CHAPTER VI.

BENDING AND UNBENDING SAILS.

To bend a course-To send up a topsail by the halyards-by the buntlines-To bend a topgallant sail-a royal-a jib—a spanker-a spencer-To unbend a course— a topsail-a topgallant sail or royal-a jib-To send down a topsail or course in a gale of wind-To bend a topsail in a gale of wind-To bend one topsail or course, and send down the other at the same time.

TO BEND A COURSE.-Stretch the sail across the deck, forward of the mast and under the yard; being careful to have the after part of the sail aft. Seize the clew-garnet blocks to the clews; also the tack and sheet blocks, unless they go with hooks or clasps. Reeve the buntlines through the thimbles of the first reef-band forward, if they are made to go so, and toggle their ends to the foot of the sail, or carry them through the eyelet-holes and clinch them to their own parts. Reeve the clew-garnets and leachlines; carry the bights of the buntlines under the sail, and rack them to their own parts; stop the head of the sail to the buntlines below the rackings; put robands to each eyelet-hole in the head of the sail; fasten the head and reef-earings to their cringles, reeving the end of the reef-earings through the head-cringle and taking a bowline with them to their standing parts, and hitching the head-earings to the buntlines. Sway away on the buntlines, leachlines and clew-garnets; when the sail is up, pass the head-earings, reeving aft through the straps on the yard, and forward through the head-cringle. Haul out on the earings, making the sail square by the glut, and pass the earings round the yard, over and under, through the head-cringle at each turn, and make the end fast around the first turns. If the sail is new, ride down the head rope on the yard, and freshen the earings. Make fast the head of the sail to the jackstay by robands, and cast the stops off the buntlines.

TO BEND A TOPSAIL.-Make fast the head and reef-earings to their cringles, passing the end of each reef-earing through the cringle above its own and making it fast by a bowline to its own part. Put robands to each eyelet-hole in the head. If the sail is to be sent up by the topsail halyards, lay it on deck abaft the foot of the mast, make it up with its head and foot together, having the head and first reef cringles together and out, and also the bowline cringle and the clews out. Bight the sail in three parts on a pair of slings, having the end of the sail that belongs on the opposite yard-arm on top. Have the fly-block of the topsail halyards above the top, and rack the runner to the topmast backstay or after shroud. Hook the

(If the

lower block to the slings around the sail, hoist the sail up into the top, cast off the slings, unhook the halyards, and pass the upper end of the sail round forward of the mast ready for bending. vessel is rolling or pitching, with a stiff breeze, the sail may be guyed and steadied as it goes up, by hooking a snatch-block, moused, to the slings around the sail, passing the hauling part of the halyards through it, and through another snatch-block on deck.) Get the clewlines, buntlines, sheets, bowlines, and reef-tackles ready for bending, the clove hooks of the sheets being stopped to the topmast rigging. Hook or clasp the sheets to the clews, reeve the clewlines and reef-tackles, toggle the bowlines, clinch or toggle the buntlines to the foot of the sail, and stop the head to the buntlines. Hoist on the buntlines and haul out on the reef-tackles, bringing the sail to the yard, and then pass the head-earings and make fast the robands as for a course. If the sail is to be sent up by the buntlines, lay the sail on the deck and forward of the mast, overhaul the buntlines down forward of the yard, on each side of the topmast stay and on the same side of the lower stay. Clinch the ends to the foot of the sail, bight them around under the sail, and rack the bights to their standing parts, and stop the head of the sail to the standing parts below the rackings. Bend one bowline to the centre of the sail, to guy it in going aloft. Have the earings bent and secured as before described, and the bights of the headearings hitched to the buntlines. Sway it up to the top, and haul the ends in on each side of the mast; reeve the clewlines and reeftackles, make fast the bowlines and sheets, the ends of which, if chain, should be racked to the topmast rigging, ready to be made fast to the clews. The gear being bent, hoist on the buntlines, haul out on the reef-tackles, pass the head-earings, cut the stops of the buntlines, and make fast the robands. Middle the sail on the yard by the glut, or by the centre cringle.

