Can't remember basic jargon... it's driving me mad...please help!!

NealB said:
Agreed, but if the chains were held outboard by channels, then surely the channels would provide a much easier, more comfortable, and safer spot, to do their work?

I could well be wrong but, for example, I think that the leadsmen on the Grand Banks schooners, in the original 'Captain's Courageous' (just about my all-time favourite film), stood on the channels.

And, since it's worth a thousand words, here's a lovely drawing:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth...onde_sur_une_frégate-Morel_Fatio-img_3163.jpg
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To save the labour of hauling and recoiling the line, the leadsman would sometimes just pretend to cast it and guess a depth. He would then be "swinging the lead".
 
NealB said:
Thanks!

I'd love a first edition hardback, but I'm nowhere near rich enough.

So I've ordered a much later copy.
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Also worth having, but expensive:

"Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-of-war, 1600-1860, : Written by John H. Harland, 1984 Edition, Publisher: Conway Maritime Press Ltd [Hardcover]"
 
cherod said:
quite a good prog, i think , about the only thing i have watched recently ( admittedly with the volume down !! ).
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Do you mean 'Hornblower', Mister cherod, Sir?

If so, I do enjoy it, but the plot and the acting are cringe-makingly cheesy, don't you think?

I'd have absolutely loved it when I was about ten!
 
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aye aye sir,,, but i thot it was based on a true story ,,, huh ,, another myth busted !!! ( i just like the boats !! )
 
Poignard said:
Also worth having, but expensive:

"Seamanship in the Age of Sail: An Account of the Shiphandling of the Sailing Man-of-war, 1600-1860, : Written by John H. Harland, 1984 Edition, Publisher: Conway Maritime Press Ltd [Hardcover]"
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Genuine thanks to Poignard, for his admirable attempts to empty my bank account, and overfill my maritime library.

Is he a shareholder in ABE Books, I wonder?

For those that like this sort of thing, I found 'The elements and practice of rigging and seamanship', by David Steel in 1794. It's available, free, here:

https://maritime.org/doc/steel/index.htm

I've not got stuck in yet, but it should help to pass a few winter's evenings.
 
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Poignard said:
Thanks for that link.
Re the other books. Christmas is coming, broad hints to relatives might succeed. :)
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Indeed: I'm hoping my SWMBO might sneak a look in here before Xmas (many years ago, she managed to get me a first edition copy of 'South' by Sir Ernest Shackleton, so she has form, and understands my needs).
 
A quick scan through the 1794 David Steel book, I linked to just now, found the following apposite little gem:

"CHAINS, or CHANNELS, or CHAINWALES. Broad thick planks, bolted edgeways against the ship's sides, abreast and abaft the masts, used to extend the shrouds from each other, and from the head of the masts". (page 164 of the original).
 
NealB said:
Genuine thanks to Poignard, for his admirable attempts to empty my bank account, and overfill my maritime library.

Is he a shareholder in ABE Books, I wonder?

For those that like this sort of thing, I found 'The elements and practice of rigging and seamanship', by David Steel in 1794. It's available for free download here:

https://maritime.org/doc/steel/index.htm

I've not got stuck in yet, but it should help to pass a few winter's evenings.
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Just to add to the pile, look out for a copy of Todd and Whall's "Seamanship for the Merchant Service", many editions but mine is 1898 and makes a nice pair with Lecky's "Wrinkles"
 
It might be so. It's fun because it deals with "windjammer" seamanship which is a bit different - it assumes you have a big ship with an iron or steel hull, a smallish crew and some mechanical contrivances.

I cannot tell a lie. For three decades I owned a wooden gaff cutter with deadeyes, lanyards and channels, and when I read the first post in this thread I could not remember what they were called. I think in her case it wasnt so much getting a spread to the shroud base as keeping the deadeyes clear of the bulwark rail.
 
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cherod said:
aye aye sir,,, but i thot it was based on a true story ,,, huh ,, another myth busted !!! ( i just like the boats !! )
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The character is fictitious, but I believe many of the events were based on real life during the Napoleonic wars, presumably with a strongly biased view, plus a good dose of poetic licence.
 
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