MorganTyre

Thanks. The next one is the toughie. I'm not real sure how I'm going to illustrate it as you are dealing with six or so strands at any given moment. I will probably have it up tomorrow. On the bright side, it'll be a knot that most people don't know how to tie - unlike the basic running turks-head described here. It's basically an extended turk-shead made up of multiple parts and though I've been calling it coach-whipping it's not really though there is no real difference in appearance. To be honest despite many many attempts I've never gotten the hang of standard coach-whipping. I understand it in theory and it's simple to tie but I can't get it even. That's ok. The elongated turkshead is a better looking knot :)

continued.... Part 1 Part 3

I'm setting this tutorial up, not in the order of construction but in the order of difficulty. Each of the separate pieces (grommet, turks head, coach-whipping) should be learned and attempted separately. Now, on to the turks head - This is a step by step follow the picture deal. Tying it around something is the EXACT same process. The large line and presence of a hand should not confuse you. If you are doing this with marline around your becket every step is the exact same. Remember to tie this loosely as subsequent passings will increase it's bulk and make it tighter. Once your turks head is done carefully work it tighter and tighter around until you have it as you want it and then trim off the extra ends as pictured. This first picture is a flattened view of what is happening around your hand in the first photograph.

Actually I'm not sure why I did it over on twill. If any moderators see this feel free to move it over here. My apologies.

In response to a question over in plunder here is a quick tutorial on how to make a grommet style sea chest becket. These are the loop handles and should not be confused with the shackle type. This was made from old 3-strand dacron halyard material which is far far far from the best stuff to use for the project but it's what I had on hand. I recommend 3 strand manilla or hemp. The grommet pictured here is 5" in diameter and is made from half inch material. Step 1 - Measuring and Cutting Grommets can be laid up in one go but I highly recommend using a form made up of the same material going into the grommet. Figure out how big you want your grommet and then cut your form to length. Now measure a piece of line that is 3x the length of your form plus a foot or so for the final splice. Unlay one of the three strands from this long piece and lay the rest aside for future projects. Step 2 - Starting the lay (Turn 1) To start your lay, unlay one strand from your form until you reach the middle of the form. Then, starting at the middle of your working strand lay it in to the form to take up the space vacated by the partially unlaid strand. This should line everything up with the middle of the working strand and the middle of the form in the same spot. Now continue to unlay the strand from the form as you replace it with your working strand. Step 3 - Making turn 2 Now double the form back on itself, making a complete loop. Start unlaying one of the remaining strands from the form and replacing it with either of the ends of the working strand. The working strand is now starting to wind around itself. Since the working strand is now being passed through the grommet extra care has to be taken that it isn't twisted or that it doesn't fall out of shape. Step 4 - Making turn 3 After you complete turn 2, start unlaying the final strand of your form while laying in which ever strand you didn't use in step 3. The end result is a complete circle with the strands of equal length and entering and exiting the grommet in the same place. The next picture shows the form removed and the ends of the working strands nearly but not yet entirely laid into place. Step 5 - Staring the splice Split each strand in half right down to the splice. Now chose two of the strands and tie them in an overhand knot left over right. The final knot should look like a single strand. If they are flatter or have added bulk, untie and try another pair of strands. Experimentation will show which are the proper strands. The other strand halves are no longer used and can be tied off together so you don't confuse them. Step 6 - The burys Take each strand and then start splicing them in much in the manner of an eye splice. Bury them against the lay, over one, under, over and then remove about 1/3 of the strand and do it again once again for two passes. Remove another third of the strand work against the lay for one last pass and then with the lay to bury the tapered end of the strand into the center of the grommet. The picture shows some of the tucks in place with some strands removed. Do this on both sides and then trim off the unnecessary strands. Step 7 - Finishing Roll the grommet under your foot several times to even everything and to smooth your long splice. The end result should look like a complete unending loop of line. At this point you can worm the line if you choose. Nearly all references I've seen to grommets as beckets show them as being wormed. In the picture I just wormed it with some cotton twine I had on hand. The end result is shown in the final picture. The next part will show a basic turks head and a decorative/protective cover where the grommet passed through the cleat on the chest. Part 2 Part 3

I will write up a quick tutorial for a grommet style becket over on captain twill. If it's not up yet check soon. I'm typing this note first.

