ROPEWORK
Use of Winches

Winches come in various sizes and perform a variety of tasks. They are mainly used in conjunction with the yachts halyards and sheet lines where the last couple of meters may need to be tensioned using a winching advantage. Winches have certain designed gear ratios within to produce a mechanical advantage to a skilled operator.

By far the simplest method to remember is the 1 - 2 - 3 Method for serious sheet-hands. One turn around the winch and take up the slack seeing their are no obstructions. On the order still with one turn, pull firmly by hand keeping an eye out for snags. When one cannot pull any more by hand, take another turn on the winch (now two), place the winch handle into the winch and begin tensioning until the bulk of the work is completed. Then stop, apply another turn (now three), change gear if available for fine tuning purposes before jamming or cleating

Releasing requires uncleating with one hand and firmly holding the rope around the drum with the other avoiding its release prematurely. On the order to release quickly take off the turns and see that the remaining line runs freely. A controlled release like lowering a person down the mast requires positive communications with a slow and careful release where individual turns are taken off at intervals after the initial tension has been released.

Handling braided lines in Ropework
Heat Sealing

The ends of most modern ropes can be heat sealed to prevent them fraying or unlaying. Effectively this means melting the man-made fiber's together with a "hot-knife", gas flame or match.

Eye Splice

Unlay about 100 mm of the rope and make a temporary seizing. Form an eye and tuck the strands under the standing part in the order shown. The only tricky part is where the third strand is inserted - turn the rope over to get it right. A minimum of three tucks of each strand is needed for security and then the strands can be tapered before making further tucks to get a neat finish.