The Seaman's Friend / Containing a treatise on practical seamanship, with plates, a dictionary of sea terms, customs and usages of the merchant service

by Richard Henry Dana

The fore and mizzen topsail halyards come down to port, and the main to the starboard. The topgallant halyards come down on opposite sides from the topsail halyards; though the fore and main usually come down by the side of the masts. The fore and main topgallant halyards sometimes hoist with a gun-tackle purchase, but the mizzen and all the royal halyards are single.

The throat and peak halyards of the spanker are fitted in the following manner. The outer peak halyard block is put on the gaff, one third of its length from the outer end, or a very little, if any, within the leech of the sail; and the inner one, two thirds in. The blocks are fitted round the gaff with grommet straps, and are kept in their places by cleats. The double block of the peak halyards is strapped to the bolt in the after part of the mizzen cap, and the halyards are rove up through this, in through the blocks on the gaff, the inner one first, the standing part made fast to the double block, and the fall coming on deck. The upper block of the throat halyards is secured under the cap, and the lower block is hooked to an eye-bolt on the jaws of the gaff. This is a two-fold tackle.

The Spanker Brails.—The peak brails reeve through single blocks on the gaff, two on each side, generally span-blocks, and then through the throat brail blocks, as leaders, to the deck. The throat brails reeve through two triple blocks strapped to eye-bolts under the jaws of the gaff, one on each side, through the two other sheaves of which the peak brails lead. Each brail is a single rope, middled at the leech of the sail.

Tacks, Sheets, Clewlines, &c.—It is much more convenient to have the tack and sheet blocks of the courses fastened to the clews of the courses by hooks. Then they can be unhooked when the sail is furled, and, in light weather, a single rope with a hook, called a lazy sheet, can be used, instead of the heavy tacks and sheets with their blocks. This is also much more convenient in clewing up. The main tack is rove aft through the block in the waterways, forward through the block on the sail, and the standing part hooks to the block on deck. The fore tack goes through a block on the bumpkin. The sheets of the courses have the after block hooked to an eye-bolt in the side, abaft the channels, and the forward one hooked to the clew of the sail, the running part reeving through a sheave-hole in the rail. The sheets of all the square sails but the courses run from the clew of the sail, through sheave-holes in the yard-arms, through the quarter blocks, down on deck. The topsail sheets are chain, are clasped to the clews of the sail, and are fitted with a gun-tackle purchase at the foot of the mast. The topgallant and royal sheets are single. The topsail and topgallant clewlines reeve through the quarter-blocks. The royal clewlines are single, and the topsail and topgallant are a gun-tackle purchase.

The reef-tackles of the topsails reeve up through blocks on the lower rigging, or futtock shrouds, down through the block on the yard, down the leech of the sail and through the block on the leech, and are made fast to the yard on their own parts, with a clinch, outside of everything.

The clew-garnets reeve out through blocks under the quarters of the yard, then up through blocks at the clew, and the standing part is made fast to the yard, to the block, or to a strap. The buntlines of the courses reeve through double or triple blocks under the forward part of the top, down forward of the sail, sometimes through thimbles in the first reef-band, and are clinched to the foot of the sail. The leechlines reeve through single blocks on the yard, and are clinched to the leech of the sail. The slabline is a small rope rove through a block under the slings of the yard, and clinched to the foot of the sail. This is not much used in merchant vessels. The topsail clewlines lead like the clew-garnets of the courses. The topsail buntlines reeve forward through single blocks at the topmast-head, down through the thimbles of a lizard seized to the tye, just above the yard, and are clinched to the foot of the sail. The handiest way of reeving the main bowline is to have a single rope with the standing part hooked near the foremast, and reeve it out through a heart in the bridle. This will answer for both sides. The fore bowline may be rove through a single block at the heel of the jib-boom and hooked to the bridle. The bowlines to the other sails are toggled to the bridles and lead forward. Many vessels now dispense with all the bowlines except to the courses. This saves trouble, makes a ship look neater, and, if the sails are well cut, they will set taut enough in the leach, without bowlines.

CHAPTER IV.

TO RIG MASTS AND YARDS.

Rigging the shears. Taking in lower masts and bowsprit. To rig a bowsprit. Getting the tops over the mast-heads. To send up a top-mast. To get on a top-mast cap. To rig a jib-boom. To cross a lower yard. To cross a topgallant yard. To send up a topgallant mast. Long, short, and stump topgallant masts. To rig out a flying jib-boom. To cross topgallant and royal yards. Skysail yards.