Page 165 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

against the masts. The masts are sometimes pain ted below.
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(133 II 6) At the stay the bowsprit is one fourth part thinner than at the heel.
The stay comes at 14 or 1 5 feet, from the fore end of the bowsprit.
. . .
(256 I 44 ) The bowsprit is wound , for strength, and this winding again is covered with a skin, against wear and tear.
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as, for instance, on fluyts, on a breasthook (a heavy knee in the bow). The knee at the top, supporting the spritsail topmast, was one foot high for ever y ten feet of the bow- sprit’s length (Van Yk, p. 147).
96. With the Capstan. (71 I 15) 30. About the Capstan.
1.Theupperendofthecapstanthick2 1⁄2 inches, for every 10 feet of the length of the ship.
2. The whelps half as long as the head of the cap- stan.
3. The holes wide 1⁄6 of the thickness. . ..
(267 I 11) On some large merchan tmen the capstans stand on the upper deck and are turned with four bars above and two below; to wind all the more powerfully. Before the capstan, forward, often a crossbar is nailed to the main deck; for the cable to wind more easil y around the capstan; and not hitch below.
How Ships Are Built in Holland Today
[. . .] it stands thus far above the Lion, that the sail just touches it, to w hich the proportion sup- plied by me conforms. I t would be of no use for it to be longer, because it would onl y serve to catch the wind sneaking underneath, and between the sails, and always feel the side winds. W hich may be done, how- ever, if it stands low, and the lower it stands, the better it is managed.
(265 I 21)
(93 I 28) About the Capstan.
The capstan comes in the middle, between the steer-
ing stand and the fron t of the knigh t, or midships 1 5 feet abaft the mast: is 5 feet, 3 in. long above the partner the hole in the partner wide 1 foot, 4 1⁄2 inches, fore and aft, thick above square 21 inches, above underneath the score 201⁄2 inches, underneath that again 1 5 inches, and at the lower end 14 inches, it has 6 whelps, long 2 feet 7 inches: thick 51⁄2 inches, let in 1⁄2 inch, below broad 8 1⁄2 inches, and at the score 4 inches, and the score from be- low201⁄2 inches,andthushave3sides,theintermediate whelps below 5 inches, thick 31⁄2 inches. The capstan has four holes, wide 4 inches, the lower end long 7 1⁄2 feet, the scheenen [probably a sm all chock of fatwood to serve as a bearing] underneath the partner 1 1⁄2 inches, thepinbelowlong4in ches,thick7inches,turning on a point standing on an iron plate. Above it also has a brace around it, w hich is broad 3 inches, and thick 3 inches. The hoop in the partner is thick 1⁄2 inch, broad 3 inches, 3 tenons with 16 shins [?] long 9 inches, broad 11⁄2 inches, thick 1⁄4 inch, the pawls broad 6 inches, thick 5 inches, long 2 feet 5 inch es. The pawls stand 1 foot 5 inches from the capstan, the rear end xed with a bolt, and come to the front of the capstan.
(93 II 20) the beam of the capstan broad 1 foot, thick 21⁄2 inches, in the middle wide 2 1⁄4 feet: the ends come even with the front of the gunports.
(93 II12) The bowspritliesonthepartner: against the mast lies a cleat, notched in the fron t of the knigh ts, and straigh t on the bowsprit: is thick 4 inches, broad 12 in. there at the end a brace lies across, w hich is fastened on the knees, through a beam: the brace is broad 4 inches, and thick 1⁄4 inch: the bolts thick 2 inches.
95. And the Bowsprit
What has been said about the masts in gener al applies to the bowsprit as well . It was thic kest at the stem and thinned down to three fourths of that size at the head.
Witsen does not supply us with a formul a for the length. According to Van Yk, it was three sevenths of the ship’s length, which, even in his day, was diminished to three eighths, bec ause too m any accidents happened. When the bowsprit broke, this usually led to the los s of the entire forem ast, the m ain topmast, and the m ain- topgallant mast.
In contrast to the m asts, the bowsprit had neither a partner nor a step, but its foot rested between the posts of the knights forward against the foremast. Farther up, it rested on the stem or , when lying next to the stem post,
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