2011 Fresh River Voyage of Discovery banner

Shipcraft: Marlinspike

In the 17th century, sailors spent much of their free time crafting and repairing gear for the ship. Every element of a sailing ship required constant maintenance — which is still true today.

Little on a ship wore out more quickly than its rope; our word "junk" was originally a nautical term for rope that was too worn to be usable. Sailors thus had ample opportunity to practice their craftwork and plenty of scrap rope to work with. The art of rope use, or marlinspike, grew out of this utilitarian reality.

Here on the Replica Ship Half Moon, we continue this fine tradition today. Our crew members, both students and adults, have hand-crafted many of the tools we use on board.

On this voyage, it should come as no surprise that it was our resident Sea Scouts who first dove into marlinspike work. Here, Hayley presents the new monkey's fist (also called a heaving line) she's made for the ship. Later on, Ms. Reilly would also have students braid line to create new gaskets for the sails.

Voyage Homepage Daily Log Our Crew Learning Page Half Moon homepage Goodwin College