Forum › Forums › General Discussions › Onedin Polls
- This topic has 27 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 4 months ago by liamegan2000.
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1st March 2004 at 2:43 pm #248merligoMemberThanks to everyone who voted for their fav character.
11 people voted out of 35 members so a little disappointing that we
didn't make 50% but there was certainly a lot of activity last week.The winner of favourite character, just pipping James, is ELIZABETH
I will set up another poll later this week – assuming everyone wants
to continue.Diana
5th March 2004 at 8:52 am #249merligoMemberCalling all shipmates again …..Here goes with the second poll. It would be nice if we could achieve
a 50% response rate – it only takes a minute to vote!The subject this time is:
WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
Only one vote please. Reasons welcome.
Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15 March.
My least favourite character is Emma Callon. It's not the actress,
Jane Seymour, it's the character who I find very irritating and a
waste of time – I'd rather be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
Captain Baines …… even Sarah. I usually fast forward through the
scenes with Emma.5th March 2004 at 8:02 pm #250KoenheinMemberHi,My least favourite character is Albert
Frazer.Regards,Carinstyle="PADDING-RIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px;">
—– Original Message —–From:
DianaSent: Friday, March 05, 2004 8:52
AMSubject: [shiponedingroup] Onedin
PollsCalling all shipmates again .....
Here goes with the
second poll. It would be nice if we could achieve
a 50% response
rate - it only takes a minute to vote!The subject this time
is:WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
Only one vote
please. Reasons welcome.Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15
March.My least favourite character is Emma Callon. It's not
the actress,
Jane Seymour, it's the character who I find very irritating
and a
waste of time - I'd rather be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
Captain Baines ...... even Sarah. I usually fast forward through the
scenes with
Emma.5th March 2004 at 9:00 pm #251liamegan2000MemberAs a character, William Frazer, but a very
good portrayal by Marc Harrison whatever happened to
him?Bill.6th March 2004 at 8:54 am #252maija9liisaMemberHi shipmates,my vote goes to Mr. CallonHe thinks that the world is only his oyster, using
all his energy to make other people's lives difficult and unpleasant.
Look at his hideous face when he is greeting Anne when she and James are moving into the
warehouse!Maijastyle="PADDING-RIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px;">
—– Original Message —–From:
DianaSent: Friday, March 05, 2004 9:52
AMSubject: [shiponedingroup] Onedin
PollsCalling all shipmates again .....
Here goes with the
second poll. It would be nice if we could achieve
a 50% response
rate - it only takes a minute to vote!The subject this time
is:WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
Only one vote
please. Reasons welcome.Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15
March.My least favourite character is Emma Callon. It's not
the actress,
Jane Seymour, it's the character who I find very irritating
and a
waste of time - I'd rather be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
Captain Baines ...... even Sarah. I usually fast forward through the
scenes with
Emma.6th March 2004 at 11:36 am #253ivaradiKeymaster—Hows that? he is a decent guy, not his fault that he couldnt'
get over Eliz deceiving him…> My least favourite character is Albert Frazer.
>
> Regards,
>
> Carin
> —– Original Message —–
> From: Diana
> To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 8:52 AM
> Subject: [shiponedingroup] Onedin Polls
>
>
> Calling all shipmates again …..
>
> Here goes with the second poll. It would be nice if we could
achieve
> a 50% response rate – it only takes a minute to vote!
>
> The subject this time is:
>
> WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
>
> Only one vote please. Reasons welcome.
>
> Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15 March.
>
>
> My least favourite character is Emma Callon. It's not the
actress,
> Jane Seymour, it's the character who I find very irritating and
a
> waste of time – I'd rather be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
> Captain Baines …… even Sarah. I usually fast forward
through the
> scenes with Emma.
>
>
>
> ——————————————————————-
———–
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/
>
> b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> shiponedingroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms
of Service.
6th March 2004 at 6:27 pm #254KoenheinMember— the reason I find Albert Frazer the least
favourite character is simply because he's a fool. Ok, so Elizabeth
deceived him, but that's no reason for his behaviour later when he was doing the
same thing to her. He's a spoiled, weak little man.Carinstyle="PADDING-RIGHT:0px;PADDING-LEFT:5px;MARGIN-LEFT:5px;BORDER-LEFT:#000000 2px solid;MARGIN-RIGHT:0px;">
—– Original Message —–From:
gduch2001Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 11:36
AMSubject: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin
Polls---Hows that? he is a decent guy, not his fault that
he couldnt'
get over Eliz deceiving him...> My least
favourite character is Albert Frazer.
