over the top of the pin. (For lighter lines, one can take a longer length between the pin and coil and take a couple of turns around the coil with it to gather the coil together, and then bring it through the coil above the turn and place it over the pin. This will gather the coil of light line tightly and more neatly.) In this fashion, the loop over the top of the pin could be cast free and the coil fall to the deck, the side closest to the pin facing upwards, and the coiled fall will be ready to run free without fouling. Any seaman that failed to do it that way back in the day would likely get the bosun's start across his back! LOL

 

I don't know how many otherwise exquisite models I've seen with the coiled falls simply hung over the pins. It should be easy to imagine the consequence of that in heavy weather with decks awash... the deck would soon be a rat's nest of tangled cordage! Another frequently seen "faux pas" are coils that are the wrong size.  Each coil should be as long as is necessary for that part of the rigging to run as intended. If the line, such as a headsail halyard, runs to the top of a headstay, then the belayed coil when the sail is set should be made up of a length of line equal to the distance to the halyard block. Were it shorter, the bitter end of the halyard would run aloft and out of reach when the sail was struck. Coils on a pin rail if neatly done should all be about the same length, pin to deck, but of different girths, reflecting the amount of line properly needed. That detail is very frequently overlooked, even on otherwise very well-done models. Then there are the all-too-common "white" deadeye lanyards which in practice are always tarred "black," ... misplaced and oversized  trunnels, plank butts on frames, ... and overly long planks... but I digress.

 

I'd probably be a very unpopular model competition judge, but whether or not a model was built by a modeler with a command of full-sized shipbuilding practices and marlinspike seamanship is immediately obvious to the "sailor's eye." My obnoxious pontification isn't intended as a criticism, but rather to point out that you've illustrated here the correct way to do it and to offer the observation to those "landsmen" who otherwise must rely on instructions that come with a kit that learning to "think like a sailor" will avoid such pitfalls.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Bob Cleek

[wefalck]

Good points. I also found that we too often think in terms of yachting and yachting etiquette, rather than in workday marlinspike seamanship - though some yachting experience helps to understand the working of things ... with a bit of sailing experience the coiling becomes an automatic reflex and having to climb up a mast to bring down a loose end tells you about securing such ends and their length required

[EdT]

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes and than you Bob for the explanation and insights.  Many more of these coils to do.

 

Ed

[k.riebensahm]

Ed, I use the same method on my models as well as on sailing oldtimers.

By the way, I will be in New York from 17 to 31 of October. Is there any chance that we meet at your place for some hours and talk a little about YA and what I experienced? Since I was not able to find any other way to contact you direct, I use this way knowing that it is not ideal.

 

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 301 – Fore Topgallant Yard 1

 

Since I have made a number of posts on yards and their rigging, I will try not to be too repetitive in describing those that remain.  The first picture shows the fore topgallant yard after attaching the parral yoke over the central sling band.

 

 

The yard was made as described earlier.  One exception for this and other smaller yards is that the yardarms have through sheaves rather than the iron cheek blocks fitted on the larger yards.  These were drilled, along with the jackstay stanchion holes, before any tapering of the spar.  The sheave is merely carved into the wood as was done on the upper mast sheaves.   In the next picture the iron (copper) bands have been fitted and the studding sail gear fabricated.

 

 

The inner bands are soldered strips.  The yardarm band is an expanded bit of copper tube.  Brass was used on the outer boom irons because it is stiffer than copper.  The next picture shows the yard with the inner boom irons fitted.

 

 

These are blackened with Brass Black, so unlike the copper they had to be blackened before fitting.  The picture also shows the booms as well as the reinforcing ironwork over the yardarm.  The next picture shows a closer view of this.

 

 

The outer boom irons will need to be bent and cut to length before insertion into the ends of the yard.  The next picture shows how holes for these were drilled.

 

 

After securing the end strap with two fitted rings, the enlarged end of the strap was center-marked and drill as shown, with pliers holding the sides of the strap to prevent it from spinning and destroying itself.  The square section inside the yardarm was held in the vise with wood battens.  The last picture shows the still wet yard just before insertion of the outer boom irons and the jackstays.

