Page 180 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Figure 2.217.
Plate XXX. Chesstree.
Figure 2.216. Bow of the pinas model. The athwartship rail on the forecastle is peculiar: to reach the beakhead, the crew would have to climb over it. The text leaves sufficient roomfordoubt(seesection117, The Pinrail on the forecastle. (Courtesy Cees de Jonge, The Visual Art Box)
Figure 2.218. Witsen’s drawing of the chesstree for the pinas (fig. 2.217) is not very helpful for understanding how it works. The main tack is led through the fairlead and then through an aperture in the ship’s side. Some- times chesstrees were beautifully carved as grotesques, with the tack led through the mouth. (Drawing by A. J. Hoving)
Figure 2.219. The waist of the pinas model. The capstan, the knight heads, the boat on the gratings, and the chesstree are clearly visible. (Courtesy Cees de Jonge, The Visual Art Box)
162