>
> Regards,
>
> Carin
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Diana
> To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 8:52 AM
>
Subject: [shiponedingroup] Onedin Polls
>
>
>
Calling all shipmates again .....
>
> Here goes with
the second poll. It would be nice if we could
achieve
> a 50% response rate - it only takes a minute to
vote!
>
> The subject this time is:
>
> WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
>
> Only one vote please. Reasons welcome.
>
> Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15 March.
>
>
> My least favourite character is Emma
Callon. It's not the
actress,
> Jane Seymour,
it's the character who I find very irritating and
a
>
waste of time - I'd rather be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
> Captain Baines ...... even Sarah. I usually fast
forward
through the
> scenes with Emma.
>
>
>
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
>
Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> a.. To visit your
group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/
>
> b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an
email to:
>
shiponedingroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
the Yahoo! Terms
of Service.7th March 2004 at 11:57 am #255ivaradiKeymasterI agree that in many ways he's not very nice, (again part of the
skill of the On Line's writers is to give us characters who do beahve
badly without their forfeiting our sympathy!)but I feel that Albert is nto the worst– Eliz did behave appallingly
in foisting another man's chidl onto him, and it's to his credit that
he did forgive her and was fond of William. So it does not surprise
me that he could not totatlly forgive her, and it kept coming between
them. Esp when Daneil becomes a social equal, (through his beign
taken up as Callons' heir and marrying Emma) That way Albert's
jealousy was constatly being stirred up, and he coudn't forget that
Daniel was the father of Elizabeths' child and his wife's ex lover.
And Eliz didn't exactly hlep matters by blowing hto and cold with
Albert and still being interested in Daneil. For their marriage to
ahve worked, i think that Alb's wish to go and live abraod was the
best way to give them a chance to avoid old memories, but E would
never agree to go.> — the reason I find Albert Frazer the least favourite character
is simply because he's a fool. Ok, so Elizabeth deceived him, but
that's no reason for his behaviour later when he was doing the same
thing to her. He's a spoiled, weak little man.>
> Carin
> —– Original Message —–
> From: gduch2001
> To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Saturday, March 06, 2004 11:36 AM
> Subject: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin Polls
>
>
> —Hows that? he is a decent guy, not his fault that he couldnt'
> get over Eliz deceiving him…
>
>
>
> > My least favourite character is Albert Frazer.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Carin
> > —– Original Message —–
> > From: Diana
> > To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 8:52 AM
> > Subject: [shiponedingroup] Onedin Polls
> >
> >
> > Calling all shipmates again …..
> >
> > Here goes with the second poll. It would be nice if we could
> achieve
> > a 50% response rate – it only takes a minute to vote!
> >
> > The subject this time is:
> >
> > WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE CHARACTER?
> >
> > Only one vote please. Reasons welcome.
> >
> > Voting closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15 March.
> >
> >
> > My least favourite character is Emma Callon. It's not the
> actress,
> > Jane Seymour, it's the character who I find very irritating
and
> a
> > waste of time – I'd rather be watching James, Anne,
Elizabeth,
> > Captain Baines …… even Sarah. I usually fast forward
> through the
> > scenes with Emma.
> >
> >
> >
> > —————————————————————-
—
> ———–
> > Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> > a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/
> >
> > b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > shiponedingroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> >
> > c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
Terms
> of Service.
>
>
>
> ——————————————————————–
———-
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
> a.. To visit your group on the web, go to:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shiponedingroup/
>
> b.. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> shiponedingroup-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
>
> c.. Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
7th March 2004 at 9:28 pm #256axa2210MemberMessage Hi
there,Well
my least favorite character would have to be the grown up Charlotte…….played
by I think Laura Hartog…….just a really annoying character all-round, sorry
sounds a bit harsh but to beat out Sarah on the moanometer she has to be pretty
bad.Brenton.PS:
Thanks for the pics Carie they really look great!—–Original Message—–
From: Diana
[mailto:moonroll@ntlworld.com]
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 8:53
PM
To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
Subject:
[shiponedingroup] Onedin PollsCalling all shipmates
again .....Here goes with the second poll. It would be nice if
we could achieve
a 50% response rate - it only takes a minute to
vote!The subject this time is:
WHO IS YOUR LEAST FAVOURITE
CHARACTER?Only one vote please. Reasons welcome.
