Tarring is protecting some types of natural fibre and wire rope by coating it with tar. Hemp rope, which was typically used for standing rigging, requires tarring. Manila and cotton ropes were used for running rigging and were not tarred as this would make the rope too stiff to run easily through blocks. Regular tarring at sea was required when sailing ships used hemp rope - once every 6 months for a ship on a long voyage. [1] : 46–47 [2] : 42
Hemp rope is treated with Stockholm tar, sometimes mixed with coal tar. Most is applied in situ (commonly while the ship is at sea); some parts of the rigging may be slacked off, or upper masts may be sent down to improve access. To access stays and backstays, a seaman is lowered slowly down the stay on a gantline [lower-alpha 1] that is fastened loosely to the stay with a bowline. The seaman applies the tar from a bucket as he goes down. The gantline is tended by someone on deck. The shrouds can be tarred from the ratlines, sometimes combined with fitting new ratlines or re-seizing the existing ones. Lee rigging is typically worked on underway, as drips or spilt tar usually fall into the sea rather than on deck.
The process of protecting wire rope standing rigging is described in the book Star of India, The Log of an Iron Ship - Page 116, Footnote 3 [3]
To protect wire rigging from moisture and resultant rusting, it first is "wormed" by laying small line in the spiral grooves between the strands, to make a smoother surface. It then is "parceled" by wrapping in the same direction with long strips of cotton duck (burlap if you're poor) and finally it is "served" by wrapping it in the opposite direction with hambroline, a three-stranded tarred hemp cord, a little smaller in diameter than a lead pencil. Finally it is well treated with Stockholm tar.
"The use of tarred rigging is now of less interest to seafaring man than formerly because of the rapid and extensive development of steam power. However, tarred rigging is used today on craft of various types to such an extent that the production of tarred goods is an important branch of the cordage industry. The tar best suited for cordage comes from various members of the pine tree family and is obtained by the distillation process, either by using the old kiln or by modern retorts. It is conceded that the kiln-made article is superior for tarred rigging and therefore it is used principally in making first-quality tarred rope. The tar, as it comes from the kiln, is poured into barrels which are shipped to the cordage works. The way this tar is handled and how it is made to penetrate and adhere to the yarn, as is done by the Plymouth Cordage Company, North Plymouth, Mass., may be described as follows:
"The tar is heated to 200 degrees or more in tanks from which the liquid feeds into long copper-lined troughs, where the tarring takes place. Through these "coppers," so called, run steam pipes to further regulate the temperature. Excessive heating would cause the loss of the tar's good qualities, and to prevent this the supply in the "coppers" must be freshened frequently. As the yarns, heavily saturated with tar, come from the "copper" they are compressed between two rollers, adjusted to leave in the yarn as much or as little tar as needed for the particular goods being made and to turn back the surplus. The pull which carries the yarn through the tar and between the rollers comes from two large drums, around which the yarns travel preparatory to reeling on to the friction-driven receiving bobbins. Goods of nine-thread size and under are usually tarred in the completed rope form, but the process is essentially the same as with the yarns. The rich golden brown color of the tarred goods—an outward sign of right materials and methods—has become recognized as the Plymouth mark of the weather-resisting qualities contained in the goods." [4]
Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—standing rigging, including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they are attached—the running rigging, including halyards, braces, sheets and vangs.
In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term halyard comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of natural fibre like manila or hemp.
Standing rigging comprises the fixed lines, wires, or rods, which support each mast or bowsprit on a sailing vessel and reinforce those spars against wind loads transferred from the sails. This term is used in contrast to running rigging, which represents the moveable elements of rigging which adjust the position and shape of the sails.
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly constructed cord, string, and twine.
