Page 268 - Brion Toss - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

shown, the majority of the lanyard strain will bear This attitude is understandable. In the Tail
on the standing part of the wire, lessening the ten- Splice’s finished form a double-braided, many-
dency of the seizings to “rack” (shift) under load. stranded rope of cordage gradually and elegantly
Since deadeyes, or modern equivalents, are used fades into a six-stranded rope of wire. There’s some-
for Spectra shrouds, seizings might seem to be an thing alchemical about this, an aura of magic that
attractive option. Unfortunately, the stuff will slip has been played up by generations of sailmakers
out of the longest, tightest, best seizings you can and riggers. But the Sacred Secret is not a mantra,
make, and at rather low loads. You have to splice a series of planetary conjunctions, a brew of lengthy
Spectra. formulas, nor even a lot of expensive tools. It’s just
this: you pretend. That’s right; the instructions that
follow just offer a way to take two complex, dissim-
MYSTERIES OF THE ilar pieces of line and connect them by pretending
TAIL SPLICE REVEALED that they are a couple of pieces of ordinary three-
strand rope.
Some knots, like the Bowline or Half Hitch, inspire
feelings of familiarity, even friendship. Some, like Materials
the Granny, arouse only contempt. But the Tail For each practice splice, you’ll need 8 feet of ⁄16-
3
3
Splice is considered a mystery; it is treated with awe, inch 7 x 19 wire rope and 8 feet of ⁄8-inch dou-
spoken of in hushed tones, and is generally consid- ble-braided Dacron. Double-braided rope consists
ered beyond the capabilities of mere sailors. of a pair of concentric woven tubes, the inner one

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