Page 16 - Des Pawson "Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices"

Introduction
“To put a rnarlinespike in a man’s hand
and to set him to work on a piece of
rigging is considered a fair trial of his
qualities as an able seaman.”
So wrote R. H. Dana in 1845 in The
Seaman's Friend and he went on,
“The rigging of a ship requires
constant mending, covering and working
upon in a multitude of ways.”
The basic rigging of a ship would be done
before she set sail by shore-based riggers,
but as soon as she had started her voyage,
work began setting the rigging to the
master’s own special ideas. The
master of a sailing ship took great pride in
the appearance of the ship yet kept a close
eye on the costs, and would use the free
labor of the most skilled ropeworker to
Pocket Guide to Knots & Splices
add details of decorative ropework to the
ship herself, with manropes, decorative
strops on some of the blocks, coach-
whipped rails, and fancy mats. The ship’s
bell deserved a display of those fancy
knots that told the world what degree of
skill was available on the ship. The smart
appearance of the master's own shore¬
going boat would be enhanced with,
perhaps, decorative tiller lines, and superior
decorative rope fenders. All these showed
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the world that the captain was master of a
ship manned by the most skilled of
seamen. It must not be thought that all this
decorative rope work was only for show.
Most decoration had a function as well,
for example the footropes, those ropes
hanging below the yards on which the
sailor stood to furl the sails, would have
Turk’s head knots tied on them to stop the
sailors’ feet slipping.
It could be said that a sailor would be
judged by the quality of the ropework
with which he surrounded himself, such
as on his sea-chest with the handles or
beckets, well-made grommets parcelled,
wormed, leathered, and finished with
Turk’s heads, or a far more demanding
pair of hitched, grafted, and coach-
whipped chest beckets. The lanyard or
handle to his seabag, or the non-slip
handle on his knife, all showed the
owner’s skill with rope, speaking far
clearer than any certificate of his ability
to understand and use the appropriate
ropework for any task. This ropework
would also tell of his ability to stick to a
job over a long period of time, for a pair
of fancy chest beckets could easily take
up forty or fifty hours snatched from dog
watches, Sundays in the tropics, and
other odd moments of spare time that
could be contrived and sleep that could