 

 

As with other yards, one coat of Wipe-on poly was applied before adding the iron bands. All holes for eyebolts or other hardware were then drilled through the bands into the yard.  The bare copper was then blackened on the yards by brushing with liver of sulfur solution then rinsing under running water.  The yard and ironwork were then given a second protective coating of poly, wiped dry.  The picture also shows the "hinged" bracket that closes the parral to the mast.  I will return to the remaining work on this yard in a later post.

 

Ed

[BANYAN]

Excellent work as usual Ed; appreciate the tips on the processes involved.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[michael mott]

Thanks for putting the penny into the last set of pictures Ed, it is so easy to forget how small all this yard work is especially given all the very fine details that you show.

 

Michael

[EdT]

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 302 – Spanker Boom 1

 

This is a slight diversion from the fore topgallant yard left unfinished in the last post.  I will return to that shortly.  The work described below was concurrent with that.

 

The spanker boom is a large spar – 62' long and 14" maximum diameter.  It is anchored to the lower end of the spanker mast with an iron gooseneck inserted in a fitting that was described in an earlier post.  The first picture shows the boom temporarily set up in position.

 

 

Some of the copper ironwork has been fitted in this picture.  Unfortunately, the band over the wheelhouse had to be moved aft.  In this position the boom sheets that attach to it would foul the wheel house as will be seen later.  After the correction – including the drawing correction - the hardware on the boom was completed and blackened, as may be seen in the next picture.

 

 

The boom sheets and footropes seen in this picture will be described in a later post.  The first lines to be installed were the two boom topping lifts shown in the picture.  Each of these consists of a 5" central pendant with 10" blocks spliced on at each end.  The lower blocks are reeved with a 3" span that is shackled to the boom at each end.  The span allows the boom to be supported equally at two points regardless of angle.  The shackled connections at the center of the boom are shown in the next picture.

 

 

Shackles allow the connections of the spans to be spliced eyes with thimbles (no thimbles at this size) and still be disconnected from the eyebolt on the spar.  The next picture shows the two pendants

 

 

A lot of loose ends visible in this picture and many not shown – soon to be tidied up.  The next picture shows a close up of the luff tackles at the top of the lifts.

 

 

These consist of single blocks on the pendants and double blocks hooked under the top.  The 3" falls are belayed below on the spider band as seen in the next picture.

 

 

Again, a lot of loose ends that will soon be clipped off when all the line tensions are right.  The spider band is about half full at this point.  More rigging of the boom in the next post.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Always a delight to view your progress, Ed.

[wefalck]

I did not notice before that there was a kind of snow-mast to support the spanker. I gather this is unavoidable for a sail where the gaff is lowered and the actual mast is 'built' with iron hoops. This seems to indicate the spanker is indeed taken in by lowering the gaff and not by gathering it up to the gaff and the mast. Correct ?

[Dowmer]

Ed, beautilful work.  Its progressing nicely.

 

For the deadeye lanyard rigging you have in the channels, is that rigging supposed to be tarred as well like the shrouds?  I thought I read that somewhere, that working ships tarred them.  That would make the lanyards dark brown or black instead of light natural.  Of course this could be a preference too I suppose.  I see a lot of ship models like this.

 

Just curious as I see it different ways.  Beautiful workmanship 🙂

 

 

[paulsutcliffe]

Beautiful work as usual Ed and thanks for the arrow 😀😀

[EdT]

Thank you Druxey.  Your comments and input are always well appreciated - and thanks to all who have commented or reacted to the last post.

 

Wefalck, I cannot say how the spanker was taken in, but it was certainly equipped with the gear to lower the gaff - at least it will be on my model - as will be seen in the upcoming posts on rigging the gaff.  I suspect it was able to be furled with the gaff up, since the mast is fitted with brail blocks, which I believe were used for that purpose - plus boom and gaff inhaulers and outhaulers.  Others may have more knowledgeable input on this.

 

Dowmer, I personally do not believe that lanyards were tarred because this would make them very hard to adjust to tension the shrouds and backstays.  I rather suspect that they were greased, which would also give them a dark color.  I intended mine to be a darker walnut and I may treat them further, but I have been reserving black for tarred lines.

