Page 33 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

The fiber of white rope is moistened with water before laying, ane

for that reason it is also sometimes called water-laid. The fiber of

ordinary rope is oiled, which makes a darker product.

114. Soft-laid, slack-laid, or long-laid rope: Handles easily, does

not tend to kink, and is strongest. Whale line is soft-laid.

115. Hard-laid or short-laid rope: Gives better surface wear and

is stiffer, but it is also weaker. Lariat rope is very hard-laid.

"Three-strand rope is approximately one fifth stronger than four-

strand rope, and hawser-laid rope is said to be stronger than cable-

laid in the proportion eight and seven tenths to six." This statement,

which is frequently quoted, appears to have originated with Tin-

mouth, Points of Selrmanship (London, 1845). Ninety-nine years is

a long while for any statement to stand unchallenged. Although cable

is harder laid than hawser, which tends to make it weaker, it is more

elastic, which adds to its strength. I can see no reason why well-made

. -- cable in everyday service, where it is generally wet, should be in-

ferior to hard-laid hawser.

Both wet rope and wet knots are stronger than dry ones, since
-

\vater makes the fibers pliant and reduces the inside friction.

~

114 Corded is a general term applied to rope to indicate that it is

twisted rather than braided, but more particularly it refers to hard-

twisted stuff.

116. Rope that is stretched so that it has become attenuated and

has lost much of its twist is termed "long-jawed rope."

•

117. Swelled and weathered ends of rope are termed "gouty ends."

Rope is anything in cordage above one inch in circumference; any-

thing less is called "small stuff." Formerly the size of rope was always

given in circumference, but now it is more commonly given in

diameter, except "small stuff," in which the total number of the

/~

I component threads (yarns) is mentioned to indicate the product.
//.
"r Ordinary clothesline is "nine-thread stuff," and "twenty-one-thread

115" stuff" makes an adequate halyard for a small boat.

The word rope is seldom heard on shipboard, where it generally

refers to new stuff in unbroken coils. But rope is also the inclusive

term applied to all cordage, and a man is no sailor until he has

"learned the ropes." There is an old saying that "there are seven ropes

aboard a ship," but there are actually over sixty that have borne the

- name. Luce's Seamanship lists about forty which were presumably

'l""

current when his book was first published.

Line is a common name for cordage aboard ship, but the word

appears to be without specific meaning. Fishline, log line, ratline,

clew line, buntline, whale line, heaving line, spring line, and towline

indicate the indiscriminate range covered by the term.

1\.,

•

[ 24 ]