No tutorial here but beautiful beckets. Most, while time consuming, are doable for the amateur. http://www.marlinespike.com/sea_chests.html

Regarding fish, I can say from experience that it's very difficult to catch any quantity of fish at sea while underway. Most likely to have been caught were dolphins, sharks, and turtles which were especially prized as they could be stored alive for quite some time before being eaten but none of these in enough quantity to really supplement the staple diet of biscuit and preserved meats. Of course any time one hits land everything that can be grabbed is - coconuts, conch's, pigs, chickens, fruit, etc. though nearly everything that isn't living would spoil within the first few weeks. One would also imagine that it's while on or near land that the bulk of the fishing would be done though once again spoilage is at issue. Those problems extend to the officers who ate only slightly better than the men - most of which food you probably wouldn't touch today - so the idea of stealing from them wouldn't get you much. All in all, the staples with an occasional treat were probably the standard fare.

Does the type with the spool go that far back? At what point was the spool added? I know at one point it was a two-man job with an apprentice passing a ball of twine around the service but I'm not sure how far back that was.

Whomever was qualified which could be a real problem there was a time (don't know if it was this case in the GAoP) that a common sailor learning to navigate was almost a floggable offense in the navy. I think the idea was that if only the officers could navigate then a mutiny was less likely. If I remember correctly it wasn't until the publication of Bowditch that things really began to change. Navigation on most ships through history was pretty much solely the responsibility of the captain and I imagine that privateers were no exception. The backstaff or cross staff are going to be the most common tools of the era for celestial navigation. Despite what you may read to the contrary quadrants (not to be confused with the davis quarant) were not used much aboard ship as the motion of the sea in all but a dead calm renders then useless. A chiplog is a reliable method of estimating speed but I don't know if they were period, the same with traverse boards. Most ded-reckoning was based on estimated speed and time as measured by hourglass and so was frequently wrong which historically led to some amazing screw-ups. On the barbary coast the kamal would also have been used for celestial navigation. I'm not sure about the far east navigation practices, that would be interesting to learn more about. Wherever possible. These were specialized instruments at the time and were made by craftsmen, probably on an order by order basis. Any ship captured will have some instrumentation on board. Whenever practical. The noon sight was the most common at the time but I believe the polaris shot was already in use at the time. One is more or less the inverse of the other. The closer you are to the equator the higher the sun is over the horizon at noon and the closer polaris is to the horizon at night. With the crude, error-inducing instrumentation available at the time the conditions played a huge part in whether or not a reliable shot could be taken. At best you can only really count on a degree or so of accuracy which is a 60 mile radius of error. Between that, imperfect charts and questionable ded-reckoning it's not exagurating to say that the only real time a pirate knew exactly where he was was when he was in port.

I looked back and found the page you were talking about: http://www.maritime.org/conf/conf-kaye-tar.htm Yep, neat stuff.

There was a time (pre-9/11) where I could buy saltpetre in the pharmacy section of my local grocery store. I don't know if that's still the case though, I haven't bought it in years and years. Still, a grocery store or pharmacy might be the place to check. It would be over the counter. As for the slow match, make nitrate by adding 3-6 tablespoons of saltpetre to 4 cups of water. Stir it well then soak a natural fiber line in it overnight. Lay the line flat to dry and you are set.

I was just applying a little tar to some decorative rope-work on a spear I was making when curiosity struck me and I did a google search for the maker of the can I have. Pine tar goes about as far back as sailing does and it's smell, probably more than any other, is the one synonymous with the sea. I personally love the stuff, having grown accustomed to it when working about some columbus ship replicas years ago. If you want to duplicate history to the point of smelling the part try slapping a coat of tar on some rope-work, splatter a bit on some old rags of costume, or maybe rub some in to your hands to give them the dirty "handled a lot of rigging" look. If you want the smell but don't want the dirt they also apparently have pine tar soap (which I've used but not this particular brand) and even hand lotion. http://www.tarsmell.com/products.html The also sell a synthetic manilla line that I'm not familiar with but is intriguing. If anyone knows any of the characteristics of the line - stretch, creep, working load, etc. please lemme know.

Some months ago the giant squid was filmed by a team in japan. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9503272/

Fascinating place. My wife and I (and our two children) were their very first customers. At the time we were there the focus was primarily on the smuggling end with an even mix of modern to probably early 19th century artifacts. The museum from what I understand was established in England and then moved to the South Texas coast when the owners came here so nearly all of the exhibits have a british bend to them which on one side was neat to see but on the other was slightly disappointing as this area has a rich smuggling and piracy history (to the point where one region - Flour Bluff - took its name from the actions of smugglers) and it would have been very cool to see more local history. Still, it's a neat place and I wish them the best of luck.

