Anyone do 'Fancy Work' on their rigs?

[nocturn]

Turks heads, Half hitches, Monkey's fists etc?

I just did my helm with Turks and Hitches. I got tired of my hands slipping on the salt coated Stainless. Came out nice. Poly twine, 2 coats of Marine Tek Epoxy, and 3 coats of white epoxy paint:




I'll be doing the same thing on the Console hand rail when the wx warms.


16 Years in the Coast Guard taught me something I guess.

[aronlevin]

Looks nice. You must of had some bad weather to keep you indoors.

[nocturn]

Thanks.

Yep. I was hoping for a super mild winter, and it was up until mid January. Hopefully that groundhog is right and we'll be seeing spring here in a few weeks so I can get my rig back in the drink.

PS. Don't mind the belly in pic one. Its a Guinness covered in flannel!

[rudderhinge]

Looks great Nocturn, Brings back old memories of back in my Navy days. I was stationed at Charleston, SC on Harbor Tugs for two years in 69 and 70. I think that I did Turks Heads and Half hitches on about everything that you grabed hold of on the tug boat. Its hard to tell how many Monkey's Fists and Heaving Lines I made and use. I dont even want to talk about all the Eye, Short and end splicing that I have done. And I was an engineman not a deck ape. But on tugs everyone is a deck hand. Even now days friends and people ask me to splice their ropes when they see my ropes. Im not sure I can still do the fancy work or not. I looked for a book on fancey work a while back put did not find any. I was wanting to do some on a sternwheeler that I was refurbishing for a friend back when I lived in WV.
But anyway thanks for the memories and your work looks real nice. Bob

[nocturn]

LOL. I was a Deck Ape for my first 5 years of service. I saw the the light and shifted over to the Snipe side (Damage Controlman).

I became leading seaman on the Cutter and somehow became the fancy work guru. I didnt mind doing the fancy stuff but HATED doing double braid nylon eyes. ARGH! Hours upon hours of 3" and 4" mooring lines! I hated Yard and Charlie periods as a Seaman. The skin on my hands is burning as I type this.

Just about as bad was splicing 3 strand Manila. Just brutal on your finger tips.


I still do small (3/4" and smaller)DBN eyes. I have it down to about 10 minutes a eye.

I still use my first Marlin Spike... NSN 122-322-3455-59

[nocturn]

rudderhinge,
Here is a good refresher book on fancy work....
http://www.onlinesports.com/pages/I,AL-CTU043.html

I picked it up a few years back.

I had a Ashley's Book of Knots but lost it in a fire. Its a little steep for a knot book.

[Genelie]

Looks sweet, how well does it clean up on those bloody messy days....?

[NCangler]

Nice work nocturn! And thank you guys for your service to our country!

That looks great. It would take me 5 years to figure out how to do that

[nocturn]

Originally Posted by Genelie

Looks sweet, how well does it clean up on those bloody messy days....?

Thanks!

It cleans up easy with just soap/water/soft brush.

The epoxy seals up the gaps so there is no dirt penetration into the fibers.