Page 253 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

sudden jump in service diameter. Try for a smooth anticorrosive—liberally, but not so much that it’s
taper. Finish as for normal service, as described in going to drip out when warm. Then parcel toward
Figure 6-56C. the upper end with friction tape or tarred cloth.
Worm both splices; if the wire is ⁄8 inch or larger,
7
Full Service you might want to worm the entire length, because
The ultimate in service protection is to wrap your water could collect in the large spaces between the
galvanized or Spectra standing rigging (except strands.
hanked stays) full length. The rigging is thus indef-
initely preserved, assuming an occasional coat of Runaround Sue Sue’s a relatively high-tech,
“slush” to keep the service sealed. Although the spool-fed, self-tensioning, air-cooled, semiautomatic
payoff is ageless rigging as well as less chafe on sails serving board who literally flies through her job. In
and running rigging, the amount of time and effort the old days, service was put on by a rigger and an
that full-length service requires makes low-mainte- apprentice, the former passing a spool-less mallet,
nance stainless–or uncovered Spectra–the choice for the latter passing a ball of marline around to match,
all but a few. But for those of us who care to indulge and both of them inching along with the slo-o-o-wly
ourselves, here’s how it’s done. progressing work. But with Sue, one person just leans
To start, stretch the spliced wire between two back and oscillates the wire to make the mallet move
posts, trees, or walls, using a come-along for tension. along all by itself, thus bearing witness to the old
This will exert extreme strain on the attachment saying, “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
points, so be certain they are very solid. For wire, For the best job, start with a not-quite-bar-taut
apply a coat of pine tar or anhydrous lanolin as an wire, thread the mallet as shown (Figure 6-58), and

Figure 6-58. Runaround Sue. To thread, make a
bight as shown and put mallet head in from above.
Take up the slack and place groove of mallet on wire.
Adding a turn around the handle will provide extra
tension if necessary.

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