Rigging Out a Jib-boom

The Seaman's Friend

Richard Henry, 1845.

Page 32-33:

To Rig Out a Jib-boom.

— Point the outer end through the collars of the stays. Reeve the heel-rope through a block at the bowsprit cap, through the sheave-hole at the heel of the boom, and secure the end to an eye-bolt in the cap on the opposite side. Rig the boom out until the inner sheave-hole is clear of the cap. Tar the boom-end, put on the foot-roopes and guys, and reeve the jib stay. Hoist up the martingale and rig it, and reeve the martingale stay and graub-line. Rig the boom out to the its place, and set up the job and martingale.

The art of Rigging

David Steel, 1806.

Page ??-??:

The Rigging of the Jib-Boom.

The Traveller is first put over the outer end of the job-boom; the hook is kept inwards, to hook the tack of the jib to.

Horses. The bight is taken over the jib-boom with a jambing-knot, and rests against a shoulder, made in the of the job-boom, to prevent its coming in. The inner ends are brought in, and made fast with a round turn round the jib-boom, within the cap. The ends are stopt back with two or three seisings of spunyarn, to prevent their being cast off by mistake.

Guy-Pendants are put over the job-boom, the same as the horses, and the inner ends reeve through a timble, on the quarters of the spritsail-yard, and turn into the strap of a double block, with a throat and round seising, which is connected, by its fall, to a single block, that hooks to an eye-bolt, near the cat-head, and leads in upon the forecastle.

A Strap is put over the end of the job-boom, with three thimbles seised in it; the middle thimble is the largest, which the fore-topgallant stay reeves through, and the smaller thimble on each side has the fore-topgallant bowlines reeved through.

The

Martingal-Stay is then set up, in the manner directed in the preceding part under that word.

The Naval Officer's Guide for Preparing Ships for Sea,

Charles Martelli, 1834..

Page 116-121:

Jib Boom.

Is taken forward, and pointed through the collars and cap.

Heel Rope.

The standing part is hitched or clenched into a bolt in the bowsprit cap. A single block is hooked, or a tail block put into another bolt on the opposite side to the heel rope. The heel rope is snatched into the sheave in the heel of the boom, rove through the block in the cap, and led in on the forecastle, between the knight heads, or through a sheave in the bulwark.

Traveller.

Is put on the boom. It is an iron ring covered with leather, having a hook and shackle on it, and placed on the boom, hook in.

Foot Ropes.

One on each side the jib boom. They should be long enough, when in their place, to allow a man to stand breast-high along the boom, and are fitted as follows: — Take a piece of rope, long enough to make both, cut it in the centre, and splice one end into the other, making an eye to fit the jib boom end, forming a cut splice. Three, four, or five overhand knots are taken at equal distances, on the rope, from the eye, according to the length; they are prevent the men slipping. In each end, splice a small eye, large enough to take a lashing. An eye is sometimes made by taking a round turn round the boom and, and two seizings passed.

Martingale.

Is a short rope with an artificial eye in each end, to fit the jib boom, and end of the dolphin striker. The eyes are well served, and covered with canvass or leather. The martingale is wormed, and a small twine seizing (snaked) put on, round the worming at equal distances between the eyes; three or four, or according to the length, which must depend on the way the dolphin striker is intended to stand or rake. It looks best when perpendicular to cap or jackstaff. Chain is now supplied for the purpose, as also for back ropes, and is found to answer better than rope.

Dolphin Striker.

It is made as a gaff, with jaws large enough to take the bowsprit; in each horn of the jaw, a hole is made to take the jaw rope.

Jaw Rope.

Take a piece of rope of sufficient length to go over the bowsprit, and reeve through the holes in the jaws, and strong enough to hold the dolphin striker. On one end make a wall knot, and crown it, whip the other, reeve it through one of the holes in the jaw, and haul it close up to the knot. Get a double whip from the fore topmast stay, and get the dolphin striker in its place, then pass the jaw rope over the bowsprit, reeve the end through the other hole in the jaws, take an overhand knot, and take off the whip. I have seen them got out with slip ropes from the bowsprit, but only in brigs or small vessels.

Back Ropes

Are pendants, middled and served in the centre, the round of the dolphin striker, both parts crossed, and secured with a throat seizing. The services should be long enough to take in the seizing. In the ends splice a single block, another single one is strapped into a bolt in the bow for the purpose, or fitted in a strap, with a hook and thimble, hook moused. A gun-tackle purchase is then rove, the standing part of the fall spliced round the pendant, in after end of the block, rove through theone in the bow, over the head rails, back through the one in the pendant, and through a fair leading sheave in the forecastle bulwark. These falls, after being pulled up, are racked together outside the bulwark. If belayed on the forecastle, they should be seized to their next part, so asnot to be let go by mistake.

Standing Guys.

One pair on each side, an eye is made to fit the boom end by oassing a round seizing, when in their place, both ends are rove through thimbles on each yard arm of spritsail yard (when crossed), or brought together, a thimble first put on, and a long splice made with both ends.

Round the thimble strap a double block, and into a bolt in the fore side of the cat-head, for the purpose, strap a single one; or fit a block into a strap, with a hook and thimble, and hook it to the bolt, and mouse the hook. Reeve a fall through these blocks, and bring the hauling part in on the forecastle, through a fair leader for the purpose; the standing part will be in the strap of the single block.

