A couple of things puzzle me by their absence. When I got the Whitehall it had two small cleats just past the midpoint. I assume that they are meant to control the jib. They are in the right place and they are too small and not well placed for mooring.
I found a couple of slightly larger bronze cleats and mounted them a couple of feet from the stern. These are very useful. When I'm launching it I can use them to tie off the tiller. When I'm mooring to a dock then I can moor to these. I really wonder why the boat never had cleats there before.
The other omission is a quick way to take up the sail. The sail is sprit-rigged. It is fastened to the mast and a boom. A sprit is fastened to the mast with a line called a snouter (don't you love that name). The other end goes into a corner of the sail. The idea is to increase the amount of sail without making the mast longer. It is a very traditional rig.
There did not seem to be a quick way of taking in the sail. I was able to rig up a bunt line. It came with a line that had been spliced into a loop with a bronze block attached. This is the right size to slip over the top of the mast and may have been intended for a bunt line. I ran a line up the mast, through the block, and back down to the tip of the boom. If I need the sail taken in in a hurry I just pull on the line. The boom and sprit pivot up until they are nearly parallel with the mast. Problem solved. I'm using a four-strand rope for this to make it easier to identify. For good measure, I put some marks on it with a red Sharpee pen.
When I am putting the mast up or taking it down I use the bunt line to keep the boom out of the way. There is a cleat on the mast that I tie it to. Once the mast is in place I transfer the bunt line through a block to a cleat on the keel boot. I also added a flagpole that slips over the top of the mast. I then tie the flag to the cleat on the mast.
Whoever did the rigging seems to have been stingy with the rope so the bunt may have been omitted by mistake.
The boat came with cotton twist line. This looks much better on a traditional boat than nylon or other modern line. I bought a lot more cotton twist line. It is pretty cheap. Most of my rigging is 3/16" line which goes through the 1/4 grommets very well. It isn't as strong as nylon but it is still rated at 300 lbs. If anything ever puts that much stress on the line I want it to break. I have some 1/4" and 3/8" if I need anything stronger. My anchor and mooring lines are nylon so I can tell by touch which is rigging and which is mooring.
I found a couple of slightly larger bronze cleats and mounted them a couple of feet from the stern. These are very useful. When I'm launching it I can use them to tie off the tiller. When I'm mooring to a dock then I can moor to these. I really wonder why the boat never had cleats there before.
The other omission is a quick way to take up the sail. The sail is sprit-rigged. It is fastened to the mast and a boom. A sprit is fastened to the mast with a line called a snouter (don't you love that name). The other end goes into a corner of the sail. The idea is to increase the amount of sail without making the mast longer. It is a very traditional rig.
There did not seem to be a quick way of taking in the sail. I was able to rig up a bunt line. It came with a line that had been spliced into a loop with a bronze block attached. This is the right size to slip over the top of the mast and may have been intended for a bunt line. I ran a line up the mast, through the block, and back down to the tip of the boom. If I need the sail taken in in a hurry I just pull on the line. The boom and sprit pivot up until they are nearly parallel with the mast. Problem solved. I'm using a four-strand rope for this to make it easier to identify. For good measure, I put some marks on it with a red Sharpee pen.
When I am putting the mast up or taking it down I use the bunt line to keep the boom out of the way. There is a cleat on the mast that I tie it to. Once the mast is in place I transfer the bunt line through a block to a cleat on the keel boot. I also added a flagpole that slips over the top of the mast. I then tie the flag to the cleat on the mast.
Whoever did the rigging seems to have been stingy with the rope so the bunt may have been omitted by mistake.
The boat came with cotton twist line. This looks much better on a traditional boat than nylon or other modern line. I bought a lot more cotton twist line. It is pretty cheap. Most of my rigging is 3/16" line which goes through the 1/4 grommets very well. It isn't as strong as nylon but it is still rated at 300 lbs. If anything ever puts that much stress on the line I want it to break. I have some 1/4" and 3/8" if I need anything stronger. My anchor and mooring lines are nylon so I can tell by touch which is rigging and which is mooring.
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