 

I also owe you a response from a previous question about Londonderry linen thread for ropemaking.  I acquired a spool of 100/3 to test.  I do not find it satisfactory for rope-making or for line as-is.  I found roughly one slub every 6inches of thread, whereas in the Barbour 100/3 a slub occurs at about every 6 feet on average and many are very small.  The Londonderry thread is also less tightly wound and very fuzzy.  So, for me it would be a no go.

 

Ed

[Dowmer]

Thanks Ed for the feedback.  Good to know

 

 

[EdT]

Just for you, Paul.

[Bob Cleek]

4 hours ago, EdT said:

Thank you Druxey.  Your comments and input are always well appreciated - and thanks to all who have commented or reacted to the last post.

 

Wefalck, I cannot say how the spanker was taken in, but it was certainly equipped with the gear to lower the gaff - at least it will be on my model - as will be seen in the upcoming posts on rigging the gaff.  I suspect it was able to be furled with the gaff up, since the mast is fitted with brail blocks, which I believe were used for that purpose - plus boom and gaff inhaulers and outhaulers.  Others may have more knowledgeable input on this.

 

Dowmer, I personally do not believe that lanyards were tarred because this would make them very hard to adjust to tension the shrouds and backstays.  I rather suspect that they were greased, which would also give them a dark color.  I intended mine to be a darker walnut and I may treat them further, but I have been reserving black for tarred lines.

...

Ed

I can't say for sure how the spanker was stuck on the real ship, either, ("different ships, different long splices,") but given the snow mast, which would presumably carry luff hoops on a vessel that size (rather than a laced luff,) I suspect the rig you describe was intended to provide the option of some sort of brailing if desired. There are no "lazy jacks" on the spanker boom, although the topping life rigging appears if would offer the same control of the gaff boom, at least, but perhaps not the sail itself. The spanker is going to be close to, if not the largest sail on the ship and difficult to handle when coming down. This is particularly so, since the spanker boom extends outboard a fair distance, foot ropes or not. The task of "smothering" and lashing down a fore and aft sail is, IMHO, a lot more of a hassle than square sails.  The latter usually flutter outward away from the yard when the sheets are started and do not tend to interfere with the job of gathering them up and reefing or lashing them down. A gaff rigged sail comes down on top of you, and in this instance, on top of the helmsman and, in any kind of a blow, will flog all and sundry within range. (And the weight of wet canvas in a sail of that size is not to be underestimated.) I would think the best way to handle this spanker would be to simultaneously lower the gaff boom and haul the clew inboard and the the leech to the extent possible as she comes down, then beat whatever canvas isn't controlled by the clew inhaul, lazy jacks,  and brails into submission and stop her up.  Were she my ship, I'd be inclined to drop a couple of lazy jacks from the topping lift pendants down and under the spanker boom and back up again on the other side to control the canvas as the gaff boom was lowered. I don't know if that was common practice on ships of that size, though it's quite common in smaller gaff rigged vessels I've known.

 

As for the color of deadeye lanyards, it is indeed black, or dark brown, tending to black as additional pine tar is added as a matter of routine maintenance. All deadeye lanyards and other similar lashings were of tarred hemp (and still are, if you can find it!) There is rarely, if ever, any need to "adjust the tension" of standing rigging in ships such as this one and deadeye lanyards rarely, if ever, are "adjusted." The lanyards should be pre-stretched when new and, thus, should not stretch appreciably in use. Even if they did stretch when new, they'd only need to be taken up once and the problem would be solved for all time. The sort of rigging we are talking about here was designed to "give" so that the strain on the spars and hull would be minimized. (We're not talking about a "high strung" modern jib-headed Marconi racing rig here.) In fact, the friction generated by the lanyards against the deadeye holes makes them quite difficult to set up, let alone  "adjust." The deadeye holes are greased before the tarred hemp lanyard is tightened, but even so, the tightening requires that a purchase clapped onto the shroud be taken to the end of the lanyard in order to get sufficient tension on it. (I've actually had to attach a second purchase on the length of lanyard running from deadeye hole to hole in order to "sweat" the lanyard through all five of the running eyes so that each segment was uniformly tight.) The deadeyes do spread the line stresses in much the same manner as a block purchase, but the lanyards do not run freely as they do in a sheaved block... not by a long shot! When a whole gang of deadeyes and lanyards are made up and fastened with the sheer pole and lashings, all tarred and, modernly, often painted, they are essentially a permanent thing not meant to be untied to be adjusted regularly.