TO BEND TOPGALLANT SAILS AND ROYALS.-These are generally bent to their yards on deck; the royals always. After being bent to the yard, they are furled, with their clews out, ready for sending aloft. If the topgallant sail is to be bent aloft, send it up to the topmast cross-trees by the clewlines, or by the royal halyards, and there bend on the sheets, clewlines, buntlines, and bowlines, and bring the sail to the yard as with a topsail.

TO BEND A JIB.-Bend the jib halyards round the body of the sail, and the downhaul to the tack. Haul out on the downhaul, hoisting and lowering on the halyards. Seize the tack to the boom, the hanks to the luff of the sail, and the halyards to its head. Reeve the downhaul up through the hanks and make it fast to the head of the sail. Seize the middle of the sheet-pennant to the clew.

In some vessels the hanks are first seized to the sail, and the jibstay unrove, brought in-board, and passed down through the hanks, as the sail is sent out, rove in its place and set up. This is more troublesome, and wears out the jibstay.

TO BEND A SPANKER.-Lower the gaff, and reeve the throat-rope through the hole in the gaff under the jaws, and secure it. Sometimes the head of the luff fits with a hook. Then haul out the head of the sail by the peak-earing, which is passed like the head-earing of a topsail. When the head-rope is taut, pass the lacings through the eyelet holes, and round the jackstay. Seize the bights of the throat and peak brails to the leach, at distances from the peak which will admit of the sail's being brailed up taut along the gaff, and reeve them through their blocks on the gaff, and at the jaws, on each side of the sail. The foot brail is seized to the leach just above the clew. Seize the luff of the sail to the hoops or hanks around the spanker mast, beginning with the upper hoop and hoisting the gaff as they are secured. The tack is hooked or seized to the boom or to the mast. Hook on the outhaul tackle. This is usually fitted with an eye round the boom, rove through a single block at the clew, and then through a sheave-hole in the boom.

Some spankers are bent with a peak outhaul; the head traversing on the jackstay of the gaff.

THE FORE AND MAIN SPENCERS are bent like the spanker, except that they have no boom, the clew being hauled aft by a sheet, which is generally a gun-tackle purchase, hooked to an eyebolt in the deck.

TO UNBEND A COURSE.-Haul it up, cast off the robands, and make the buntlines fast round the sail. Ease the earings off together, and lower away by the buntlines and clew-garnets. At sea, the lee earing is cast off first, rousing in the lee body of the sail, and securing it by the earing to the buntlines.

TO UNBEND A TOPSAIL.-Clew it up, cast off the robands, secure the buntlines round the sail, unhook the sheets, and unreeve the clewlines and reef-tackles, ease off the earings, and lower by the buntlines.

A topgallant sail is unbent in the same manner, and sent down by the buntlines. A royal is usually sent down with the yard.

TO UNBEND A JIB.-Haul it down, cast off the hank seizings and the tack-lashing, cast off and unreeve the downhaul and make it fast round the sail, and cast off the sheet-pennant lashings. Haul aboard by the downhaul, hoisting clear by the halyards.

The rules above given are for a vessel in port, with squared yards. If you are at sea, and it is blowing fresh, and the topsail or course is reefed, to send it down, you must cast off a few robands and

reef-points, and pass good stops around the sail; then secure the buntlines also around it, and cast off all the robands, reef-points, and reef-earings. Bend a line to the lee head earing and let it go, haul the sail well up to windward, and make fast the lee earing to the buntlines. Get a hauling line to the deck, forward; ease off the weather earing, and lower away.

To bend a new topsail in a gale of wind, it has been found convenient to make the sail up with the reef-bands together, the points all being out fair, to pass several good stops round the sail, and send up as before. This will present less surface to the wind. One course may be sent up as the other goes down, by unbending the buntlines from the foot of the old sail, passing them down between the head of the sail and the yard, bending them to the foot of the new sail, and making the new sail up to be sent aloft by them, as before directed. Run the new sail up to the yard abaft the old one, and send the old one down by the leachlines and the head-earings, bent to the topmast studdingsail halyards, or some other convenient rope.

