Page 188 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Figure 5-41A. To make the Brummel Splice, mid-
dle the sheet through the clew. Using a Fid-O Awl
or similar tool, tuck one end through the opposite
standing part just below the clew. Now tuck the other
end through the first end’s standing part a couple of
inches away. Draw up. To make tucking easier, pull
out and cut off a few inches of core from the ends,
then work all slack out of the covers and tape the
ends to a point.

on diverse human assumptions of what will work.
The only reason that chaos isn’t the rule is that all
these formulas and preferences are formed with
regard to the ocean, which doesn’t care what we like
and which will smash us if we don’t take it fully,
earnestly into account.
“Taking the ocean into account” is as close a
definition as I can come to for the term “seawor-
thy.” It’s not a term as readily reducible to formula
as mast design, but like a lot of other things, you can
know it when you see it. In the next section you’ll
find an utterly subjective view of seaworthiness,
with the emphasis on matters affecting rig integrity.
Think of it as right-brain design.
detachable point of Fid-O
SEAWORTHINESS

“There are four kinds of seafarers under sail:
dead; retired; novices; and pessimists.”
—Tristan Jones

A client once came to me wanting to know how to
run his exterior-mounted chainplates around or
through the unusually tall bulwarks he had built
onto his boat. He was a thoughtful, meticulous man,
and I was sure he had a specific reason for his bul-
warks’ height. So I asked him, and he pointed to his
feet and said, “My sneakers.”
It turns out what he meant was that if his boat
ever approached knockdown, the bulwarks were tall
enough that he could stand in them, in relative secu-
rity, while dealing with getting the boat back up. If I
Figure 5-41B. A finished Brummel Splice—smooth, were to give his attitude a name, I would say it was
strong, secure.
“seaworthy.”

167