Page 198 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age
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Chapter Two
with strips of tarred sailcloth. Sometimes parts of served rope were covered with leather.
The masts were st ayed with stays forward; the st ays were named after the masts to which they were attached: main stay (1), forestay (2), mizzen stay (3), main topmast stay (4), fore topm ast stay (5), mizzen topmast stay (6), main-topgallant stay (7), fore-topgallant stay (8), and, in exceptional cases, the bac kstay of the sprits ail topmast (9), staying the spritsail topmast to the forestay. The stays were set up t aut with lanyards in the he arts, or dumb sheaves (blocks without sheaves), similar to the de ad- eyes, at the ends of the shrouds.
To the sides and aft the lower masts were stayed with shrouds (10, 13, and 16), whic h had ratlines for g oing aloft. The topmasts had shrouds with ratlines as well (11, 14, and 1 7), fastened through the top s to the lower m ast shrouds. They also h ad backstays (21, 22, and 2 3) going aft to the ship’s topsides, where, like the lower shrouds, they were set up with lanyards and deadeyes to the chan- nels and c hain plates. The topgallant masts also h ad shrouds (12 and 15), spre ad by the cros strees and m ade fast to the topm ast shrouds via the futtock shrouds, but generally no r atlines. Sometimes topgallant masts also had backstays.
Although standing rigging refe rs to the ropes with which the m asts were st ayed, the pendants of the pen- dant tackles (24, 2 5, and 26) are also included in thi s category. These were fou nd underneath the m astheads. The lower pendant tackle blocks were hooked to eyebolts in the c hannels when the pendant tackles (or bur tons) were not being used for any other purpose. In g eneral there were two pendant tackles to e ach side of the m ain and foremast: one w ith a fi ddle block (the she aves one above the other) and one with a double block (sheaves ly- ing next to each other). The mizzenmast usually had only one pendant tackle to e ach side. Tackles could also be stropped to stays and the arms of the main and foreyards and the lateen yard.
The running part of the rigging, including the line ro ve through the bloc ks of the pendant ta ckles, was mainly used to handle the sails. It consisted of halyards, halyard ties, lifts, clew lines, br ails, sheets, br aces, tacks, bow- lines, and other gear. These ropes remained untarred and so had the c olor of hemp fi ber. They were ro ve through blocks (over sheaves) to gain mechanical advantage. The falls were bel ayed to cle ats, belaying pins, and knight - heads on deck or in the tops.
The running rigging c an be divided into two m ain groups of lines: those attached to the yards and those at- tached to the sails.
The yard was raised with a halyard. The halyards of the main yard and foreyard had a huge block, called the rams- head, which had sev eral sheaves. The halyard was rove through this block and a knight, which protruded through the deck. From the block both ends of a rope called the tie (27 and 47) went up over the mast cap and were bent to the yard. Smaller halyards, such as the ones of the topgal- lant yards (55 and 61), had a single halyard falling aft of the topgallant mast and through a sheave in the top of the topgallant mast. The spritsail had a halyard rove through the forward end of the bowsprit.
The yard was held to the mast by the parr el. The parrel consisted of lines rove through trucks and ribs, the ends of which were bent to blocks (28 and 48); the parrel fall rove through these blocks belayed at the foot of the mast.
The lifts (29, 42, 49, 62, 74, 86, and 9 2) are used to hold the yards level when they are lowered and the s ails furled, and they can be used to c ockbill the yards. The lower sails (mainsail and fores ail) had their lifts rove through their own she aves in the s ame fiddle block as the topsail sheets. Often the top sails did not have lifts because the sheets of the topgallant sails could be used for that end.
The braces (30, 36, 43, 50, 56, 63, 70, 75, 87, and 93) were used to turn the yards so the sails would fill with the wind. The brace block was us ually attached to the yard- arm with a pendant. Braces were belayed on deck, where they were passed via a number of blocks and fairleads.
The sails were bent to the yards with robands. When taken in, the s ails were furled w ith gaskets, which were tied to eyes fixed onto the yard with cramps. The clews (lower corners of the sails) were hauled up to the yards by the clew lines (32, 38, 45, 52, 58, 65, 72, 77, 81, and 89), which hung behind the sail. Buntlines (33, 39, 53, and 59) were used for the s ame end, but they ran on the for ward side of the s ails and were att ached to footropes. L eech lines, spilling lines, or throat brails were made fast to the leech ropes.
The sheets (31, 37, 44, 51, 57, 64, 71, 76, 82, and 88) were used to set the s ails by pulling the lower c orners (clews) of the sails out to the yardarms of the yards below them, or aft in the case of the fore and mainsail. The tacks (94) were used to pull the clews of the foresail and main- sail forward on the weather side. The bowlines pulled the weather leech forward. The bowlines were bent to bridles, which were made fast to the leech ropes of the sails (34, 40, 46, 54, 60, 66, and 90).
The mizzen had a c ouple of special lines: the mizz en yard lift (80), attached to the upper end of the lateen yard with a ru nning bridle, and the mizz en heel tackle (84),
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