Seamnship

• Marlinespike Seamanship


  The art of handling and working all kinds of fiber and wire rope, including knotting, splicing, serving, and fancy work
• Marlinespike Seamanship


  1. Use line for tying up during mooring and docking and for rigging aloft or over the side during painting details

  2. Use wire rope during replenishment of supplies and for highline transfers
• Rope materials


  • Wire, fiber, combinations of the two
• Fiber rope


  Fashioned from natural or synthetic fibers, commonly called line in the Navy
• Line


  A piece of rope, either fiber or synthetic, that is in use or has been cut for a specific purpose
• Construction of Line

  Three-strand line, braided, or plaited, with various numbers of strands and direction of twist determining the lay of the line
• Construction of Line

  1. Coil right-laid line right-handed or clockwise

  2. Flake down braided and plaited line

  3. Keep line from touching stays, guys, or other standing rigging

  4. Surge line smoothly around bitts

  5. Cut and splice damaged line for safety

  6. Do not lubricate the line

  7. Whip all line ends

  8. Inspect natural fiber line frequently for deterioration
• Dragging a line over sharp or rough objects cuts or breaks the outer fibers
• Natural fiber line exposed to the atmosphere deteriorates about 30 percent in 2 years from weathering alone
• Line 1 1/2 inches or less in circumference is called small stuff
• Uses of small stuff

  • Seizing and servings with tarred hemp, servings with sail twine, decorative purposes with cod line
• Never leave the end of a line dangling loose without a whipping to prevent it from unlaying
• Bowline


  A knot used whenever a loop is needed, such as in making a temporary eye in a mooring line
• Knots


  Rope tied back on itself or in one end only, used for various purposes
• Bend


  Used to join two lines together
• Square knot


  Best known knot for bending two lines together, can jam on a strain and become difficult to untie
• Becket bend


  Especially good for bending together two lines
• Knot


  Forms an eye or knob or secures a cord or line around an object
• Knots


  Where the rope is tied back on itself, or where it is tied in one end only, such as a stopper knot
• Bend

  Ordinarily used to join two lines together
• Square knot


  Also called the reef knot, best known for bending two lines together, but can jam on a strain and become difficult to untie
• Becket bend


  Especially good for bending together two lines of different sizes
• Hitch


  Used to secure a line to a hook, ring, or spar
• Rolling hitch


  One of the most useful and important hitches on deck
• Splices


  Used to make permanent eyes and permanent repairs in lines
• Eye Splice


  To make an eye splice with manila or synthetic lines, untwist the strands in the end of the line and splice them into the standing part by tucking the unlaid strands from the end into the standing part
• Short Splice


  Lines are short spliced together when a slight enlargement of the diameter of the line is of no importance
• Class 1 Knots

  • Overhand Knot
  • Bowline
  • Running bowline
  • Bowline on a bight
  • French Bowline
  • Spanish bowline
  • Sheepshank
  • Cats Paw
  • Figure Eight
  • Black Wall Hitch
• Class 2 Knots

  • Square or reef knot
  • Granny knot
  • Sheet or becket bend (single)
  • Sheet or becket bend (double)
  • Two bowlines
  • Carrick Bend
  • Reeving line bend
• Class 3 Knots

  • Fisherman’s Bend
  • Rolling hitch
  • Round Turn and Two Half Hitches
  • Clove or Ratline Hitch
• Class 3 Knots

  • Rolling hitch - used to bend a line to a spar or to the standing part of another line
  • Round Turn and Two Half Hitches – used to secure the end of a line made around any other object
  • Clove or Ratline Hitch – convenient for making a line fast to a spar, the standing part of another line, or a bollard
  • Half hitch or two half hitch – used to secure a line temporarily around any object
• Class 4 Knots

  • Wall knot - the reverse of a crown knot. It is never used alone, but always as a part of a line. There are various combinations of wall and crown knot
  • Crown knot - the simplest and best-known knots in the end of a line. It is never used alone, but always as a part of some other knot
  • Manrope - combination of a double crown and wall knot. An ornamental knot worked in the end of gangway (handrails made of line)
  • Mathew Walker - the navy standard knot for the end of hammock jackstay. The three strands are brought back together, so they can be laid up again
• The basic unit of wire-rope construction is the individual wire made of steel or other metal in various sizes
• Wire rope is made of annealed steel, traction steel, or improved plow steel. The basic metal may be plain or galvanized
• The number of wires in a strand varies according to the purpose for which the rope is intended. A number of strands are laid together to form the wire rope itself
• Wire rope is designated by the number of strands per rope and the number of wires per strand
• Lays of Wire Rope


  • Right Regular Lay: Wires in the strands are twisted to the left; strands in the rope are twisted to the right
  • Left Regular Lay: Wires in the strands are twisted to the right; strands are twisted to the left
  • Right Lang Lay: Both wires in the strands and strands in the rope are twisted to the right
  • Left Lang Lay: Both wires in the strands and strands in the rope are twisted to the left
  • Reverse Lay: the wires in one strand are laid to the right, the wires in the nearby strand are laid to the left, the wires in the next strand are to the right, and so forth, with alternate directions from one strand to the other. Then all strands are laid to the right
• Deck seamanship includes small-boat handling, ground tackle, steering, heaving the lead, signaling, etc.
• In general, rigging is a large part of deck seamanship. The ship's standing rigging consists of lines, wires, turnbuckles, and other gear supporting and attached to the stacks, the masts, and the topside structure. Running rigging includes the rigging used in hoisting and lowering heavy weights or in positioning and operating movable deck gear
• Ground Tackles


  • Anchor chain, wire rope, synthetic line, or combinations of these materials, when used with anchors
  • Appendages consisting of connecting shackles or links, detachable links, pear-shaped links, end links, bending shackles, mooring shackles, mooring swivels, detachable-link tool sets, clear hawse pendants, dip ropes, chain stoppers, wrenches for chain stoppers, outboard swivel shots, chain cable jacks, mooring hooks, chain hooks, anchor bars, and anchor buoys