Page 471 - The Ashley Book of Knots

THE ASHLEY BOOK OF KNOTS

A sailor made a bargain with the devil. He was to have ten years

of affluence, but at the end of that time his soul would go to the

devil unless he could provide some task that the devil himself coulo

not perfoJ."m. When the time for payment came, the sailor was at

his wit's end, but at his wife's suggestion he put a .marlingspike in

the grate until it grew red hot, then, pulling a hair from his wife's

head, he invited the devil to splice the hair with the hot marling-

spike. The story has it that the devil failed.

It is hardly to the credit of humanity that the devil can always be

trusted to hold to his end of the bargain, although often cheated by
2813

the other party.

2813. DOG POINTING (I), also called SPANISH POINTING, CROWN

SPLICE, and BACK SPLICE. At sea this is found on the ends of lead lines

and bucket ropes, its purpose being to give warning to the sailor that

the end is reached and to provide a handhold. There are a number

of ways in which it is made, the commonest being to crown the ends

right-handed and then to tuck over one and under one either one or

two times, exactly as in a SHORT SPLICE. Generally, the tucks are all

the full size of the strand but sometimes the last tuck is halved.

2814. DOG POINTING (2). Crowned to the right and the strands

backed. They may be tapered if desired.

2815. DOG POINTING (3). Seize the strands and without crowning,

tuck each strand over one and under one two or three times. Taper

the strands if desired.

2816. DOG POINTING (4). Without crowning, back all strands full

2.8 IS 2816
twice, then one half and finally one quarter.

2817. DOG POINTING (5). Crown to the left and tuck to the right,

over one and under one. The two methods of tucking were described

at length in the beginning of Chapter 34. This is the preferred sailor's

I

. ~ , \ way of making the splice. The end is snugger than ~2813, which is

the common way.

2818. DOG POINTING (6). Crown to the left and back all strand~

(the first two tucks are full), then taper if desired.

2819. DOG POINTING (7). Open the rope for a considerable length

and make an exceedingly tight taper or rattail, as described in SHORT

SPLICE ~ 2643, until one half of each strand has been cut out. At this

point put on a temporary whipping and then begin to back splice

2818 at that point, without crowning, as in ~ 2816. Remove the whipping

as soon as the splice is well started. Cut out yarns at the same rate

ill II
that they were cut out while making the rattail. Back spli:.:e the full

length of the taper and stick the last few yarns of each strand

through the ~rand that is being followed instead of under it. The

ends should be laid out a-tandem, and cut off flush. If well done, the

pointing should be uniforIIl in size with the rest of the rope.

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