Not. A Piece of Eight has a value of one Peso or eight Reales. Ahh, my mistake, I was always under the impression that a piece of eight was one of the pieces of a cut up peso but a quick look at the wikipedia shows that you're right. Each individual piece was called a bit apparently. Thanks

Well assuming my table is somewhat functional then you're question about what 100 pieces of eight will buy you would work as such: A piece of eight is 1/8th of a spanish dollar (Peso) or one Real (Royal) which is worth (on the table) 25 farthings. Yes I know that the table says 24 farthings but really there is a way bigger margin of error than one farthing so go with what makes the math easier. Anyway that means your 100 pieces of eight is about the same as 2500 farthings which is 2 £ 10 s. Take that number to that probate list and you can get for example: A silver hilted sword 1£ 10s from Capt. Charles Newell Severall sea instruments 3 pr of compasses 15s from the good Captain and still have enough for 2 gallons of rum at 2s4d per gallon Your gem is impossible to assign a value to as "gem" is too generic a term. For the cutlass, it's clear from the probate records that swords could vary wildly in price. For example, while Capt. Charles's sword from my example was only worth 1£ 10s he apparently had another in his possession worth 4£ 15s or (working through the table) about 6 doubloons.

I know that with the geopolitical situation being what it was the the wildly varying national wealths through the fifty years or so of the GAoP it's hard to pin down anything particularly definite but I'm wondering if this table is accurate enough to work as a GENERAL guideline for determining relative values? This is gleamed from a few mainly contradictory websites but is primarily an adaptation of the table found at http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carls...story/coin.html Also, does anyone have anything to add? Once again I'm trying to just come up with a general guide for relative values.

Two books I would reccomend are John Leathers Gaff Rig Handbook (Can't give you the ISBN as the book is currently sitting in the bathroom at our rigging shop and I'm home sick) and Brion Toss's "The Riggers Apprentice" ISBN 0-87742-165-X. Also for logistical questions I reccomend Briot's website and his forum ( http://briottoss.com ) though beware - the forum has recently ended up on some spam lists and is constantly bombarded with viagra ads and the like though members on the forum list are not getting the same stuff in their personal mail. Sailcut ( http://www.sailcut.com ) is a free sail design software which includes gaff sails. That will get you started if you are doing it on your own though for a boat that size I would reccomend going to a real sail loft.

The best book on the subject (that I've come across) is "Eighteenth-century Rigs and Rigging" by Karl Heinz Marquardt ISBN 1-881093-00-X At over 300 pages with probably close to 1000 illustrations it is pretty much THE reference book. Chatper list (main chapter headings only, I don't have the patience to type out the full expanded table) I) Spars Masts Lower Masts Topmasts and Topgallant Masts Bowsprit Varying Dimension and construction methods for smaller vessels Yards Tables 1-52 (mast and yard dimensions) II) Rigging of Spars (Ship Rig) Bowsprit Jib-boom Flying Jib-boon Spritsail Yard Sprit Topmast Sprit Topsail Yard Lower Masts Topmasts Fore Yard and Main Yard Crossjack Yard Mizzen Yard Gaff Mizzen Boom Driver Boom Driver Yard Snow Mast, Trysail Mast Main and for topsail yards Mizzen topsail yard Topgallant Masts Topgallant Yards Royal Masts Royal Yards Studdingsail booms Bumkins or Boomkins III) Northern Variants of Ship Rig Cat Bark Kray Skerry-boat Dutch herring-buss Fly-boat, Dutch Flight Jackass bark, Jigger barkm hermaphrodite bark IV) Rigs for two-masted and smaller vessels Snow Brig Brigantine Bilander Ketch or howker Schooner Lugger Dogger Galliot Dutch Galeas Ketch-yacht Yacht Dutch state or pleasure yacht Sloop Lighter, hoy Norwegian jekta (yacht) Cutter V) Details of single-mast rig Mast Bowsprit and jib Flying Jib Foresail Boom Gaff Topmast and topgallant mast Crossjack yard Squaresail boom Topsail Yard Mainsail Trysail or storm mainsail Squaresail or crossjack Topsail Topgallant sail Gaff topsail Lower studdingsails Topmast studdingsails Ringtail sail Mizzen Water sail Save-all topsail VI) Rigs for vessels with spritsails Koff Tjalk Smack, Dutch hoy Aak Sprit rigging Spritsail Barges and lighters Strikeable masts, tabernacle masts VII) Rigs for boats Launches, Longboats Pinnaces and rowing barges Cutters and jolly boats VIII) Foreign and Exotic Rigs IX) Sails X) Cut and Shape of sails Main course Fore course Mizzen Course Driver, Spanker Try-sail, spencer Main topsail Fore topsail Mizzen topsail Main topgallant sail Fore topgallant sail Mizzen Topgallant sail Main royal sail Fore royal sail Mizzen royal sail Sprit course Sprit topsail Sprit topgallant sail Sky-scraper, sky-sail Squaresail, crossjack Topsail Save-all topsail Topgallant sail Gaff mainsail Gaff topsail Main staysail Fore staysail Foresail Mizzen staysail Storm Mizzen Main topmast staysail Fore topmast staysail Inner Jib Storm Jib Middle staysail Mizzen topmast staysail Main topgallant staysail Jib Flying Jib Mizzen Topgallant staysail Main royal staysail or spindle staysail Lower main studdingsail Lower fore studdingsail Main topmast studdingsail Fore topmast studdingsail Mizzen topmast studdingsail Main topgallant studdingsail Fore topgallant studdingsail Watersail Ringtail sail Wingsail for a ketch Smoke-sail Tables 54-59 (sail materials and dimension) XI) Rigging of Sails XII) Running Rigging to Sails Main course Fore course Mizzen course Early Driver New Driver (merchantmen) New Driver (men-of-war) Main topsail Fore topsail Mizzen topsail Main topgallant sail Fore topgallant sail Miozzen topgallant sail Royal sails Spritsail course Sprit topsail Main staysail Fore staysail Mizzen staysail main topmast staysail Fore topmast staysail Middle staysail Inner jib Mizzen topmast staysail Main topgallant staysail Jib Flying jib Mizzen topgallant staysail Main royal staysail Mizzen royal staysail, mizzen spindle staysail Lower studdingsails Top studdingsails Topgallant studdingsails Watersail Ringtail sail Wingsail for a ketch XIII) Belaying plans XIV) Blocks and Tackles Blocks Miscellaneous Blocks Tackle, purchase XV) Cordage, splices, hitches, and knots Cordage Splices Hitches and bends Knots Miscellaneous ropework XVI) Netting and other accessories Appendix Bibliography

