Page 252 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Now make those turns on the other side of the raise a lump in the service that will go on top. An
board from the end of the service, quite loosely oversize eye also means that you can replace thimble
(Figure 6-56-C). Then tuck the end of the marline or service should either become damaged. In con-
under the last turn of service and begin serving over ventional splices, the thimble service is exactly the
it, thus undoing the turns you made and ending up circumference of the thimble, so the splice service
with a large bight at the end of a smooth, tight ser- can’t fully overlap it, and there’s no secure seal—
vice. You’ll serve through a loop, and you’ll need and no way to repair the eye service or replace the
to clear the end out of your way with each turn. thimble.
It’s confusing at first, but with practice it makes To produce this ultimate in Eyesplice protec-
the fastest, neatest finish possible. When you have tion, serve the circumference of an eye that is big
undone all the turns, you should be at the stopping enough to get the thimble in and out of (see Figure
point you wanted. Remove the serving board and 6-4). Splice, then parcel and serve towards the eye
hold onto the service with one hand, hitch onto the (Figure 6-56A, B, C, D, E). Ease up on the tension
end with a spike and pull with the other hand, and as you make the transition from splice to eye service,
guide the slack out, keeping the twine from twist- so you don’t squash the diaper down and create a
ing, with your third hand. Be careful, as you pull, to
keep the spike away from face and body; twine has Figure 6-57. Securing a spreader tip to a shroud. The
been known to break. This procedure is the same first layer of service fits snugly into the spreader tip;
when made with seizing wire, as in Figure 6-56C, D. the second layer, applied in two short stretches imme-
Short stretches of service are great for lashing diately above and below the spreader tip, contains the
hammocks, lightboards, fairleads, ratlines, or cleats up-and-down motion of the spreader. A light lashing
to, or just as a comfortable handhold on backstay keeps the shroud in the spreader groove, or you can
or shrouds (see opening illustration for this section). use a metal band screwed to the spreader.
And I don’t recall ever seeing a better way of holding
spreaders in place than the one L. Francis Herres-
hoff used to recommend (Figure 6-57, reproduced
from construction drawings for Araminta). As you
can see, the first layer of service fits snugly into the
spreader tip, easing the bend and providing a foun-
dation for the little bits of service that go on above
and below the spreader, holding it from traveling up
or down and making reinstallation easy after a haul-
out. Leather backing is optional. A metal strap will
keep the wire from jumping out, but a light seizing
(shown) will do the trick, too.

Splice Service
Figure 6-56F shows a spliced eye that is oversize
and served for its entire circumference. The splice
and its eye are completely waterproofed, because
the join between eye and splice service has been
sealed, under the service, by a “diaper” of parcel-
ing (unshaded service shows extent of eye service).
This diaper is very tidily applied—figure-eight turns
taken through the throat of the eye—so as not to

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