Page 345 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

Then things stop going wrong, and it’s time to Cotter Pins
jury rig.
Cotter pins can be temporarily faked with safety
Response: You attend to any crewmembers who pins. Not for use where shear might come on the
might have been injured, send a distress call if pos- cotter, as on turnbuckle threads.
sible, check the condition of the hull, and set a sea
anchor to ease the motion. Try clearing that line out No matter, get some hands on the lashing lines at
of the propeller by taking a strain on the line, then either end, and time the roll of the boat for the best
giving little bursts with the starter, with the trans- moment to haul the thing aboard. Secure it on deck
mission in reverse. It works more often than not. and set hands to squaring and filing the ends while
Then you very carefully begin to clean up the mess you work up some shroud attachments. A simple,
in the water, getting everything close and secure strong procedure is to unbolt a pair of cleats from
alongside. All that tangle is really working against the deck and throughbolt them together near the
you, so you have at it, with pliers if the cotters are top of the stick. Next you get out four pieces of wire
easy to pull, or with a hacksaw or wire cutters if the or Spectra rope, each about 6 feet longer than your
cotters are overbent. If conditions are calm enough jury mast, and turn in an eye at either end of each.
and you have enough time, you can disconnect the The upper eye is big enough to slip over the mast,
wires by unscrewing their turnbuckles. Use spare and the lower is maybe 8 inches in circumference.
line to keep things from sinking or slamming around If your wire is 1 x 19, you make the eyes with cable
or drifting away as you work. clips properly applied (Figure 9-5). With 7 x 7 wire
When things are under enough control that you you can “splice with your bare hands” by turning-in
can remove the sails, cut away or unreeve the run- a Molly Hogan at each end (Figure 9-6). This is a
ning rigging, and even remove the upper ends of very fast and easy method, nearly as strong as cable
most of the standing rigging pieces. All of these sal- clips,* and it imposes no chance of dropping tools or
vaged items you stow out of the way for the moment, nuts overboard.
then take time to do a little housekeeping, clearing The four pieces are your forestay, backstay, and
the decks of broken gear, splintered wood, and such. two shrouds. Seat them securely on the cleats, and
Then it’s time to return to the two mast sections. on top of them add some rope grommets for hal-
Hmmm. The lower one is buckled badly, with yard blocks. Seize the assorted eyes and grommets
jagged edges at both ends. The spreaders are gone, in place. Tie spare lines through the lower eyes so
the tangs are useless, and there are no sheaves in this you’ll have something to hold onto to stabilize the
section. Let it go—just untie it and let it go. mast as you raise it. It’s going to be a deck-stepped
The upper section is longer and fairly straight, mast, sans tabernacle, so get it up on the cabintop,
but its top is smashed, ruining sheaves and tangs. brace its butt against the stump of the old mast, and
lash it down so that it will pivot but not shift. Put a
hatch cover, breadboard, or other stout object under-
Figure 9-5. Cable clips, properly applied, have the
shaped saddles bearing on the standing part. * Tensile strengths (as percent of rated wire strengths): Molly
Hogan 70 percent, clips, 80 percent.

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