 

Here's all anybody building models could ever need to know about deadeyes and lanyards, from a website selling full-sized traditional rigging supplies: http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/articles/setting-up-shrouds.pdf Perhaps it will serve to eliminate those light-colored lanyards we see so often!

 

I don't want to sound inappropriately critical, but I'd suggest you take a close look at your spanker boom topping lift rigging. The distance between the pendant purchase tackle appears too short to be of much use. You might want to play with it a bit and see just how much the end of the boom will rise when the tackle is two-blocked. I can't tell for sure, but it looks to me like it would only raise the boom about five feet at most, which isn't much. You can't really know if it is "right" until you consider how high up off the deck  the end of the boom is going to be when the sail is set, and then the topping lift would need a bit more "lift" beyond that if it were to be effective. Also, note the forward mast band to which the forward topping lifts are attached. It appears to be too far aft to be of any use. Imagine that the topping lift is hauling up the boom. With the forward band where it is now, rather than further forward, the angle of the "pull" is really only pulling the boom forward against the gooseneck and not upwards, as a topping lift should. If the band were placed forward so that the direction of pull of the forward topping lift line were in the other direction, the pull of the pendants would be "up" instead of "forward."  If so, they would also better serve as lazy jacks to control the gaff as it came down.

 

Great modeling, BTW. I'm really enjoying following your build!

Edited October 9, 2018 by Bob Cleek

[BANYAN]

Even with the 'tails' to be docked you can see the quality of the rigging and fittings ED; really like those spider bands. 

cheers

 

Pat

[rwiederrich]

18 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

I can't say for sure how the spanker was stuck on the real ship, either, ("different ships, different long splices,") but given the snow mast, which would presumably carry luff hoops on a vessel that size (rather than a laced luff,) I suspect the rig you describe was intended to provide the option of some sort of brailing if desired. There are no "lazy jacks" on the spanker boom, although the topping life rigging appears if would offer the same control of the gaff boom, at least, but perhaps not the sail itself. The spanker is going to be close to, if not the largest sail on the ship and difficult to handle when coming down. This is particularly so, since the spanker boom extends outboard a fair distance, foot ropes or not. The task of "smothering" and lashing down a fore and aft sail is, IMHO, a lot more of a hassle than square sails.  The latter usually flutter outward away from the yard when the sheets are started and do not tend to interfere with the job of gathering them up and reefing or lashing them down. A gaff rigged sail comes down on top of you, and in this instance, on top of the helmsman and, in any kind of a blow, will flog all and sundry within range. (And the weight of wet canvas in a sail of that size is not to be underestimated.) I would think the best way to handle this spanker would be to simultaneously lower the gaff boom and haul the clew inboard and the the leech to the extent possible as she comes down, then beat whatever canvas isn't controlled by the clew inhaul, lazy jacks,  and brails into submission and stop her up.  Were she my ship, I'd be inclined to drop a couple of lazy jacks from the topping lift pendants down and under the spanker boom and back up again on the other side to control the canvas as the gaff boom was lowered. I don't know if that was common practice on ships of that size, though it's quite common in smaller gaff rigged vessels I've known.

 

As for the color of deadeye lanyards, it is indeed black, or dark brown, tending to black as additional pine tar is added as a matter of routine maintenance. All deadeye lanyards and other similar lashings were of tarred hemp (and still are, if you can find it!) There is rarely, if ever, any need to "adjust the tension" of standing rigging in ships such as this one and deadeye lanyards rarely, if ever, are "adjusted." The lanyards should be pre-stretched when new and, thus, should not stretch appreciably in use. Even if they did stretch when new, they'd only need to be taken up once and the problem would be solved for all time. The sort of rigging we are talking about here was designed to "give" so that the strain on the spars and hull would be minimized. (We're not talking about a "high strung" modern jib-headed Marconi racing rig here.) In fact, the friction generated by the lanyards against the deadeye holes makes them quite difficult to set up, let alone  "adjust." The deadeye holes are greased before the tarred hemp lanyard is tightened, but even so, the tightening requires that a purchase clapped onto the shroud be taken to the end of the lanyard in order to get sufficient tension on it. (I've actually had to attach a second purchase on the length of lanyard running from deadeye hole to hole in order to "sweat" the lanyard through all five of the running eyes so that each segment was uniformly tight.) The deadeyes do spread the line stresses in much the same manner as a block purchase, but the lanyards do not run freely as they do in a sheaved block... not by a long shot! When a whole gang of deadeyes and lanyards are made up and fastened with the sheer pole and lashings, all tarred and, modernly, often painted, they are essentially a permanent thing not meant to be untied to be adjusted regularly.

