Page 59 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

block closed
with car-
carabiner block open abiner in
place

Figure 2-20. Mountain climber’s block, for use as a a double-ended halyard compounds the primary
turning block on a halyard that is taking someone purchase for a maximum of luff tension with a
aloft or in other mustn’t-fail situations. A screw pin minimum of effort and cordage (see the “Jiggers”
shackle, soft shackle, or locking carabiner will hold sidebar). Block-and-tackle boomed-sail sheets of
the block closed, and connect it to its attachment sufficient purchase are all that most craft require,
point. Available at climbing and camping supply gaff or Bermudian. It’s also easy to rig a two-part
stores, in aluminum with a plastic sheave or stainless purchase for boomless staysail sheets, using either
with stainless sheave. bullet blocks or hardwood “lizards” spliced into the
ends of sheet pendants (Figure 2-21). Nowadays,
With that advice, I’m edging away from change- for many application, the lizard has been reborn
able technology and toward a timeless, personal as a machined aluminum ring. These combine
responsibility: that each sailor assess and make slickness, toughness, and lightness. Highly recom-
skillful use of the available gear. One can, for exam- mended for vangs, outhauls, runner deck blocks,
ple, combine light, free-running plastic sheaves with and many other uses where ultimate slickness isn’t
tough, lovely, wooden blocks if that’s what’s needed the top priority.
or preferred. No matter how high-, low-, or mid- Also to be considered are boat falls, downhauls,
dle-tech the gear is, it must be mated with given gantlines, lazyjacks, topping lifts, and flag halyards.
jobs on a given boat, and it is the sailor who plays Scale these to the job, checking out other vessels if
the matchmaker. you’re unsure of proportions. Once again, the cat-
alogs of block and rope manufacturers are a good
guide to selection, but only if you first familiarize
TACKLE APPLICATIONS yourself with conditions on actual boats.

Tackles provide low to moderate tension, quickly, Deciding
at prices that range from very low to very high, Take a good, hard look at your boat and at yourself.
depending on complexity and refinement. Used by What kind of sailing do you want to do? In what
themselves, they’re all you need for small-craft hal- climate? For how long? Will you often be far from
yards (one-part) and sheets (two- or three-part). land, or will there always be a boatyard nearby?
Given sufficient crew and numbers of sheaves, List as many rig considerations as you can think of,
they can also serve for gaff- and square-rigged ves- and rate them in order of their importance to you.
sels of any size. For peak and throat halyards on Compare cost benefits of different rigging materi-
medium to large gaffers, a “jigger” on one end of als. Keep in mind that, with any form of mechanical

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