Rigging arrangement in Crows nest

[Newton]

Hi there

 

I'm building the Santa Maria(Artesania Latina) and need some help with the rigging. Can anybody please post me a couple of close-up photo's/diagrams of the rigging arrangement in the crows nest. I've been looking through photo's of previous builds but can not see enough detail on the arrangement of the rigging in the crows nest. The plans are not of much help either. The plans don't seem to match up with the photo's on the outside of the packaging. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks 

[Thanasis]

Hi Newton.

Have you tried searching the web by the option of your browser "Images" and the words "Santa Maria crows nest"...

Thx

[allanyed]

Hello  Newton,

 

Please take a moment  to introduce yourself in the new members forum. 

 

As the  Santa Maria was a Carrack , a possible source for the information you are seeking  is  Magellan's Victoria replica which was a Spanish Carrack.  The replica was built in 1992 in Japan.  I have no idea how much similarity there would be nor how accurate the builders of  the replica were, but I would guess they studied it intensely and were more accurate than many, kit manufacturers.

 

Allan

[Newton]

A little late, but thanks for the advice.

[allanyed]

Newton,

No worries, we are all here to help one another in any small way that we can.  

Allan

[JerseyCity Frankie]

A note about nomenclature: A "crows nest" is really only a term used in whaling ships, where it describes the position aloft where spotters keep a lookout for whales. Also, on ships in icy seas there are crows nests used for those aloft keeping an eye out for ice. In every other instance the point in the rigging defined by the juncture of the Cross Trees and Trestle Trees is called simply a Top.  Unfortunately Crows Nest is one of the few rigging related terms the general public seams to have grasped and so its often misapplied to Tops. Which means if you do a web search for Crows Nest you're going to get some useful hits but you will be better served by your search engine if you use "Top", "Fighting Top", or "Trestle Tree". 

[testazyk]

Hi Newton, I can't help with your specific inquiry but on the subject of nomenclature, I've heard two theories about the source of the term "crows nest." 

 

One was that crows will fly directly toward land and that sailors kept crows and released them to find the direction of the nearest land.  Presumably the crows were kept or released from the tops and that led to the term. 

 

I find that doubtful but no more plausible than the other theory. On some 17th century ships the bottom shrouds for the fore and main masts were attached to the top by several smaller lines.  The result was called the "crow's foot"  and that led to the top being named the "crow's nest."

 

Probably more information than you need/want and I'm sure someone out there knows the definitive answer, but it's interesting how these stories crop up.