 

Here's all anybody building models could ever need to know about deadeyes and lanyards, from a website selling full-sized traditional rigging supplies: http://www.woodenboatfittings.com.au/articles/setting-up-shrouds.pdf Perhaps it will serve to eliminate those light-colored lanyards we see so often!

 

I don't want to sound inappropriately critical, but I'd suggest you take a close look at your spanker boom topping lift rigging. The distance between the pendant purchase tackle appears too short to be of much use. You might want to play with it a bit and see just how much the end of the boom will rise when the tackle is two-blocked. I can't tell for sure, but it looks to me like it would only raise the boom about five feet at most, which isn't much. You can't really know if it is "right" until you consider how high up off the deck  the end of the boom is going to be when the sail is set, and then the topping lift would need a bit more "lift" beyond that if it were to be effective. Also, note the forward mast band to which the forward topping lifts are attached. It appears to be too far aft to be of any use. Imagine that the topping lift is hauling up the boom. With the forward band where it is now, rather than further forward, the angle of the "pull" is really only pulling the boom forward against the gooseneck and not upwards, as a topping lift should. If the band were placed forward so that the direction of pull of the forward topping lift line were in the other direction, the pull of the pendants would be "up" instead of "forward."  If so, they would also better serve as lazy jacks to control the gaff as it came down.

 

Great modeling, BTW. I'm really enjoying following your build!

Renowned Marine expert Hervey Garrett Smith in his Book, *The Arts of the Sailor...Knotting, Splicing and Ropework*.  Mimics your sentiment concerning shroud lanyards.

 

Rob

Edited October 10, 2018 by rwiederrich

[wefalck]

The story about taking the slack out of shrouds probably comes from the pre-wire rope days, when ships on long equatorial passages stayed for weeks on the same tack. This may have stretched the windward shrouds and slack had to be taken out of the leeward ones because, if a sudden change of tack for whatever reason would be needed, the mast would come over like a whip, risking to snap it.

With wire rope this is not an issue.

[Sailor1234567890]

Any mate worth his salt wouldn't bother adjusting the lanyards anyway, that would put the deadeyes out of line. Yes, he can fine tune the rig that way but normally, if any slack developed, the lashing holding the shroud to the upper deadeye was re-made so the deadeyes were always at the same level. It would of course require setting up the lanyards again but the point was to have the deadeyes all level so fine tuning using the lanyards wasn't really done. As Mr. Cleek said above, they were normally not very slack. It was a periodic maintenance thing to adjust them, not a piece of running rigging that was adjusted with any frequency. Love your progress, she's on beautiful ship. Probably my favourite American Clipper. Cutty Sark being my favourite. 

[rwiederrich]

The best thing about the *clipper* design or model as it was known, is that it was for ever evolving.  Narely two were ever a like(American that is), because all aspects of them, from their hull design to the rigging was in constant flux....for ever being changed, altered, modified to gain that extra knot.  To beat out the next guy.  Great fortunes were made on their speculation.  And very specific markets were driving their owners to challenge the builders to be specific in design and function...cargo capacity was exchanged for speed in some models.

Howes Rig became the norm as other designs, like Forbes and Linnell's found less application.  But if one simply scans the model and comes across a feature they are not aware of, they criticize, unbeknownst to them.

It was falsely determined that once the design was *discovered*, designers would settle in and produce good quality vessels..being satisfied with such.   This was not the case.

 

Ed's fine example is only one of many examples of the clipper design.  Masterfully replicated to the best of his ability and with the best knowledge known of the design.   HATS OFF!  Ed!