One topsail may be sent up by the topsail halyards, got ready for bending, and brought to the yard, while the old one is sent down by the buntlines.

CHAPTER VII.

WORK UPON RIGGING―ROPE, KNOTS, SPLICES, BENDS, HITCHES.

Kinds of rope - Spunyarn Worming-Parcelling Service Short splice - Long splice-Eye splice - Flemish eye-Spindle eye-Cut splice - Grommet - Single and double wall-Matthew Walker-Single and double diamond-Spritsail sheet knot-Stopper knot-Shroud knot-French shroud knot-Buoy-rope knot-Halfhitches-Clove hitch-Overhand knot - Figure-of-eight - Bowline - Running bowline-Bowline-upon-a-bight-Square knot- Timber hitch - Rolling hitch-Blackwall hitch-Cat's paw-Sheet bend-Fisherman's bend-Carrick bend-Bowline bend-Sheep-shank - Selvagee - Marlinspike hitch- Round seizing-Throat seizing-Stopping - Nippering - Racking Pointing - Snaking - Grafting-FoxesSpanish foxes-Gaskets-Sennit-To bend a buoy-rope-To pass a shear-lashing.

THOSE ropes in a ship which are stationary are called standing rigging, as shrouds, stays, backstays, &c. Those which reeve through blocks or sheave-holes, and are hauled, and let go, are called the running rigging, as braces, halyards, buntlines, clewlines, &c.

A rope is composed of threads of hemp or other stuff. These threads are called yarns. A number of these yarns twisted together

form a strand, and three or more strands twisted together form the rope.

The ropes in ordinary use on board a vessel are composed of three strands, laid RIGHT HANDED (1.) or, as it is called, with the Occasionally a piece of large rope will be found laid up in four strands, also with the sun. This is generally used for standing rigging, tacks, sheets, &c., and is sometimes called shroud-laid.

sun.

A CABLE-LAID ROPE (2.) is composed of nine strands, and is made by first laying them into three ropes of three strands each, with the sun, and then laying the three ropes up together into one, left-handed, or against the sun. Thus, cable-laid rope is like three small common ropes laid up into one large one. Formerly, the ordinary three-stranded right-hand rope was called hawser-laid, and the latter cable-laid, and they will be found so distinguished in the books; but among seafaring men now, the terms hawser-laid and cable-laid are applied indiscriminately to nine-strand rope, and the three-stranded, being the usual and ordinary kind of rope, has no particular name, or is called right-hand rope.

Right-hand rope must be coiled with the sun, and cable-laid rope against the sun.

SPUNYARN is made by twisting together two or more yarns taken from old standing rigging, and is called two-yarn or three-yarn spunyarn, according to the number of yarns of which it is composed. Junk, or old rigging, is first unlaid into strands, and then into yarns, and the best of these yarns made up into spunyarn, which is used for worming, serving, seizing, &c. Every merchant vessel carries a spunyarn-winch, for the manufacturing of this stuff, and in making it, the wheel is turned against the sun, which lays the stuff up with the sun.

WORMING a rope is filling up the divisions between the strands, by passing spunyarn along them, to render the surface smooth for parcelling and serving.

PARCELLING a rope is wrapping narrow strips of canvas about it, well tarred, in order to secure it from being injured by rain-water lodging between the parts of the service when worn. The parcelling is put on with the lay of the rope.

SERVICE is the laying on of spunyarn, or rather small stuff, in turns round the rope, close together, and hove taut by the use of a serving-board for small rope, and serving-mallet for large rope. Small ropes are sometimes served without being wormed, as the crevices between the strands are not large enough to make the sur face very uneven; but a large rope is always wormed and parcelled before being served. The service is put on against the lay of the rope.