Rigging Question - Forestay & Bobstay Deadeye/Heart Lanyards

[Mark Paulhus]

Greetings

I have tried to find an answer to this question, but nothing concrete yet.  I am currently rigging my model of the Artesania Latina Bounty. I am working on the bowsprit area and I am confused about some details in the plans. The plans for bobstays (using deadeyes) and Forestays (using hearts) show the lanyards frapped in the center as shown on the image below. My interpretation of this is what I am showing in the photo.

 

 

My confusion arises because I am unable to find any detail like this in any of my books (Lee, Lever, Mondfeld Peterson...). I also cannot seem to find any photos of real ships showing this. So I am wondering of this is just a fabrication of the kit manufacturer and whether I should just use typical deadeye and heart lanyard rigging arrangement like I can find in almost any source.   This is an interesting look, but I would like top be as realistic as possible for a ship of the time (1760s)

Any Guidance would be well appreciated. Thanks.

[wefalck]

This is presumably a way to stop the lanyard and to stow excess length of it - a kind of seizing done with the lanyard itself. I would feel more comfortable with a couple of real seizing though. Perhaps this was done on real ships.

[popeye2sea]

Another way that the lanyard was finished was to seize the parts of the rope together at several points within the turns and the end hitched once or twice around the stay, similar to rigging shroud deadeyes.  Or the hitches can be omitted and the end just seized to the part next to itself between the deadeyes or hearts, which will provide a much neater look.

 

Regards,

Henry

[wefalck]

Agreed. I have the feeling the hitches were suggested by the model instructions because it seems easier than making seizings ...

[rwiederrich]

In later clippers(1869)...bulleyes were employed instead of deadeyes.  Note the bobstays, head tackle.

 

[BANYAN]

We used to finish off the tails of the tackle this way when I was in the grey funnel line; a few half hitches around all parts of the falls then simply wrap the remainder.  As also suggested, another way was to seize the working part back onto the other parts as shown in this photo I took of the stays in SS Great Britain.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dr PR]

Mark,

 

Apparently it was common practice to nipper the parts of the lanyard together - see Lever page 9 Fig. 76. He says a round turn might be taken over the lanyard between every cross turn. This could give the appearance of a seizing around the parts of the lanyard.

 

Nippering and alternate round turns would be pretty complicated at small scales, so just a series of round turns (like seizing) could be used.

 

This was early 1800s American practice. I don't know if it was common elsewhere and at other times.

 

Petersson (Rigging Period Fore-and-aft Craft, pages 23, 82, 85, 90) shows examples of the end of heart and eye lanyards being wound around the bulk of the lanyards a few turns between hearts/eyes with the ends of the lanyards secured to one strand of the lanyard with a seizing.

 

These things would occasionally need to be tightened, and winding the end of the lanyard around the parts between the hearts/eyes provides a place to stow the extra length of the lanyard.