 

Rob  

Edited October 11, 2018 by rwiederrich

[Tigersteve]

Ed’s research, hard work, and execution are well worth the price of his books. 

Steve

[stm]

These last few posts have been an excellent source of information that is not usually discussed. This is a great example of what Ed has started in educating individuals through his various sites, books, expertise, craftsmanship, and from contributions by his followers. Very rewarding.  

 

One general thought about rigging that came to mind when reading the previous is how the extreme weather conditions played a roll in maintaining the rigging during extended voyages.  Ropes must have been exposed to extreme changes in temperatures, winds, rain, and sea spray that must have played havoc with the lines. Have not read to much about this unless it was as a result of a severe storm. Possibly our sailing forefathers had it under control through experience on how to meet this challenge without having to much of an impact on a ships progress.

Scott

[rwiederrich]

Rigging suffered as much as the hull and fixtures of any Sea going, deep water carrier.  Hemp rope became stronger and less flexible with introduction to salt water.  This is why it is reasonable to assume the lanyards, once set, were weather proofed(By tarring).  Once the hemp line absorbed moisture...it was nearly impossible to adjust it through the wooden holes of the Deadeyes.  Lanyards are part of the standing rigging...rigging that generally is not intended to be regularly adjusted...hence the term *standing* or fixed.  In later models cable and turnbuckles replaced hemp...holding fast the masts in their stepped attitude....resistant of any bi-lateral movement.  Stays are used in similar fasion...to prevent for and aft movement.  Like a bunch of guy wires holding erect the towering masts.

 

If one is diligent and observant, early photographic and even paintings will give evidence of blackened lanyards...which are and have always been part of the *Standing* rigging...and that rigging was always preserved with leather and a varying viscus concoction, known as tar...not like the black sticky, gooey stuff we heat up and put on roofs/roads....but a material more like thick oil.  Historically....tar-jacks were what they called sailors who had the nasty job of applying this dark black/brown material to the standing rigging and they were easily identified by the smears of the material all over their uniforms....as they attempted to wipe it off their hands.  The Royal Navy had issues with this problem and tried uniform changes from white cotton to dyed dark blue to hide the tar on the sailors trousers.

 

Rob

[EdT]

All these great comments.  I can hardly keep up, but let me try.  Bob Cleek raised a number of good points worthy of comment. 

 

At 1600 sq ft, the spanker was Young America's 7^th largest sail on the original single topsail rig, with the main and fore topsails being the largest at 2840 and 2600 sqft respectively, followed by the courses.  With double topsails it ranks 3^rd or 4th in size depending on the crojack size which is not specified on the original sail plan.  It was still a lot of canvas.  I do not know the method or methods used to take in this sail, but I installed brail blocks on the mizzen mast as well as the other lines shown or those that will be shown in succeeding posts.

 

Color of lanyards is a subject that I hesitate to engage in because it is one of those hot buttons that invite many strongly held opinions.  I would suggest that someone – not me – create a topic on this subject.  I will gladly participate there with my admittedly limited knowledge.  I will, however, at the risk of inviting more comments on this build log, contribute here what I believe are some facts:

 

1.      Deadeyes and lanyards were used not only on shrouds but also on backstays.

2.      On a 3-4 month voyage around Cape Horn, upper masts would be struck down, probably more than once, requiring re-rigging of their stays and shrouds at sea.

3.      Climate variations between say a New York summer at the start of a voyage, equatorial conditions a month later, and semi-arctic conditions at the Cape a month after that, followed by a repeat of those variations up the Pacific, as well as the case described by wefalck, would certainly alter the tension in the standing rigging essential to the support of masts.

4.      All hemp strands were tarred as part of the rope-making process – hence the straw-color (see Luce, Seamanship 1868).  No doubt the effects of sun, salt and weather would lighten this over time.

5.      The treatment applied to standing rigging discussed in earlier posts, according to primary documentation widely used at the time (again Luce, 1868), can only be described as thick, black, tarry paint. – black due to the carbon black content, thick due to the addition of letharge (lead oxide), tarry due to the pine tar.

6.      The relatively complex lanyard/deadeye apparatus is obviously designed to add mechanical advantage (6 to 1) to force applied to the lanyard.  It was clearly intended for applying tension as the following well known diagram shows.