Voting
closes midnight GMT on Sunday, 15 March.My least favourite
character is Emma Callon. It's not the actress,
Jane Seymour, it's
the character who I find very irritating and a
waste of time - I'd rather
be watching James, Anne, Elizabeth,
Captain Baines ...... even
Sarah. I usually fast forward through the
scenes with
Emma.1st May 2013 at 4:21 am #257leebonnifieldParticipantMy favorite character?Leonora Biddulph! I'd rather have her around than any of the others. Brave, determined, resourceful, aggressive, cares nothing for convention. James was foolish not to marry her for purely selfish reasons when she offered to take care of Charlotte. Given how hard she worked for him, think how much happier she would have been if she were getting what she wanted! I don't think she had unrealistic expectations about what a cold fish he is, but if she were disappointed and left, he'd be no worse off.
The ships! Taking advantage of free wind and currents to cross the ocean, if you know how to select the vectors and measure the stars to figure out where you are. I built a big model of the Cutty Sark, and read Richard Henry Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast_. It's hard to imagine the contempt in which sailors were held, maybe that was necessary to give them such dangerous work aloft. I still can't believe many captains would sail thousands of miles, around Cape Horn, with no prospect for a cargo except the word of a frightened pantryman (S2N4 Fetch and Carry).
Anne, I didn't think the series could continue without her.
James. And later, Elizabeth. Ayn Rand would love those two, I wonder if she ever commented.
— In shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com, "Diana" <moonroll@…> wrote:
>
> Thanks to everyone who voted for their fav character.
>
> 11 people voted out of 35 members so a little disappointing that we
> didn't make 50% but there was certainly a lot of activity last week.
>
> The winner of favourite character, just pipping James, is ELIZABETH
>
>
> I will set up another poll later this week – assuming everyone wants
> to continue.
>
> Diana
>1st May 2013 at 8:02 am #258galacticprobeParticipantAH! How did I miss this poll!? I'd put Leonora up there as well. (Aside from all of those attributes mentioned below, you forgot to mention that magnificent full head of red hair she had! Red hair: my fatal weakness. Thank the Sweet Goddess of the Sea I married a redhead!)Dino.
—–Original Message—–
From: leebonnifield <lee78@localnet.com>
To: shiponedingroup <shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Apr 30, 2013 10:21 pm
Subject: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin PollsMy favorite character?
Leonora Biddulph! I'd rather have her around than any of the others. Brave, determined, resourceful, aggressive, cares nothing for convention. James was foolish not to marry her for purely selfish reasons when she offered to take care of Charlotte. Given how hard she worked for him, think how much happier she would have been if she were getting what she wanted! I don't think she had unrealistic expectations about what a cold fish he is, but if she were disappointed and left, he'd be no worse off.
The ships! Taking advantage of free wind and currents to cross the ocean, if you know how to select the vectors and measure the stars to figure out where you are. I built a big model of the Cutty Sark, and read Richard Henry Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast_. It's hard to imagine the contempt in which sailors were held, maybe that was necessary to give them such dangerous work aloft. I still can't believe many captains would sail thousands of miles, around Cape Horn, with no prospect for a cargo except the word of a frightened pantryman (S2N4 Fetch and Carry).
Anne, I didn't think the series could continue without her.
James. And later, Elizabeth. Ayn Rand would love those two, I wonder if she ever commented.
— In shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com, "Diana" <moonroll@…> wrote:
>
> Thanks to everyone who voted for their fav character.
>
> 11 people voted out of 35 members so a little disappointing that we
> didn't make 50% but there was certainly a lot of activity last week.
>
> The winner of favourite character, just pipping James, is ELIZABETH
>
>
> I will set up another poll later this week – assuming everyone wants
> to continue.
>
> Diana
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
1st May 2013 at 10:02 am #259ivaradiKeymasterIn my experience all the nice girls liked a sailor, not much sign of contempt there! Plus going aloft isn't all that dangerous, in fact it is one of the few places onboard a sailor can get away from a bully of a mate or a grumpy skipper. I read Dana on my first Atlantic crossing 'before the mast'.
