HEAVER. A short wooden staff, used as a lever in setting up the topmast-shrouds, strapping of blocks, and seizing the rigging, &c. GAFF. A pole used to extend the mizen course of a ship, and the fore and aft mainsails of smaller vessels. CRINGLES. Small loops made on the bolt-rope of a sail; used to fasten different ropes to, hook the reef tackles to, for drawing the sail up to its yard, to fasten the bridles of the bowline to, and to extend the leech of the sail, &c.

Some of these ropes were used in building the pyramids and no doubt on ships. Cannabis hemp, the primary rope fiber for centuries, was used in China 12,000 years ago, where the plant is believed to have evolved. There its fibers were used very early to make rope, clothing and paper. It’s worth noting that if you’re replacing your running rigging, the time’s right to inspect your deck hardware, too.

Maritime Nautical Naval Pulley Rigging Ropes Sailing Ship Wood royalty-free images

TACKS. Ropes used to confine the foremost lower corners of courses, and of staysails, and other fore and aft sails; also the rope employed to haul out the lower corners of studdingsails. TACK is also applied to that part of a sail to which the tack is fastened. STRAPS. Wreaths of ropes which are spliced round blocks, or used to encircle a yard or any large rope, by which tackles, &c. RING-ROPES are occasionally made fast to the ring-bolts in the deck, and, by cross turns round the cable, to confine it securely in stormy weather. SLIP-ROPE is to trice the bight of the cable into the head; and is also employed in casting off vessel, till got in a tide’s way, &c. TOP-ROPE, is a rope reeved through the heel of a topmast, to raise it by its tackle to the mast-head.ROPE-YARN.

Learning the Ropes (or the lines!)

Available in 100-foot, 150-foot and 300-foot options, this anchor rope is ready for all kinds of conditions. It’s made from double-braided nylon, which is one of the toughest materials used when making anchor ropes. In other words, if you choose this anchor rope, you’ll get a strong, hard-wearing line that shouldn’t break or let you down.

Reefing Off the Wind

ROUNDING. Serving the cable with worn rope, or sennit to secure it from chafing. RING-BOLT. An iron bolt, with a ring fitted in an eye in the end. RIBS OF A PARRAL. Short flat pieces of wood, having a hole near each end, through which the parral-rope is reeved. OUTHAULER. A rope made fast to the tack of the jib, to haul it out by. KECKLING. Any old rope wound about a cable, to preserve the surface of it from chafing. HOIST OF A FLAG OR SAIL. That part which is towards the staff, or bent to a mast or stay.

They are seized to the shrouds, to lead ropes through, that they may be more readily found. STAYS. Strong ropes, to support the masts forward, which extend from their upper part, at the mast-head, toward the fore part of the ship. Sailboat halyard rope are denominated from the masts, LOWER-STAYS, TOPMAST-STAYS, TOPGALLANT-STAYS, FLAGSTAFF or ROYAL STAYS, &.c. MAT. A thick texture made of spunyarn, strands of rope, or foxes, wove or plaited together, and fastened upon masts, yards, &c. A Spanish Foxis a single yarn twisted up tightly in a direction contrary to its natural lay-that is, left-handed, and rubbed smooth. It makes a neat seizing, and is used for the end seizings of light standing rigging, and for small seizings generally.

One end of the cablet is made fast to the lower fid, and passed round the upper fid; and so on, alternately, one turn close to the back of the other, and each hauled tight by hand. The additional length, gained by the turns lying round each other, is sufficient for the lengthening of each pair of shrouds, as they rake aft. When the whole gang of shrouds are warped out, the bights at the lower end are cut through, in a strait direction with the fids. YARDS. Long cylindrical pieces of fir timber hung upon the masts of ships, to expand the sails to the wind. The lower yards to which the courses are bent, are the largest; such are the main, fore, and mizen yards which, except the mizen, hang to the masts at right angles with the ship’s length. The MIZEN-YARD, hangs obliquely to the mizen-mast, parallel to the ship’s length.

Rigging is divided into two classes, standing, which supports the mast , and running, which controls the orientation of the sails and their degree of reefing. Configurations differ for each type of rigging, between fore-and-aft rigged vessels and square-rigged vessels. Lateral pressure is met by the shrouds and breast-back-stays. The shrouds are pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side, when the mast is strained by a weight of sail in a fresh wind.