 

 

7.      Methods and practices have evolved over time.  Even early 20^th century practices were different than those of the 1860's - and wire was different from hemp.

 

 

So, if I accept the above as facts, I ask the following questions:

 

1.      Why install a large number of contraptions like deadeye/lanyards if they would rarely if ever be used?  Why not just seize shrouds/backstays to chains  after initial tightening?

2.      If these were needed to re-tension or re-rig backstays or even shrouds, why would one clog up this friction-prone device with a thick, tarry paint?

3.      If greasing rigging with galley slush or other lubricant was common at the time, why would this not be used on deadeye lanyards, at least when needed?

4.      What does all this mean to the color of model lanyards?

 

I am sure others will approach this issue differently, but this has been my rationale and my reasons for dark, but not black, lanyards.

 

 

Rob, I believe Hervey Garret Smith's comments on deadeyes apply to 20^th century yachts, and his description of tar is different than the tar coating described in Luce for application to the "standing" parts of standing rigging.  What he describes as a "thin liquid pine oil" would not be black.

 

 

As for the boom topping lift configuration that Bob very observantly mentioned, I also noted the shortness of the upper tackles after rigging them.  I am addressing this question, considering correction, and will comment in a later post. Thanks for highlighting this, Bob.

 

Cheers, everyone.

 

Ed

[wefalck]

Just a couple of additions to Ed's well-reasoned response:

 

- here and on other fora there has been a repeated discussion of what actually 'tar' is. To summarise: in the pre-industrial ages this was a destillation product from resinous tree-bark, namely that of pine-trees; the Eastern Baltic area was a major source, due to the prevalence of such trees there and considerable amounts where shipped through Stockholm, hence the stuff became know as Stockholm Tar; this tar varies in colour, but is essentially dark brown. The two main byproducts from coal destillation to obtain town-gas were coke and various tars; these are chemically different from the wood-tar and essentially black or very dark brown in colour; their smell is also different; due to the large quantities of town-gas produced from the 1840s on, also large quantities of tar became available and began to replace Stockholm Tar, being a lot cheaper. Both products have different properties and, hence, different applications. Stockholm Tar stays sticky, unless whethered at sea, while some of the coal-tar solidify and become quite dry, one volatiles have gassed off.

 

- hemp is a natural fibre and changes its property with humidity content mainly, even if the strands of the rope had been tarred originally; so adjusting the rigging is mostly likely a need over a period of months or years; covering the lanyards in thick Stockholm Tar would make this more difficult, covering in thick coal-tar almost impossible.

 

- the sailing properties of ship depend on many factors, including the trim, the draught, and the rake of the masts; it is known that masters optimised the rigging for given conditions in order to improve the sailing performance; so lanyards stuck in the dead-eyes would not help.

 

- we should not be mislead by the appearance of static museum ships; there compromises have to made for the lack of the continuous and intensive maintenance a working vessel would see; so on such ships you are likely to see a lot of paint and tar slapped onto parts that are prone to deterioration.

 

- also on modern ships rigged with steel wire supporting steel masts you are likely to see many more parts being virtually immobilised with thick coats of paint or tar, because there is no need for adjustment.

[druxey]

This is an interesting side discussion. Some years ago I had a protracted discussion with a knowledgeable person over shroud laniards. I had built a model that he otherwise found impeccable, but he took me to task over my light colored shroud laniards. I countered that these were running lines, hence not 'standing' color. He insisted that the laniards were dark. I have since been converted to brown line for these lines!

[rwiederrich]

It is unarguable that lanyards are for tightening the shrouds/back stays.  Their appropriate tension is the goal to maintain erect, stable masts....and to counter the actions brought upon these members.  One can say they are part of an immovable (set) system....others say they are available for adjustment due to warpage and or stretchage.  I believe both notions are true.  I also believe they had to be preserved in some fasion....to what extent can only been known by time travelers.

 

Personally...I choose dark/black lanyards....for my esthetic eye as well as what I derive from thousands of images and paintings of the subject.    Best part of all is that it is a subjective topic as is most of the finer details of these magnificent vessels.

I stand behind Ed's conclusion for Ed and it works out wonderfully in the end.

 

Rob