Richard.— On Wed, 1/5/13, leebonnifield <lee78@localnet.com> wrote:
From: leebonnifield <lee78@localnet.com>
Subject: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin Polls
To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, 1 May, 2013, 3:21My favorite character?
Leonora Biddulph! I'd rather have her around than any of the others. Brave, determined, resourceful, aggressive, cares nothing for convention. James was foolish not to marry her for purely selfish reasons when she offered to take care of Charlotte. Given how hard she worked for him, think how much happier she would have been if she were getting what she wanted! I don't think she had unrealistic expectations about what a cold fish he is, but if she were disappointed and left, he'd be no worse off.
The ships! Taking advantage of free wind and currents to cross the ocean, if you know how to select the vectors and measure the stars to figure out where you are. I built a big model of the Cutty Sark, and read Richard Henry Dana's _Two Years Before the Mast_. It's hard to imagine the contempt in which sailors were held, maybe that was necessary to give them such dangerous work aloft. I still can't believe many captains would sail thousands of miles, around Cape Horn, with no prospect for a cargo except the word of a frightened pantryman (S2N4 Fetch and Carry).
Anne, I didn't think the series could continue without her.
James. And later, Elizabeth. Ayn Rand would love those two, I wonder if she ever commented.
— In shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com, "Diana" <moonroll@…> wrote:
>
> Thanks to everyone who voted for their fav character.
>
> 11 people voted out of 35 members so a little disappointing that we
> didn't make 50% but there was certainly a lot of activity last week.
>
> The winner of favourite character, just pipping James, is ELIZABETH
>
>
> I will set up another poll later this week – assuming everyone wants
> to continue.
>
> Diana
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2nd May 2013 at 4:15 am #260leebonnifieldParticipantOn 5/1/2013 4:02 AM, R wrote:> In my experience all the nice girls liked a sailor, not much sign of
> contempt there!In 19th century, crimping! Legal slavery, if a man can be drugged or
knocked unconscious near the docks.> Plus going aloft isn't all that dangerous,
but but but you're standing on a rope? with arms over a polished smooth
(maybe wet) yardarm? & both hands occupied in pulling up canvas? Sounds
like a balancing act to me even without wind and rain and pitching ship
movements, exaggerated at that height. And if you fall into the sea you
won't be visible by the time a fast ship starts back? James left newbie
Samuel clinging to the rigging in a storm just for seasoning S5N5 The
Stowaway.We never see details of the action aloft. And I forgot after reading
Dana 30 years ago — I'm not clear on what you do up there — raise the
bottom edge of square sails (reef)? tie it (with what?) to yard
(dictionary says sailor rolls it up hence he's called "reefer".) Untie
it? And why sluice sails S?N? ?2nd May 2013 at 2:49 pm #261ivaradiKeymasterSome men were forced to go to sea but you could never run a ship purely with pressed men, the majority wanted to go to sea, yes it was a hard life and still can be if you get a grumpy owner/skipper, but it could represent a far better life than the one they had ashore.
Yes you're up a hundred feet or more standing on a rope, a wire rope (served with Marline impregnated with Stockholm Tar which gives fantastic grip and smells even better) that sometimes goes over 45deg as she rolls but you hang on, sailors tend to have fantastic grip!
A well found rig will have set dimensions, ie the distance the footrope hangs below the yard is a known distance on all ships which allows you to brace your knees between yard and footrope and at a height for the average man to have his belly over the yard so he can use both hands to get the sail in.
The sail is first hauled up to the yard from the deck (the arm is only the very tip of the yard usually painted white) with the Clewlines and the Bunt lines, like a Venitian blind, the crew then go aloft and pleat the sail onto the top of the yard by tucking each pleat under their bellies, the last pleat is the head of the sail which is tied to an iron rod along the top of the yard called the Headstay, you form a pocket the full length of the yard and together push the pleated sail off the top of the yard into the pocket where you punch and punch it into as small a 'sausage' as it will go.
Now comes the hardest (next to getting the wind out of a sail to be able to start pleating) and most dangerous bit,
You have the whole sail in what is hoped a long smooth and tight roll on the front face of the yard and need to get it onto the top, Everyone puts both hands over the front of the sail and together at the same moment roll the sail up ontop of the yard, this means you are leaning backwards with the footrope having swung forwards under the yard and both hands on top of a smooth roll of sail, modern square riggers have a backrope the full length onto which you clip your harness just incase, older ships had Beckets, a rope loop on the Headstay which a sailor could hook an arm through. A very well found ship might even have another iron rod along the top of the yard (see Discovery photo) purely there as a handrail for the sailors, known as the Jackstay.
