Mast Hoop Maintenance and Advancing Marlinspike Skills

 

Horrid foggy windy raining absolutely disgusting weather. Yeah? So?  What sort of person would turn-to in those conditions, and muster together just for maintenance, and some time on the water? 

Sailors,, in this case traditional wooden ship sailors, the type that recognizes there's things that must be done to preserve, and keep their ship well-found, and that weather conditions are just another variable in Mother Nature's tool bag challenging our ship's crew  to look to the best in themselves.  

And so, six of us,, Danny Johnson, Laura Johnson, Tony Marchesani, and new volunteers, Scott  and Jim Leonard, along with myself, mustered together in the forecastle to take on projects aimed add advancing our readiness for sea. Last weekend Volunteers down rigged a total of 27 mast hoops off both masts.  Three of those were condemned for salvage due to being "sprung" (distended and cracked). The rest needed to be sanded down to wood then coated with two applications of boiled linseed oil.

With the weather in a total mess on deck, our only feasible workspace would be below decks.  Earlier in the week, Bryan had set up hoop oiling station in the forecastle, spreading out  a large ground cloth over everything, and staging cups, rags, and a gallon of boiled linseed oil. Somebody went aft to bring back one of Capt Heath's power sanders to complete sanding of the remaining seven hoops on deck if the weather window cleared for a 1/2 hour. 

Bryan explaining the mast hoop issues
 to Scott, Tony, and Laura

The workspace in the forecastle wasn't conducive to more than 3 people, so Bryan split the group in two, leaving Tony,  and Laura, to work in the mast hoops in the forecastle.  He led the other group of three to the Saloon around the table to practice some graduate-level marlinspike skills.  After two hours, just before lunch, the groups would switch stations, so that all would get the chance to practice learn and practice some skills, as well as advance the mast hoop maintenance project.

In the saloon, Bryan positioned Scott, Danny, and Jim around the table and described the situation, passing out diagram's copied from Garrett's book "Arts of the Sailor" in the ships library.  The ship was in need of some additional "lizards" (short length's; 3-feet) of line, with eye splice on one end and either a toggle, or double wall and eye knot made into the other end.
It would require the exercise of three new skills;  a common whipping, a constrictor knot, turning an eye splice, and making a double wall-and-crown end knot. 

Bryan laid out a long length of 3/8" three strand rope, and demonstrated where and how to whip the rope at the ends, or to-be ends.  Once everyone had actually whipped their ends, the rope was cut into three three-foot lengths.  

Next, Bryan explained the purpose, and circumstances for making a constrictor knot as a quick temporary substitute for a whipping, particularly at the point where a rope's strands would be unlaid, and to seize up the end of each strand. 

With each rope length properly whipped, Bryan demonstrated the making of a double wall and crown knot (or Man Knot), on one end of each rope length. It would would serve as a "stopper" ball when slipped through the spliced eye on the other end.  Uses aboard this ship or any other are plentiful.  The photo at right illustrates its use in securing coils of line.  Using the demonstrator knot, Bryan used it to mark out the size eye on the other end of the rope. Now the last skill was introduced, the five tucks of strand into the standing end of the rope, in another half-hour, with an occasional untangling and restarting, the group had produced two satisfactory "lizards". 

At this point Bryan called for the station switch;  Tony and Laura in the forecastle, were relieved  by Scott, Jim, and Danny of their Mast Hoop finishing tasks and sent aft to the saloon to learn how to create the last lizard.

Our finished product; a "Lizard" secured
to the starboard foremast shroud's shear pole
 holding up  the coiled jibsheet

Activity ceased around 1230 just long enough to push the projects to one end of the saloon table so that all could sit around it with a big bowl of hot New Orleans Gumbo and french bread, frozen left over from the previous week-a perfect antidote to the wet mess howling above us on deck. Over lunch, new volunteers Scott and Jim listened as Bryan provided an orientation, introducing the Volunteer Log, skills checklist, and typical volunteer roles.

Once lunch was completed, some of the group cleaned up the mess area from lunch. And began putting away tools  and other hardware. Tony and Scott assisted Bryan in screwing the paint locker's heavy lid back onto the Locker.   Following a triumphal group photo with their work, volunteer crew stood down, and hurried thru the rain back to the parking lot and home.

The crew Jim, Scott, Bryan dripping wet,
Tony, and  Laura with their product; 
 three functional "lizards"