ON RIGGING
"Then let his vessel feel the strain
When wars the gale along the main;
Strong in his trust of shroud and stay
The seaman holds his leeward way,
Spreads the reef'd sail on buckling mast
And proudly dares the stormy blast."
ON RIGGING
When we speak of a vessel's rigging we mean everything that supports the spars and is employed in setting and trimming the sails. Rigging is divided into two classes—standing and running. The first is the portion that remains stationary, and whose office is to hold and strengthen the spars. The second is rove through blocks and moves; its office is to hoist, lower and trim the sails.
Rigging has been much simplified of late years owing to the use of better proportioned fittings and stronger materials. The use of wire rope in place of hemp has reduced the size and weight of standing rigging, and what is of more importance, given a stable factor.
In the old days when hemp was used, the shrouds and stays had to be constantly watched, as they varied in length every time there was a large change in the atmosphere. This was a frequent cause of dismasting. A vessel before leaving port would have her rigging set up in dry, cold weather; going to sea she would run into a warm region and everything would slack up. As it is now, the expansion and contraction of wire rigging is so small that a few turns of a screw will take it up or give it back. The only danger from wire is in setting it up too taut when at its full stretch, but this, in such length as go to make the shrouds of a yacht, is little to be feared. But the funnel guys of steam-yachts should be frequently looked to, as the expansion of the iron is liable to pull out the deck eye-bolts.
I am not going to tell you how to rig a yacht, because you can learn that better and quicker by doing as the Yankee did who wanted to learn how to make clocks—took one apart and put it together again. Just strip a yacht, then re-rig her, and you will be in a fair way to learn all about it. What I am going to do, is to point out to you a few things in regard to rigging that may aid you in taking better care of what you have, and in making more secure and simple its use.
The one axiom of the business is this, and I want you to engrave it on your memory, for the violation of its truth is the cause of nine out of ten breakdowns: The weakest part of any shroud, stay or tackle is its strongest part. If you take two pieces of chain capable of lifting a ton, and join them with a piece of rope capable of lifting five hundred pounds, your combination is only as strong as the rope, and will only lift the smaller weight. This is why shrouds so frequently give way; the wire rope is strong enough, the splice is firm, but the rigging-screw is only capable of bearing half the strain of those parts. Same with halliards; the tackle will lift a ton, the pin in the block or shackle not five hundred pounds. All parts of any tackle must be proportionately strong.