Boat ropes - Bill Finnis

Here is a guide to the ropes and lines that abound on cruising sailing boats from sheets to halyards and from breast-lines to tow-lines. The book includes skilful instructions on how to tie the seaman's repertoire of basic bends and hitches and how they should be used and when and why certain knots are best used for certain tasks.;Whipping, seizing and splicing and the way to care for your ropes are covered in detail, together with many hints and ideas that the author has picked up in his miles of world-side cruising. Particular lines and systems used for mooring, sail controls, reefing, towing and other manoeuvres are explained with examples of different techniques to meet the situation. The mechanical advantages that can be achieved to solve a wide variety of problems like riding-turns on sheet-winches or lashing a dinghy down to the deck are explained as is instruction on how to create the most effective tackles to suit certain jobs. The book aims to appeal to the majority of yachtsmen and small boat users.;After service in the Royal Navy, Bill Finnis worked for many years teaching art, a fact that is apparent from his skilful illustrations used in this book. He has always found time to sail and to teach navigation to yachtsmen, but on taking early retirement he set out with his wife to circumnavigate the world, a voyage that was to take them six years in their twelve ton Hillyard Didycoy.