Gonna third the nomination for the TV version of Treasure Island. Great case, beautifully shot, wonderful music. I'm also thinking the greatest pirate movie ever.

Expect to pay in the tens of thousands but building a pinnace or even the lowly longboat is doable. Plans are available, just start digging. However, a more reasonable goal is something along the lines of a jollyboat. Caravel planked most likely though perhaps clinker built this can be rewarding though difficult project. We're on the very edge of what's practical for the amateur builder though it is possible. I reccomend a full lugger rig (ie, dipping lug) for it's historical accuracy and genuine salty appearance though a leg-o-mutton would also do and is much more handy under sail. Watch your scantlings and build up the bulwarks such and it can carry a swivel gun without issue. Good luck to ya.

I stumbled across this one on youtube. I'm sure most of you have seen it but it was new to me. I love the animation style. Wish they'd do a feature length version. Pyrats

If you have any beginner sailing questions feel free to ask.

Fiberglassing isn't all that tough. I reccomend an epoxy like west system rather than the MUCH cheaper and more readily available polyester resin as it's much easier to work and bonds better but polyester is certainly doable if you are on any sort of a budget. I reccomend working with relatively small quantities of resin. As the material catalyses it releases heat which causes it to catalyse all the faster. In extreme cases it will actually smoke and I've heard will catch fire though nobody I know has personally experienced this. One technique I've seen is to mix the catalysed resin in a small container which is kept in a larger, ice-filled, container. In small area's it's sometimes easier to wet out your glass on a work surface (we use wax paper at work but I'm not a big fan of it) and then lay the wetted glass into place. On larger pieces wet out the surface you are applying glass to, then lay the dry glass on top and rewet until the glass becomes transparent. Well wetted glass is nearly invisible. Any opaque areas are bubbles and need to be worked down with a squeegee or fiberglass roller. If you have any other specific questions please lemme know. Not sure what you mean by old hooks but if you are looking for traditional looking gear you might try http://www.classicmarine.co.uk/ for traditional items. Alternatively, track down the marlinespike sailor by Hervey Garrett Smith. If I remember correctly it has general dimensions for making wooden cleats, rope stropped blocks, etc. So far as I know you cannot stain glass. However there is a local here who did a relatively convincing plank job on his production fiberglass boat. If I see him soon I'll ask how he did it and will post the info here. The man is a professional though and is in the boat business so chances are the techniques used are pretty advanced. The pivoting type board is called a centerboard or swing keel if it's ballasted. Daggerboards move vertically in a trunk. For ease of construction I hearily reccomend using leeboards (like the center picture) as trunks can be tricky. Leeboards are very traditional, the dutch in particular are great fans - even carrying leeboards on relatively large ships. If your plans include drawings for a centerboard trunk and it's within you abilities to build one then you will have a much easier boat to sail. Occasionally you can find nylon inflatable fenders shaped like a mermaid. http://www.boatersland.com/tay34444.html All in all they are small and easily atached to the boat. The biggest advantage of a fender mermaid on the bow is being able to protect the bow which is most likely to take dock damage. Give it a quick spray paint job (and keep the can of spray paint to touch it up regularly) and you are set. Once again, if you have any specific questions feel free to ask.