Page 181 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

How Ships Are Built in Holland Today
(274 II 13) The bread room is sheathed with tinplate, to conserve the bread , and the hatch of the powder room covered with lead.
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(275 II 17) Boatswain’s Storeroom and P eak are cor- ners forward and aft bel ow, beneath the rooms, used only for storing rags, and sometimes shot.
(90 I 32) 56. About the Chesstree.
1. The chesstree broad 8 inches, thick 71⁄2 inches.
2. The Large hole wide 31⁄2 inches.
3. The Upper hole wide 2 inches.
4. The chesstree stands at two fth parts of the
length of the ship taken from the bow, or straight above the second gunport, below the upper deck.
(85 I 44) About the Bread Room.
The forward beam, lies 9 feet from the lower deck,
the aftermost 8 feet, the fo remost lies 1 foot behind the pump, it is thick and broad 5 inches, the second lies 2 feet behind it, and is broad 10 inches, thick 6 inches, the thirdlies21⁄2 feetfromthere,broad7inches,andthick 5 inches: there is a hatch, wide 17 inches, long 2 feet: the binding strakes thick and broad 4 inches. The bread room itself long 9 feet, and as deep: the laths underneath the planks thick 1 inch, broad 2 inches, lying 1 foot apart: the deals thick one inch, and are connected by tongue and groove. Before the pow der room there are 6 posts, and they are thick and broad 3 1⁄2 inches, in the middle there is a hatch, to enter the well. Before the bread room there are also 6, and these are thick 3 1⁄2 inches, broad 4 inches: two of them are next to the hatch. T o the fore end of the deck clamps, also 6 posts are standing, and 4 at the well around the pump, thick and broad 3 1⁄2 inches. Near the front of the hold is the boatswain ’s storeroom at the foremost beam, of which the posts as above.
114. Make the Chesstree
The chesstree was a c hock or f airlead on the outside of the ship through whic h the t ack of the m ainsail passed. It was placed two fifths of the ship’s length from the bow. On expensive ships this chock was extensively carved, of- ten as a mask with bulging cheeks, a beard, and a mouth as the hole for the tack.
On the pinas the chesstree was a simple chock, stand- ing between the sheer r ail and the third w ale. The rope went through a hole in the c hesstree and then through a hole in the ship’s side forward of the chesstree.
During the last stage of preparing this English transla- tion of Witsen’s book, the exact location of the chesstree was the subject of an interesting discussion. Van Yk gives a formula that, if applied to the pin as, gives the s ame location for the c hesstree as Witsen did. Nic k Burning- ham, who was involved in the researc h for the building of the Dut ch yacht Duyfken in Frem antle, Australia (and who also s ailed the ship), notic ed that the loc ation for the chesstree was too much aft to be effective while s ail- ing close-hauled. Olof Pipping, working on the rigging of the Wasa, estimated the true loc ation as about one gu n- port forward. Perhaps the main tack was taken out of the chesstree if close-hauled and led to the sn atch block at the foot of the foremast. Or perhaps sailing with full belly- ing sails, as is often depicted, called for a tighter bowline, not a farther forward hauled tack.
115. The Pumps.
Near the main mast often a pump is placed, which is named the brake pump.
115. The Pumps
The pumps were di scussed extensively in section 10 2 (The Bushes, Pumps, and the Privy).
116. The Bread Room and the Boatswain’s Storeroom.
116. The Bread Room and the Boatswain’s Storeroom
The bread was stored in the bread room, along with bis- cuits, flour, and c heese. This compartment was entirely covered with tinplate to k eep out insects and r ats. The storeroom was below the gun room and c ould be entered through a c ap scuttle. It was sit uated on top of the pow- derroomandclosedoff withabulkheadforwardandaft. Behind this compartment was the peak, a room where the master gunner k ept spare par ts, and to the fore was the part of the hold where the victuals were k ept. In front of the powder room was the well, in which the bottom ends of the pumps stood. The rooms could be entered via hatches.
The boatswain’s storeroom ( hel in Dutc h) was in the bow before the fo remast. It was used f or the storage of miscellaneous supplies and also as a detention room. It was entered through a hatch in the cable tier.
(59 II 22)
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