Learning the ropes...
Sep. 5th, 2013 08:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtran"She doesn't seem to have a forestay," said John. "And there isn't a place to lead the halyard to in the bows to make it do instead."
"Let me have a look," said Queen Elizabeth. "These little boats often do without stays at all. Is there a cleat under the thwart where the mast is stepped?"
"Two," said John, feeling.
-- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
So, what does it all mean?
First of all, the stays are the lines (wires on the Pacer below) which hold the mast in place. The forestay is the one that goes from the top of mast down to the front of the bow. The lines on the side are known as shrouds.
In the example passage, the Swallow doesn't have a forestay, so John is looking to see if the halyard can be used instead. A halyard is a line that raises or lowers a sail (the blue line in the picture above). It turns out that the mast will stand up all by itself, because it fits into a hole in the thwart, a horizontal strut, just like on the Pacer.
"I wonder whether the real Queen Elizabeth knew much about ships," said Titty.
"That Queen Elizabeth was not brought up close to Sydney Harbour," said mother.
Next, they try to raise the sail, which they do by pulling on the halyard. When they are done, they fasten the halyard on the cleat at the bottom of the mast. You can see in the picture above that the cleat on the Pacer is above the thwart, rather than under it...
"That looks all right," said Queen Elizabeth from the jetty. "But to make the sail set properly you must pull the boom down. That'll take those cross wrinkles out."
"Is that what those blocks (pulleys) are for hooked to a ring in the kelson close to where the mast is stepped? But they are all muddled up."
"Isn't there another ring under the boom, close to the mast?" asked Queen Elizabeth.
"Got it," said Captain John. "One block hooks to the ring under the boom, and one to the ring at the bottom of the boat, then it's as easy as anything to haul the boom down. How's that?"
You can see from the picture that the Pacer has two sets of lines under the boom. The first is called the vang or kicking strap and it is what they are talking about in the passage. Since it runs from the boom to the base of the mast, it only controls the vertical movement of the boom. This is important, because it means that just by letting out or drawing in the other line, the main sheet, you can control the horizontal angle of the sail.
You might also notice the way that both the vang and the main sheet loop around the blocks (pulleys). These are important because they give a mechanical advantage. For example, the main sheet actually goes up and down around the pulleys four times. This means that if you pull out the mainsheet by four centimetres, the four lines between the bottom of the boat all shorten by just one centimetre each. This has a similar effect to the low gear on a bicycle - you need to pull four times the distance, but with only one quarter the force the whole time. Very useful if you're doing to pull in a sail full of wind. The vang only has a three-to-one mechanical advantage, but you're not as likely to be pulling it against the full force of the wind.
Note that the Pacer doesn't have a kelson, which would be a longitudinal member running along the middle of the inside of the hull.
Also, the Pacer has another sail, called the jib which goes in front of the mast, which has its own halyard and sheets (called, appropriately enough, jib sheets). You can see in the picture below how a jib sheet can be fastened in a clam cleat to hold the jib in a given position.
This makes it possible to sail the boat singlehanded, with just one hand on the main sheet and the other on the tiller (or more often the tiller extension). As you might be able to see from the picture below, the tiller extension actually moves freely at the end of the tiller, meaning you can steer from a wide variety of positions around the boat (and even hanging over the edge). It's actually surprisingly easy to get the hang of, even though often the tiller extension will be at a very different angle to the actual tiller.
I also understand now just what all those people who were fated to sail forever - whether in the sea or across the sky - were actually doing the whole time. They were staring at the luff, the leading edge of the sail, with one hand on the tiller and the other on the main sheet, making constant corrections to keep the sail filled at just the right angle.
Roger was ready to go on talking about the cannon. Captain John was not. You cannot talk about anything when you are sailing a little boat against a hard wind and you cannot listen to anyone who talks to you. You are watching the dark patches on the water that show you a harder puff is coming and you have to be ready at any moment to slacken the sheet or luff up into the wind. So Roger presently stopped trying to talk.
Quite so.
"Let me have a look," said Queen Elizabeth. "These little boats often do without stays at all. Is there a cleat under the thwart where the mast is stepped?"
"Two," said John, feeling.
-- Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
So, what does it all mean?