Mayflower II is a reproduction of the 17th-century ship Mayflower, celebrated for transporting the Pilgrims to the New World in 1620. The reproduction was built in Devon, England during 1955–1956, in a collaboration between Englishman Warwick Charlton and Plimoth Patuxet, a living history museum. The work drew upon reconstructed ship blueprints held by the American museum, along with hand construction by English shipbuilders using traditional methods. Mayflower II was sailed from Plymouth, Devon on April 20, 1957, recreating the original voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, under the command of Alan Villiers. According to the ship's log, Mayflower II arrived at Plymouth on June 22; it was towed up the East River into New York City on Monday, July 1, 1957, where Villiers and crew received a ticker-tape parade. The ship was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places in 2020.
Running rigging is the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering, shaping and controlling the sails on a sailing vessel—as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and bowsprit. Running rigging varies between vessels that are rigged fore and aft and those that are square-rigged.
A yard is a spar on a mast from which sails are set. It may be constructed of timber or steel or from more modern materials such as aluminium or carbon fibre. Although some types of fore and aft rigs have yards, the term is usually used to describe the horizontal spars used on square rigged sails. In addition, for some decades after square sails were generally dispensed with, some yards were retained for deploying wireless (radio) aerials and signal flags.
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".
Futtock shrouds are rope, wire or chain links in the rigging of a traditional square rigged ship. They run from the outer edges of a top downwards and inwards to a point on the mast or lower shrouds, and carry the load of the shrouds that rise from the edge of the top. This prevents any tendency of the top itself to tilt relative to the mast.
A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of ropes, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components such as curtains, lights, scenery, stage effects and, sometimes, people. Systems are typically designed to fly components between clear view of the audience and out of view, into the large opening, known as the fly loft, above the stage.
Each yard on a square or gaff rigged sailing ship is equipped with a footrope for sailors to stand on while setting or stowing the sails.
Wire rope is several strands of metal wire twisted into a helix forming a composite rope, in a pattern known as laid rope. Larger diameter wire rope consists of multiple strands of such laid rope in a pattern known as cable laid.
A ropewalk is a long straight narrow lane, or a covered pathway, where long strands of material are laid before being twisted into rope. Due to the length of some ropewalks, workers may use bicycles to get from one end to the other.
To worm, parcel and serve a line is to apply a multi-layered protection against chafe and deterioration to standing rigging. It is a technique not usually used on modern small boats, but is found extensively on traditionally-rigged sailing ships. Worming, parcelling and serving —referred to collectively as "service"— is traditionally applied only to traditional twisted rope, either natural fiber or steel wire-rope, not the braided line almost exclusively used on modern vessels, but some traditional vessels now use modern high modulus braided lines in place of wire rope and serve the line to maintain the traditional appearance. It can be applied to the entire length of a line, such as a shroud, or selectively, to specific parts of a line, such as over the spliced ends of a stay, where the chafe on the middle section of the stay precludes complete protection.
Parrel beads are an element of sailing rigging. They act as roller bearings on a parrel, which is a rope or wire strop that typically fastens one spar to another along which it must have some freedom of movement. An example of this is at the jaws of a gaff on a gaff rigged or gunter rigged craft. This allows the gaff to slide up and down the mast as sail is hoisted or lowered, and allows some rotation around the mast as the sail is sheeted in and out to allow for different wind directions. Another example is on the tack of a spinnaker rigged over a furled jib.
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A chain may consist of two or more links. Chains can be classified by their design, which can be dictated by their use:
The Plymouth Cordage Company was a rope making company located in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Hemp jewelry uses hemp twine material which is made from the Cannabis sativa plant, otherwise known as “Common Hemp”, which is cultivated to make goods such as food, fuel, clothing and textiles, cosmetics, paints, paper, building materials, and plastics, among others. Some types of hemp jewelry include bracelets, necklaces, anklets, rings, watches, masks, purses, and other adornments. The jewelry can also make use of other materials, such as glass, wood, bones, rocks, or gems.
Rigging is both a noun, the equipment, and verb, the action of designing and installing the equipment, in the preparation to move objects. A team of riggers design and install the lifting or rolling equipment needed to raise, roll, slide or lift objects such as with a crane, hoist or block and tackle.
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".