"Mike1" wrote in message
...

In old "pirate" movies, you'll sometimes see, during a fight, a man pull
out a special-shaped wooden pin or club and use it as a weapon.
Sometimes he has one or more on him, but often he yanks it from a
mounting bracket on the rail of the ship (where there appear to be many
of things, for, I presume, tying down lines to tack the sails).

Question: Do these pins have a specific name?

Answer: Yes! -couldn't resist the temptation to

Question: what is the specific name for the items discussed?

Answer: Belaying pins. Ropes, line, halyards, sheets etc, etc,
are belayed onto the appropriate pin so that the rope-work
looks tiddly and Bristol fashion and that the crew can
fumble
in the dark and select the correct piece of string. Note
that
the rope-work is _not_ tied-off in a knot or bend which may
jam
but they are wound around the head of the pin and the tail
of the pin - belayed - then the remaining length is coiled
and
handed onto to head of the pin.

Hope that helps

--

Brian

"Christopher Horner" wrote in message

If the first pic on this ( http://www.tallshipbounty.org/belay.html ) page
is what you are talking about then, you're thinking of belaying pins


Thankee, thankee. Those 'r the guys.

(BTW, did they have a standard dimension, or come in all sizes?)

--

Reply to sans two @@, or your reply won't reach me.

"An election is nothing more than an advance auction of stolen goods."
-- Ambrose Bierce

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:23:41 GMT, Vince Brannigan
is illeged to have opined:



Brian Sharrock wrote:
"Mike1" wrote in message
...

In old "pirate" movies, you'll sometimes see, during a fight, a man pull
out a special-shaped wooden pin or club and use it as a weapon.
Sometimes he has one or more on him, but often he yanks it from a
mounting bracket on the rail of the ship (where there appear to be many
of things, for, I presume, tying down lines to tack the sails).

Question: Do these pins have a specific name?


Answer: Yes! -couldn't resist the temptation to

Question: what is the specific name for the items discussed?

Answer: Belaying pins. Ropes, line, halyards, sheets etc, etc,
are belayed onto the appropriate pin so that the rope-work
looks tiddly and Bristol fashion and that the crew can
fumble
in the dark and select the correct piece of string. Note
that
the rope-work is _not_ tied-off in a knot or bend which may
jam
but they are wound around the head of the pin and the tail
of the pin - belayed - then the remaining length is coiled
and
handed onto to head of the pin.

Hope that helps

--

Brian

almost there

Belaying pins actually function as a machine. The pin protudes through
the pin rail. snippage
Vince


For the TRULY detail driven, the pin's rail was known as a Fife Rail.
The belaying pin's holes in the wooden rail caused the wood to
resemble a fife.

HP sends

as a generic item, its rope

Well, a little research and I learned something. According to
http://www.chron.com/content/interac...ry/l.html#line,
"On a boat, most ropes are called lines" but "Traditionally, a line must be
over 1 inch in size to be called a rope." We used 5" nylon for a 4 point
mooring, but I never once heard it referred to as "rope."

Isn't anything, line or rope, over 4-inches a "hawser"?

-keith

Vince Brannigan wrote:

Also for flying scenery (moderately useless trivia info): see
http://www.arts.ubc.ca/TheatreDesign...spc/flies1.pdf

Our fly loft at my High school was built in 1896. It is exactly as
described.

Vince

Arr-b'gaarh, it's Long John Silver! It goes back even further than
that, early Renaissance theater spectacles as designed by Leonardo
DaVinci had flying scenery and floating palaces.
There is reason to believe that a canopy covering the Roman Coleseum
was copied from ship-rigging - theater and rigging goes way back.

-keith

Vince Brannigan wrote:

Brian Sharrock wrote:
"Mike1" wrote in message
...

In old "pirate" movies, you'll sometimes see, during a fight, a man pull
out a special-shaped wooden pin or club and use it as a weapon.
Sometimes he has one or more on him, but often he yanks it from a
mounting bracket on the rail of the ship (where there appear to be many
of things, for, I presume, tying down lines to tack the sails).

Question: Do these pins have a specific name?


Answer: Yes! -couldn't resist the temptation to

Question: what is the specific name for the items discussed?

Answer: Belaying pins. Ropes, line, halyards, sheets etc, etc,
are belayed onto the appropriate pin so that the rope-work
looks tiddly and Bristol fashion and that the crew can
fumble
in the dark and select the correct piece of string. Note
that
the rope-work is _not_ tied-off in a knot or bend which may
jam
but they are wound around the head of the pin and the tail
of the pin - belayed - then the remaining length is coiled
and
handed onto to head of the pin.

Hope that helps

--

Brian

almost there

Belaying pins actually function as a machine. The pin protudes through
the pin rail. the "rope" comes down vertically past the pinrail and a
"turn" is takn around the tail of the pin. This changes the angle of
pull 90 degrees and allows more people to pull on the rope than if it
just came down vertically. The rope can also be attached to a
windlass. Friction between the rope and the pin rail adds to the work
load, but in a trained crew is also used to grab the rope while you
change hands or tie off the rope. the rope is tied off by taking a
"hitch" in the rope in which the standing part is crossed over itself
and dropped over the top of the pin. Pulling on the rope tightens down
the "belay knot" (yes its a knot) on the head of the pin

if the load is very heavy and you need more friction you can take a
second belay by taking a second turn aroun the tail and making a
"double belay".

Vince

Actually, I learned how to do that in my high school theater, which
had a fully functional pin rail for all the crap the scenery folks wanted
hung in the air over the actors heads. We did have much more, ummm,
colorful names for them though.

--Dale

There are only three "Ropes" on a boat.....
Bell ,
Anchor,
& ????

JRS

"Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message
...
There's nothing wrong with the usage. If there was reference to a
particular usage, it
is usually referred to as line, but as a generic item, its rope.

Maybe you should learn the ropes.


"anonymous" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:23:41 GMT, Vince Brannigan

said:

the "rope" comes down vertically

Never trust the word of anyone who doesn't' know the difference between
a
rope and a line.

It is a myth that there is only "one" or only "three" ropes on a ship.

Here's a few mo

Head rope
Foot Rope
Slip rope
Tiller ropes
Manrope
Buoy-rope
Top Rope
Rope-bands

And, of course, collectively, the lines are known as "The Ropes."

If you look at any traditional book on seamanship, you'll always see "rope" used when
discussing issues such as how to belay.




"JRS" wrote in message
...
There are only three "Ropes" on a boat.....
Bell ,
Anchor,
& ????

JRS

"Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message
...
There's nothing wrong with the usage. If there was reference to a
particular usage, it
is usually referred to as line, but as a generic item, its rope.

Maybe you should learn the ropes.


"anonymous" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:23:41 GMT, Vince Brannigan

said:

the "rope" comes down vertically

Never trust the word of anyone who doesn't' know the difference between
a
rope and a line.

In article ,
Dale Farmer wrote:



Actually, I learned how to do that in my high school theater, which
had a fully functional pin rail for all the crap the scenery folks wanted
hung in the air over the actors heads. We did have much more, ummm,
colorful names for them though.

I now realize that I should thank my lucky stars that I have only tread the
boards under counterweighted fly pipes.

You obviously havrn't sailed on my boat.