First of all, the stays are the lines (wires on the Pacer below) which hold the mast in place. The forestay is the one that goes from the top of mast down to the front of the bow. The lines on the side are known as shrouds.
In the example passage, the Swallow doesn't have a forestay, so John is looking to see if the halyard can be used instead. A halyard is a line that raises or lowers a sail (the blue line in the picture above). It turns out that the mast will stand up all by itself, because it fits into a hole in the thwart, a horizontal strut, just like on the Pacer.
"I wonder whether the real Queen Elizabeth knew much about ships," said Titty.
"That Queen Elizabeth was not brought up close to Sydney Harbour," said mother.
Next, they try to raise the sail, which they do by pulling on the halyard. When they are done, they fasten the halyard on the cleat at the bottom of the mast. You can see in the picture above that the cleat on the Pacer is above the thwart, rather than under it...
"That looks all right," said Queen Elizabeth from the jetty. "But to make the sail set properly you must pull the boom down. That'll take those cross wrinkles out."
"Is that what those blocks (pulleys) are for hooked to a ring in the kelson close to where the mast is stepped? But they are all muddled up."
"Isn't there another ring under the boom, close to the mast?" asked Queen Elizabeth.
"Got it," said Captain John. "One block hooks to the ring under the boom, and one to the ring at the bottom of the boat, then it's as easy as anything to haul the boom down. How's that?"
You can see from the picture that the Pacer has two sets of lines under the boom. The first is called the vang or kicking strap and it is what they are talking about in the passage. Since it runs from the boom to the base of the mast, it only controls the vertical movement of the boom. This is important, because it means that just by letting out or drawing in the other line, the main sheet, you can control the horizontal angle of the sail.
You might also notice the way that both the vang and the main sheet loop around the blocks (pulleys). These are important because they give a mechanical advantage. For example, the main sheet actually goes up and down around the pulleys four times. This means that if you pull out the mainsheet by four centimetres, the four lines between the bottom of the boat all shorten by just one centimetre each. This has a similar effect to the low gear on a bicycle - you need to pull four times the distance, but with only one quarter the force the whole time. Very useful if you're doing to pull in a sail full of wind. The vang only has a three-to-one mechanical advantage, but you're not as likely to be pulling it against the full force of the wind.
Note that the Pacer doesn't have a kelson, which would be a longitudinal member running along the middle of the inside of the hull.
Also, the Pacer has another sail, called the jib which goes in front of the mast, which has its own halyard and sheets (called, appropriately enough, jib sheets). You can see in the picture below how a jib sheet can be fastened in a clam cleat to hold the jib in a given position.
This makes it possible to sail the boat singlehanded, with just one hand on the main sheet and the other on the tiller (or more often the tiller extension). As you might be able to see from the picture below, the tiller extension actually moves freely at the end of the tiller, meaning you can steer from a wide variety of positions around the boat (and even hanging over the edge). It's actually surprisingly easy to get the hang of, even though often the tiller extension will be at a very different angle to the actual tiller.
I also understand now just what all those people who were fated to sail forever - whether in the sea or across the sky - were actually doing the whole time. They were staring at the luff, the leading edge of the sail, with one hand on the tiller and the other on the main sheet, making constant corrections to keep the sail filled at just the right angle.
Roger was ready to go on talking about the cannon. Captain John was not. You cannot talk about anything when you are sailing a little boat against a hard wind and you cannot listen to anyone who talks to you. You are watching the dark patches on the water that show you a harder puff is coming and you have to be ready at any moment to slacken the sheet or luff up into the wind. So Roger presently stopped trying to talk.
Quite so.
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Date: 2013-09-05 01:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 08:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 08:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 02:06 pm (UTC)Actually, one of the best sailing related books I've read in recent years was The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers. I think you might enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 08:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-07 11:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 05:00 pm (UTC)"Let me have a look," said Queen Elizabeth. "These little boats often do without stays at all. Is there a clear under the thwart where the mast is stepped?"</I Cleat not clear. (Though my fingers just typed it wrong, too.)
no subject
Date: 2013-09-05 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-06 02:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-09-06 07:33 am (UTC)Of course, there are also other times when it is quite easy, but you still have to remain alert since, unlike on the road, other boats can come at you from all angles, not just from predictable directions.
no subject
Date: 2013-09-06 08:04 pm (UTC)