CANVAS, BOPŁ AKD SAILS

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Sail canvas is 2 feet wide, made up in bolts of about 42 yards. The
length in each bolt is generally stencilled on the outside to the nearest
quarter of a yard. A bolt of No. 1 canvas weighs 4:8 or 49 Ibs.
Tarpaulin canvas is not of such good quality as sail canvas, being
generally made of second grade flax. The texture is coarser and rougher,
the usual width being 2 ft. 6 ins. or 3 feet
Boltrope is good quality three stranded rope made of the best hemp.
It is manufactured from the longest and finest yarns, and tarred with
best Stockholm tar and oil. It is laid up much softer than ordinary
hemp rope, and is more supple and pliable. It is used for roping sails.
Cable laid rope is a good quality manila or hemp used for trawl
warps, and fore and main sheets in sailing vessels. It consists of three
ordinary right handed ropes laid up left handed. It is therefore nine
stranded.
A steamer's trysail or staysail is made of heavy canvas No. 1 or 2
for the cloths. The seams are sewn with double seaming twine. Roping
twine is used for sewing the boltrope round the edges. The eyelet holes
along the luff have a small grummet sewn round them, or are fitted with
brass eyelets which are simply stamped in: 2J or 3-inch boltrope is
used for roping the lufi and after leech, the foot rope generally being
a little smaller. About 4 feet of the rope on the foot and about 5 feet
of the leech rope is about an inch larger in size next to the clew, being
joined to the smaller rope by means of a sailmaker's splice. Galvanised
iron thimbles are worked in at the head and tack, and a heavy galvanised
iron ring at the clew.
Flexible steel wire is now superseding boltrope in all kinds of
sail making.
A steamer's sails, if she has any, are principally for steadying her in a
seaway. With a strong beam wind the side pressure on the sails
moderates the rolling. They also have some propelling power, and thus
help her along. They are very useful in the case of an accident to the
engines or propeller.
When bending a standing trysail bring it along to the foot of the mast,
and open it out. Fake it down on the deck, having the tack underneath
and the head on top* If the brails are not on the sail, middle them and
seize them on to the after leech. Eyelet holes are worked in the sai)
for passing the seizings.
Beeve a gantline through a block at the masthead for hoisting it up.
-Take the hanks ofi the traveller abaft the mast and bend one on
to each of the eyelet holes in the lufL Hoist away slowly by means of