Page 303 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

wooden one will be 4 feet (1.22 m) above the first.
Set the tape measure on top of the first rung and
run it up alongside the most nearly vertical of your
two shrouds. This will probably be the forward one.
Make a mark at 16, 32, and 48 inches (406, 813,
and 1,219 mm).
Drill, cut, rivet, and install the second wooden
rung. Before moving on to rope, carefully measure
the difference in length between these two ratlines.
Then simply deduct this length from successive
wooden ratlines as you go.

Rope Rungs
To avoid the dreaded “sagging step” syndrome, pre-
Figure 7-21. Finished wooden ratline end, with stretch the rope you’ll use. (One-half inch [13-mm]
lashing. three-strand filament Dacron or Roblon is ideal.)
Tie one end to a masthead halyard, belay the other
end on deck, and tighten all with a winch. Or stretch
Repeat the lashing procedure at the other end. it with a come-along ashore. This will remove the
Don a climbing harness, tether it to a shroud, and “initial elasticity” caused by all the rope yarns set-
step onto the ratline. Jump up and down. Ain’t lash- tling into place.
ings grand? Splice a small eye in one end of the rope and
From where you’re standing it is easy to mea- lash it in place. Use a Square Lashing as before, but
sure up, mark for, and install the second wooden
ratline. Space between rungs is a matter of taste Figure 7-22. To lash a rope ratline to a shroud,
and leg length, but 16 inches (406 mm) is stan- Buntline-Hitch the twine end to the eye, then begin
dard. With two intervening rope ratlines, the second a series of turns of Square Lashing. Be sure turns lie
fair and flat on the shroud; none should protrude
above its neighbors, or it will suffer chafe. Finish with
several frapping turns and two Half Hitches. Work
a Figure-Eight Knot into the end up close to the last
hitch to prevent the end pulling out.

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