NS100

Deck Equipment and Marlinespike Seamanship

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Cleat - Consists of a double-ended pair of horns, used for securing a line or wire. Bitts - Pairs of heavy vertical cylinders, used for making fast lines led through chocks.

Bollard - Strong cylindrical upright on a pier, about which a mooring line is placed.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Chock - Heavy fitting with smooth surfaces through which mooring lines are led. Roller Closed Open

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Padeye - A metal plate with an eye, attached to the deck to distribute a load over a large area. Lifelines - Lines erected around the edges of decks, referred to as follows:
Top - Lifeline Middle - Housing line Bottom - Foot rope Snaking - Netting rigged between foot rope and deck.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Capstan - Separate vertical machinery units or part of the anchor windlass around which lines are passed, commonly used in mooring and anchoring evolutions.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Camel - A large float or raft used as a fender.

Rat guards - Shields secured around mooring lines to prevent rats from coming board ships.

Dip the Eye

When two bights are placed on the same bollard, the second one is led up through the first before being put over the bollard. This allows either to be cast off without moving the other.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Chafing gear - Canvas or other material placed around mooring lines to prevent wear.
Fenders - Material designed to absorb the shock of contact between two ships or a ship and a pier.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Boatswains chair - Used for sending one person over the side. Jacobs ladder - Rope ladder w/rungs rigged over the side for temporary use

Boat boom - Spar swung out from the side of the ship, permits small boats to ride safely alongside while at anchor.

Ground Tackle and Mooring Equipment

Pilots ladder - Flexible portable ladder, usually constructed of metal, sturdier than a Jacobs ladder. Sea ladder - Rigid, portable ladder that maybe rigged to the side of the ship.

Accommodation ladder - Rigid, inclined ladder rigged to the side of the ship to allow boarding of a moored or anchored ship.

Mooring Lines
Mooring lines are the lines used to secure the ship to a wharf, pier or another ship. Definition of lines: Breast lines - Run at right angles from the ship, control distance of ship from pier Aft spring lines - Tend aft from ship, control forward movement. Forward spring lines - Tend forward from the ship, control aft movement

Mooring Lines
1
2

Numbering of lines: #1 - Bow line #2 - Aft bow spring line #3 - Forward bow spring line #4 - Aft quarter spring line #5 - Forward quarter spring line #6 - Stern line

Mooring Lines
DO NOT MIX MOORING LINE

Never mix lines of different constructions or material . Each type of rope exhibits different elongation characteristics and mixing will result in an unequal load sharing

Marlinespike Seamanship
Marlinespike seamanship is the art of - handling - maintaining - working

with line or rope, including every variety of - knotting - splicing - lashing.

Rope and Line

Rope - general term that refers to both fiber and wire. It is manufactured from fiber, wire, or a combination of the two. Almost every fiber rope in use on board ship is a line.

Rope and Line

Fiber rope - Commonly called line, it is fashioned from natural or synthetic fibers.

Measured by circumference Types of construction: -Twisted - Braided - Plaited

Rope and Line

(classification and construction, contd)

Types of fiber rope: Natural: Synthetic: -manila - nylon -cotton - polyester - hemp - polypropylene

Aramid: - 4 strands kevlar

Rope and Line

(classification and construction, contd)

Wire rope - basic unit of construction is the metal wire.

- Measured by diameter.
- Construction: individual wires are laid together to form strands, and strands are laid together to form the wire rope.

Rope and Line

(classification and construction, contd)

Wire rope Designated by - number of strands per rope, and - number of wires per strand. - example: 6 x 19 6 strands per rope 19 wires per strand

Rope and Line

(classification and construction, contd)

Wire Rope (contd) - large number of small wires produces high flexibility but low abrasion resistance. - a small number of large wires would stiffer, but more resistant to abrasion. Cores - single wire strand adds strength - fiber adds flexibility.

Rope and Line

(classification and construction, contd)

Combination - measured by diameter - six main strands of fiber and wire rope interwoven, laid around a fiber core. - used as mooring lines for extra strength - fiber rope adds great flexibility and elasticity

Natural vs Synthetic
Important differences : - Synthetic fiber lines slip more easily. - Synthetic line has higher breaking strength. - Synthetic line has poor knot-holding characteristics. - Synthetic lines stretch under load.

Synthetic Line Construction

Breaking strength Abrasion Best resistance Relative stretch Cost 3-strand double-braided plaited Low High Medium Low Low High Medium Highest Medium

High Low

Synthetic Line Materials

Breaking strength Abrasion resistance Relative stretch Cost Nylon High Best High Medium Polypropylene Polyester Low Medium Poor Medium Low Good Least High

Small Stuff
Line or rope less than 1 3/4 inches in circumference. Identified by the number of yarns (threads) it contains, rather than its size. Marline - Two-strand, tarred hemp, used for serving a line. (Serving a line means to wrap it with marline to protect it from weather or to make it look neater. Most commonly used on natural fiber lines)

Houseline - Three-strand, left laid tarred hemp for light

seizing, light rigging, and work exposed to weather.

MONKEY LINES

Small Stuff
Seizing stuff - Very small, used for fancier jobs that marline can accomplish. Ratline stuff - Dark brown and coarse, it is primarily used for snaking - nettings used to prevent personnel from washing overboard. Tattletale - Small, natural line spaced into a synthetic fiber line to provide an indication of the working load placed on the line.

Small Stuff
Tattletale (contd) - the tattletale for a three-strand, twisted nylon line consists of a 40-inch natural fiber line spliced between two points 30 inches apart. The tattletale become taut when the line is stretched 33% or more.

Marlinespike Seamanship Terms

Hawser - Heavy line over five inches in circumference. Used for towing or mooring. Bight - A loop of line or chain. Bitter End - Free end of a length of line, wire chain or cable. Eye - Closed loop in the end of a line. Marlinspike - Tapered steel tool used in splicing wire.

Marlinespike Seamanship Terms

Fid - Tapered wood tool used in splicing lines.

Coil - Lay down a line in circular turns on top of one another.

Marlinespike Seamanship Terms

Flemish: Coil a line flat on deck Fake down: Lay out a line in long, flat bights. Heaving line: Light weighted line thrown across to a pier or ship when coming alongside to act as a messenger.

Marlinespike Seamanship Terms

Monkey fist - Knot at the end of a heaving line to provide weight.

Rat-tailed Stopper - Line designed to take the strain of a working line while shifting the line about bitts or cleats. Mousing - Light line across a hook to prevent a sling from slipping off or a pin from backing out.

Marlinespike Seamanship Terms

Shot line - Light nylon line used in a line throwing gun

Bolo - Nylon line with a lead weight in canvas or leather, thrown from ship to ship or from a ship to a pier.

Review Questions
1. What type of line are lines 1 and 6? 2. What type of motion is controlled by lines 2 and 4? 3. What is the difference between spring lines and breast lines? 4. What are the three types of chocks?

5. What does chaffing gear prevent?

Review Questions
6. What is marlinspike seamanship?
7. What is rope? 8. What is line?

9. How are fiber and wire rope measured differently?

Review Questions
10. What advantage does synthetic line have over natural? What are the disadvantages? 11. What is the purpose of a splice?