The sail is then secured to the top of the yard with short lengths of rope known as Gaskets, each individual Gasket is permanently fixed and coiled a special way so that they remain coiled in any weather, if you ever see a closeup of a square sail full of wind from the front you will see the gaskets hanging along the top of the sail close to the yard. .
What I have described here is called a harbour stow, starting at the highest sail and working down as you can see on Sorlandet, harder work but done to show the ship off in port 'Bristol fashion' as well as protecting the sail from rain and sun when not in use. Canvas sails would often have a sacrificial head tabling for this purpose as well as for chafe against the yard. In the case of shortening sail at sea the Bunted up sail might just be rolled up onto the yard 'in the bunt' and the gaskets quickly tied around it for the duration of the blow. I had to go aloft with one other fellow in a force 11 mid Atlantic to re tie the Main Royal, the very topmost sail, whose gaskets had come undone and the sail was flogging 'in the bunt' fit to shake the top section of mast out of her. We weren't under sail but riding it out with the wheel lashed and all crew below so the ship was rolling very badly, rail under to rail under, at 110ft up that was a ride
and a half!
When setting sail only one or two 'boys' need go aloft to cast off the Gaskets and push the rolled up sail off the top of the yard to hang in it's gear, the rest is all done from the deck. When you see Errol Flynn or Jack Sparrow giving the order to make sail and the whole crew of burly men rush to the shrouds to go aloft…….. that's the romantic bit, and very incorrect!
I am not familliar with the term 'sluice' in reference to sails but it might mean to wash the salt out of them before stowing them below? I have my Dana to hand, page? As to what else one can 'do up there' once my work as a rigger was done I would sometimes find a corner to tuck myself away, don my shades, switch on the Walkman, open a book, slosh on the lotion and sunbathe, occasionally make a noise against some ironwork with a spanner or spike to fool the Bosun……..
What everyone needs to remember is that TOL is a romantic work of fiction and not to take all you see and hear as gospel.
Richard.— On Thu, 2/5/13, Lee Bonnifield <lee78@localnet.com> wrote:
From: Lee Bonnifield <lee78@localnet.com>
Subject: Re: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin Polls
To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, 2 May, 2013, 3:15On 5/1/2013 4:02 AM, R wrote:
> In my experience all the nice girls liked a sailor, not much sign of
> contempt there!In 19th century, crimping! Legal slavery, if a man can be drugged or
knocked unconscious near the docks.> Plus going aloft isn't all that dangerous,
but but but you're standing on a rope? with arms over a polished smooth
(maybe wet) yardarm? & both hands occupied in pulling up canvas? Sounds
like a balancing act to me even without wind and rain and pitching ship
movements, exaggerated at that height. And if you fall into the sea you
won't be visible by the time a fast ship starts back? James left newbie
Samuel clinging to the rigging in a storm just for seasoning S5N5 The
Stowaway.We never see details of the action aloft. And I forgot after reading
Dana 30 years ago — I'm not clear on what you do up there — raise the
bottom edge of square sails (reef)? tie it (with what?) to yard
(dictionary says sailor rolls it up hence he's called "reefer".) Untie
it? And why sluice sails S?N? ?[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
2nd May 2013 at 2:53 pm #262ivaradiKeymasterOh, I sent two photos with that lot but they don't appear to be with the text……….
R.— On Thu, 2/5/13, R <advcour@btinternet.com> wrote:
From: R <advcour@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin Polls
To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, 2 May, 2013, 13:49Some men were forced to go to sea but you could never run a ship purely with pressed men, the majority wanted to go to sea, yes it was a hard life and still can be if you get a grumpy owner/skipper, but it could represent a far better life than the one they had ashore.
Yes you're up a hundred feet or more standing on a rope, a wire rope (served with Marline impregnated with Stockholm Tar which gives fantastic grip and smells even better) that sometimes goes over 45deg as she rolls but you hang on, sailors tend to have fantastic grip!
A well found rig will have set dimensions, ie the distance the footrope hangs below the yard is a known distance on all ships which allows you to brace your knees between yard and footrope and at a height for the average man to have his belly over the yard so he can use both hands to get the sail in.
