(8). Fitting a Flag.—A toggle should be secured at the head of the hoist by an eye splice; a length of rope equal to the width of the flag left below the hoist, as this is the distance the flags should be apart, and then a running eye splice made so as to be rapidly attached to the next flag.
(9). To Stick a Cringle.—First unlay a single strand from the size of rope your cringle is required to be, whip both ends, reeve the strand through the left hand eyelet hole in the sail, having one end longer than the other—nearly a third—keeping the roping of the sail towards you. If a thimble is to be put in the cringle, lay up the parts of the strand together, counting three lays; commence with the short end of the strand towards you, then reeve the long strand from you through the right hand eyelet hole, taking it through the cringle, and it will be in the right position to lay up in the vacant space left in the cringle; when done, the one end will hang down inside the right hand eyelet hole and the other end outside the left hand one; the ends are then hitched by being rove through their respective eyelet holes and passed over the leech rope and under their own part, one hitch being towards you and the other from you; then take the ends down under one strand on the right and two on the left of cringle nearest to it; then tuck the ends under the first two strands nearest the hitch, heaving them well in place; the cringle is then fidded out, and the thimble is put in on the fore part of the sail. The ends of the strand are then tucked back, left-handed, under one strand, again under two, right-handed, as in the first place, heaving them taut in place at each tuck, the ends are then whipped with two of their own yarns and cut off. If a large cringle is needed, count an extra number of lays—5, 7, etc., always an odd number.
(10). To Finish a Cringle off on the Crown.—Commence as before, but after laying up the strand, instead of forming a hitch with each end, the ends are rove through their respective eyelet holes and tucked back under two strands of the cringles and again laid up as far as the crown, forming a four-stranded cringle, and finished off by tucking the ends under two strands and crossing them under the crown of the cringle and cut close off.
In working a cringle in a piece of rope the only difference is there are no eyelet holes, therefore the strand is tucked under two strands of the rope it is to be worked in.
(11). To Lengthen a Rope of a Sail with a Single Strand.—Say it is necessary to give a sail one cloth more spread, it would then be necessary to lengthen the head and foot rope. Supposing the width of cloth to be 2 feet and the size of the rope 3 in. After ripping the rope off four cloths, first of all cut the strand at the distance 2 ft. 6 in. from each other as in Fig. 115.