Travelling Guys.

Have an eye spliced in each end, and are seized on to the traveller on each side. The ends are rove through a thimble on the inner quarter of the spritsail yard, and often set up; the standing guys being rove in the blocks as a fall. When this is done, a double block is strapped into the bolt in the cat-head, the travelling guy rove through one sheave in it first, then through the one in the double block in the standing guys, back through the other sheave in the block in the cat-head, through the other sheave in the double block on guys, and in on forecastle, as before. They are much better rove independent of each othr, a gun-tackle purchase being fitted on the travelling guys. These guys are used when easing a jib in, but I never saw one stand well, especially in large ships where the bowsprit steaved much, without bousing the jib sheet down with a slip rope, as easing in lowers the after leach so much, that the hole for the sheet is too high to get it properly aft; and unless boused down, is always drumming with a slack leach. An inner jib is decidedly better, being narrower in the foot, and intended to be set half boom out, or a third in ; it is cut so as not to throw an eddy into the foresail, which fore topmast staysails always do, and which a jib eased in also does.

Jib Stay.

There are several ways of reeving and setting up this stay, and many different opinions as to which is the best, over or under the crosstrees.

A Naval Text-Book,

Benjamin J. Totten, 1841.

Page: 29-31.

Letter IV.

Masting and Rigging.

To Get on a Topmast Cap — Get out and Rig a Jib-boom, and Ship the Martingale — Jib Traveller — Dimensions of Rigging — Rattle down the Lower Rigging.

128. …

129. If you have not already placed the jib-boom on before rigging the bowsprit (35), hoist it up now by one of the pendant tackles with its outer end forward. Point it through the heart collars by a fore-and-aft tackle, and one on the fore stay. Reeve the heel-rope through a block at the bowsprit cap, through the sheave hole at the heel of the boom, abd secure the end to an eye-bolt in the cap on the opposite side. This being done, rig the boom out far enough to put on the rigging, that is, with the inner sheave hole clear of the cap. Put on the traveller, tar the boom end, and then put on the horses or foot-ropes, guys, blocks for the martingale stay, and the blocks for the topgallant bow-lines. reeve the jib-stay, through the traveller, inner sheave hole in the boom, and bring the end in on the larboard side.

129. a. Single martingales are preferred to double ones, because they are neater, are less liable to stretch, and keep down the boom better.

130. Travellers on the jib-boom are now seldom used. They were for the purpose of bringing the jib in nearer to the vessel in a heavy sea; but it is now a settled opinion among seamen, that if the weather is such that the jib cannot be carried in its proper place with safety to the boom, it should be hauled down and stwoed, and its place supplied by the fore topmast staysail. Therefore, in rigging the jib-boom the traveller may be omitted.

131. Have a tackle on the jib-boom outside of the cap, by which hoist up the martingale; ship, and secure it. Reeve the standing part of the martingale stays though the upper sheave holes in the legs of the martingale, up through the blocks at the boom end; then through the hole in the martingale above the sheaves, and secure their ends by a knot. Put the gaub-ropes on the extremity of the martingale legs, and bring them in board.

132. Rig out the jib-boom by the heel-rope, until it is two thirds of its length beyond the cap. Reeve the martingale stays through the fair leaders on the bowsprit, and set them up to bolts in the hawse-piece; set up also the jib-stay. After the boom is out the requisite distance, its heel is supported by a strap passed around it and the bowsprit, the two parts being frapped together between; and also by a chock from the heel of the boom in on the bowsprit. This chock is generally confined to the bowsprit by screws, that it may be readily removed for rigging in the boom.

133. The huys are fitted in pairs, starboard and larboard, are rove through straps on the spritsail yard, and set up to eye-bolts inside of, or abaft the cat-heads. If a traveller is used on the boom, the outer guys are fitted with a cut splice, and go over the jib-boom, and the inner ones are spliced to the traveller.

134. the foot-ropes are in length three fourths of the whole length of the jib-bbom. They are fitted together with a cut splice, which is served, and goes over the boom end. There are overhanded knots taken, or turks heads worked in, at equal distances apart on them, to prevent the men from slipping while laying out on them.

135. The only method of determining the proper length for martingale stays and jib guys, is by a draught of the bowsprit and jib-boom. The size of the guys should be the same as the mizzen topmast rigging. the size of the martingale stays, if double, is the same as the topgallant stay; if single, it must be proportionably larger.

136. The eyes of the foot-ropes and guys, are wormed, parcelled, served, and leathered, the latter are also leathered in the wake of the thimbles through which they reeve, as are also the martingale stays in the wake of the martingale and fair leader.

137. The blocks for the martingale and topgallant bowline are fitted with leathered straps.

[1]38. The collar of the jib-stay is fitted in the same manner as that of the topmast stay (127), and is lashed around the fore topmast head the other stays. The stay is served ten feet above the boom; it is also served and leathered in the wake of the traveller and sheave, and sets up by a luff purchase, or by a lanyard to an eye-bolt or over a thimble to its own part.

Transcribed by Lars Bruzelius

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