The sail is first hauled up to the yard from the deck (the arm is only the very tip of the yard usually painted white) with the Clewlines and the Bunt lines, like a Venitian blind, the crew then go aloft and pleat the sail onto the top of the yard by tucking each pleat under their bellies, the last pleat is the head of the sail which is tied to an iron rod along the top of the yard called the Headstay, you form a pocket the full length of the yard and together push the pleated sail off the top of the yard into the pocket where you punch and punch it into as small a 'sausage' as it will go.
Now comes the hardest (next to getting the wind out of a sail to be able to start pleating) and most dangerous bit,
You have the whole sail in what is hoped a long smooth and tight roll on the front face of the yard and need to get it onto the top, Everyone puts both hands over the front of the sail and together at the same moment roll the sail up ontop of the yard, this means you are leaning backwards with the footrope having swung forwards under the yard and both hands on top of a smooth roll of sail, modern square riggers have a backrope the full length onto which you clip your harness just incase, older ships had Beckets, a rope loop on the Headstay which a sailor could hook an arm through. A very well found ship might even have another iron rod along the top of the yard (see Discovery photo) purely there as a handrail for the sailors, known as the Jackstay.
The sail is then secured to the top of the yard with short lengths of rope known as Gaskets, each individual Gasket is permanently fixed and coiled a special way so that they remain coiled in any weather, if you ever see a closeup of a square sail full of wind from the front you will see the gaskets hanging along the top of the sail close to the yard. .
What I have described here is called a harbour stow, starting at the highest sail and working down as you can see on Sorlandet, harder work but done to show the ship off in port 'Bristol fashion' as well as protecting the sail from rain and sun when not in use. Canvas sails would often have a sacrificial head tabling for this purpose as well as for chafe against the yard. In the case of shortening sail at sea the Bunted up sail might just be rolled up onto the yard 'in the bunt' and the gaskets quickly tied around it for the duration of the blow. I had to go aloft with one other fellow in a force 11 mid Atlantic to re tie the Main Royal, the very topmost sail, whose gaskets had come undone and the sail was flogging 'in the bunt' fit to shake the top section of mast out of her. We weren't under sail but riding it out with the wheel lashed and all crew below so the ship was rolling very badly, rail under to rail under, at 110ft up that was a ride
and a half!
When setting sail only one or two 'boys' need go aloft to cast off the Gaskets and push the rolled up sail off the top of the yard to hang in it's gear, the rest is all done from the deck. When you see Errol Flynn or Jack Sparrow giving the order to make sail and the whole crew of burly men rush to the shrouds to go aloft…….. that's the romantic bit, and very incorrect!
I am not familliar with the term 'sluice' in reference to sails but it might mean to wash the salt out of them before stowing them below? I have my Dana to hand, page? As to what else one can 'do up there' once my work as a rigger was done I would sometimes find a corner to tuck myself away, don my shades, switch on the Walkman, open a book, slosh on the lotion and sunbathe, occasionally make a noise against some ironwork with a spanner or spike to fool the Bosun……..
What everyone needs to remember is that TOL is a romantic work of fiction and not to take all you see and hear as gospel.
Richard.
— On Thu, 2/5/13, Lee Bonnifield <lee78@localnet.com> wrote:From: Lee Bonnifield <lee78@localnet.com>
Subject: Re: [shiponedingroup] Re: Onedin Polls
To: shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thursday, 2 May, 2013, 3:15On 5/1/2013 4:02 AM, R wrote:
> In my experience all the nice girls liked a sailor, not much sign of
> contempt there!In 19th century, crimping! Legal slavery, if a man can be drugged or
knocked unconscious near the docks.> Plus going aloft isn't all that dangerous,
but but but you're standing on a rope? with arms over a polished smooth
(maybe wet) yardarm? & both hands occupied in pulling up canvas? Sounds
like a balancing act to me even without wind and rain and pitching ship
movements, exaggerated at that height. And if you fall into the sea you
won't be visible by the time a fast ship starts back? James left newbie
Samuel clinging to the rigging in a storm just for seasoning S5N5 The
Stowaway.We never see details of the action aloft. And I forgot after reading
Dana 30 years ago — I'm not clear on what you do up there — raise the
bottom edge of square sails (reef)? tie it (with what?) to yard
(dictionary says sailor rolls it up hence he's called "reefer".) Untie
it? And why sluice sails S?N? ?[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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