The Marlinspike Sailor

Foreword

Introduction

Making Rope Behave

Knot, Bend, or Hitch?

Anyone Can Splice

The Short Splice

The Long Splice

The Stowage of Rope

How to Lay Up a Grommet

Whippings

The Heaving Line

Some Notes on Seizing

Worming, Parcelling, and Serving

The Running Turk's Head

The Star Knot

The Tack Knot

The Lanyard Knot

Matthew Walker's Knot

A Simple Rope Mat

Ladder Mat and Block Mat

A Russian or Walled Mat

A Sword Mat

A Rope Ladder with a New Twist and Some Remarks on the Making of Baggywrinkle

Plaited Sennits

Crown Sennits

Rope Handles

Coachwhipping

Grafting, Pointing and Hitching

Cockscombing

The Sea Chest

Deadeyes and Lanyards

Decorative Wall Bag

Tom Crosby's Ditty Box

The Rigger's Little Helper

Wooden Bilge Pumps

Palm and Needle Practice

The Ditty Bag

The Sea Bag

The Bell Rope

Wooden Cleats

Rope Fenders

Stropped Blocks

Canvas Deck Bucket

Rigging a Jackline

Sail Stop Bag

Some Notes on the Use of "Taykles"

A Lanyard for a Cannon

The Catboat Race

Making a Mast Boot

The Water Jug

Registration Numbers, They Too Can Be Beautiful

Art and Yacht Design

Synthetic Fibres and Their Characteristics

Basic Eye Splice

Standard End for End

Back Splice

Index

Hervey Garrett Smith was the foremost marine illustrator of the 1950s and 1960s, and his wonderful drawings of traditional ropework quickly propelled The Marlinspike Sailor to cult classic status when it was published in 1956. With the addition of a section on modern, synthetic rope in the 1970s, its popularity has continued undiminished to this day. It teaches a few basic knots--the bowline, sheet bend, and rolling hitch, among others--and splices in three-strand and braided rope. But its real business is decorative rope and canvaswork--the traditional arts of the sailor--and here it has no equal. For a rope mat, a rope ladder, a sea chest, a ditty bag, a canvas bucket, a mast boot, and the best-looking rope fenders or heaving line in the marina, this is the book of choice.