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Bowsprit
gammoning
Bowsprit gammoning
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Until into the
late 17th century the gammoning was the only standing rigging on the
bowsprit, and in all cases it is the first rope to be attached when
qtting the rigging. Smaller ships mostly carried only one gammoning,
and larger ships two Until the beginning of the 17th century it was
passed round the s!;ill very flat knee of the head, while on larger
ships it ran through a hea cleat on the beakhead platform. (see HEAD).
After this time it ran through one or two slots
in the knee of the head (sometimes also the gammoning knee); the
arrangement should be shown on your plans. The bowsprit gammoning was
looped over the bowsprit, passed down the knee of the head, through the
gammoning hole, up again to the bowsprit and over it, back to the
gammoning hole again etc. ,
the whole repeated eight to eleven times. Note here that the rope
always crossed
over in the middle, that is, each new turn on the bowsprit w in front
of
the previous turn, and at the gammoning hole, was behind the previous
turn
(towards the stern).
The last turn was passed over the bowsprit to the middle of the
gammoning, taken round the gammoning eight to ten times, and mad fast.
To prevent the bowsprit gammoning sliding, three to five thumb cleats
were fitted to the bowsprit. They were slightly thicker than the rope,
and as long as the gammoning itself on the bowsprit until the 18th
century , slightly shorter in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 19th
century (roughly from 1830) the bowsprit gammoning
consisted of chains rather than ropes in many cases. In the late 19th
century
the gamfnoning largely disappeared, and completely disappeared on
larger
ships; smaller vessels continued to use it, especially in the
Mediterranean.
In the 17th and 18th centuries a special block, the gammon
lashing or
rack block, was seized to the gammoning; this was a special block
through which apart of the running rigging reeved; more detail on this
in the chapter RUNNING RIGGING .
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Sequence of the bowsprit gammoning
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Bumkin shrouds
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From the 18th
century onward, the fore tacks were no longer taken through the knee of
the head, but through blocks at the head of the bumkin. The bumkin
itself was stayed by two bumkin shrouds, which prevented it bending
upwards when under tension. The forward shroud was led through a hole
in the knee of the head and fixed to the bumkins to starboard and port.
More often the shroud was fixed to a
ring bolt on the knee of the head. The after shroud was made fast to a
ring
bolt in the hull. The bumkin shrouds were set up with a combination of
blocks
or deadeyes, and less often with hearts, and the tackle made fast to
the
bumkin shroud. If the mizen or jigger was situated so far aft that the
leech
of the mizen or jigger sail projected out over the stern of the ship,
as
was often the case from the 15th to the early 17th century , an
outrigger
had to be fitted to take the sail's sheet. This outrigger in turn was
supported
by two guys, leading downwards at an angle on both sides.
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Outrigger guys
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If the mizen or
jigger was situated so far aft that the leech of the mizen / or jigger
sail projected out over the stern of the ship, as was often the case
from the 15th to the early 17th century , an outrigger had to be fitted
to take the sail's sheet. This outrigger in turn was supported by two
guys, leading downwards at an angle on both sides. A spliced eye in the
outrigger guys was fitted over the
end of the outrigger, and the other end fixed to ring bolts to
starboard and
port. Tensioning arrangements with blocks and deadeyes were extremely
rare
in the case of these guys.
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