What are these things...

[Dave R]

...and what're they called?
http://www.seaislandboatworks.com/images/schooner.jpg
I'm referring to those things extending above deck on the sides of the boat with the board connecting them.
Are they where the shrouds are attached? It doesn't look as if the one nearest the camera is attached to the forward-most chainplate.
http://www.seaislandboatworks.com/images/ANTHONY_HARBOR_full.jpg
Here's the other picture of her which I shoulda post before. Sorry.

So that's what a whatchamacallit looks like.

[This message has been edited by Dave R (edited 04-12-2001).]

[BrianR]

Dave - those would be the "whatchamacallits"

[BrianR]

Dave - those would be the "whatyamacallits"

[ken mcclure]

Never seen the like.

Maybe props for the winter cover?

[paladin]

handholds while you're working on the deck....?

[gashmore]

Looks like those things that the ratlines are tied into.

[ken mcclure]

Actually, by gar, after a closer look I can positively identify them as bulwark-mounted gronicles.

They were used heavily by rumrunners and later drug smugglers to fool the Coast Guard. Seems that when they are in operation, the Coast Guard constantly gets readings on the boat that are 300 metres to the port of its actual position. Unless, of course, they are installed with reverse polarity in which case the boat appears 300 metres to starboard.

They appear to be functioning nominally in the second picture, as the Coast Guard vessel is chasing a shadow about 300 metres to port of the boat.

[ken mcclure]

Actually, they look like spreaders for the stays.

[rbgarr]

Incomplete (and ill-conceived) pinrails(?) for tying off halyards?? Strange mounting boards for port/starboard navigation lights?? A 'semi-traditionalist's' attempt to devise something to store/show off their inflatable dock fenders, like those things that mount on some powerboat bow railings?

I (obviously) dunno!

[johnh94927]

all kidding aside - it appears that the 'things' are not the same in the 2 pix. the 'things' in the 2nd pic - at sea - are spreaders or the the boards that runnig lights are attached to. the 'things' in the 1st pic have nothing to do with the rigging plates; they may just be temp structures to support a cover or something during refit. examine the relative locations of the rig plates in the 2 pix.

[Dave R]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I guess they aren't runners so that the hull could be inverted for use as an iceboat.

I guess I won't put them on my boat after all.

[Bruce Taylor]

Iceboat runners! Why didn't I think of that? You just flip the hull upside down, straddle the ballast keel and away you go. Whoosh!

[TomFF]

They are for drying laundry

[Ross Miller]

This is all well and good, but what I want to know is what sort of boat this is and who designed it and all that stuff. I realize this sounds a little demanding, but I’d like an answer by the time I finish dinner. Nice boat.

[Dave R]

I found the pictures at http://www.seaislandboatworks.com
Look near the bottom of the page. Are you finished with dinner yet? I hope that lobster was fresh.

[This message has been edited by Dave R (edited 04-14-2001).]

[Ross Miller]

The service is great around here. Big tip for you. It was turf, not surf, but I wouldn’t eat a stale lobster anyhow. Did I mention that’s a nice boat?

But more to the point, I’m inclined to agree that there are different hoothingies in different pictures, and that the ones pictured on land are maybe for a cover.

[Mike Field]

DaveR, this is going to be a bit prosaic after all those imaginative replies, but what about emailing SeaIsland and asking them?

[Danford C. Jennings]

Dave,

Whew, what a job! I hope you don't mind but,I aquired the photos to anyalze them better on my own graphics and imaging software in order to provide an accurate answer to your question, hope you don't mind.

Simply put, I was able to magnify the images and reduce the pixel size to see how they were mounted and their physical properties.

She is a beautiful vessel and obviously very well suited for serious cruising.

Any who, they used to be referred to as "trt'l bk stn'chns". They originated during the height of naval sea power during the late 17th and 18th centuries and of course were considerably larger. With the decline of naval and commercial sail they all but disapeared except on coastal schooners and such. Around the late 19th century sailors started to refer to them as "lnd'lbbr rls" while retaining their intended use, which is higly unusual.

To explain just a little bit further; as far as I can tell the stanchions are, of course, easily removable and of galvanized steel and quite stout as they should be. The rails appears to be teak and with the correct "half round" profile. Which leads me to believe that they are original.

Since there seems to be some confusion about the second photo and the object under the forsls' boom, I used the same technique as above to clarify the confussion there as well. The main reason for the confusion is two fold, the other 3 lnd'lbbr rls are removed with the 4th on the wind ward side, the second reason is that the teak rail appears to have been recently varnished or oiled as have the rest of her spars. I will say this though, it is obvious that the crew on board were just as confused as you, because the normal placement of a lnd'lbbr rl should be on the lee side. The reason for this is because, obviously, that you always want a land lubber to vomit on the lee side and not the wind ward side. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

In perfect seriousness, I did do the photo analysis as mentioned and do agree with John. I'm certain that they are for providing shade while at anchor on hot sunny days, because the teak rails do in fact have half rounded profiles that would prevent chafing. And in the second picture the "board" between the stays are in fact where her running lights are mounted.

Dan

P.S. A spreader is a spar located on a mast to "spread" the side stays away from and down towards the deck.

[This message has been edited by Danford C. Jennings (edited 04-15-2001).]

[ken mcclure]

Yep. I knew that's what a spreader was, I just forgot for that moment. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/frown.gif

Actually I didn't know what else to call "a piece of teak that you insert between side stays to keep them spread apart."

[Mike Field]

PPS Side stays are really called shrouds, you guys.

[Danford C. Jennings]

Mike,

Glad you pointed that out. Sometimes we do get "lazy" with nomenclature. This holds true in regards to most areas. Outside of nautical terms, a couple of examples would be a Stanley #90 bullnose plane, often mis-identified as a "rabbet plane", the knob on a bench plane referred to as the "tote", or a groove being called a "dado".

Getting back to nautical terms, I have always found them fascinating primarily in their origins: "poop deck" being one of the most puzzling. http://media5.hypernet.com/~dick/ubb/smile.gif

Any who, thanks Mike, I apologize for my laziness.

Dan

[paladin]

well I gave up and sent an e-mail to Mark at Sea Island. He says they are indeed pinrails and the supports double as lifeline stanchions. So there!!!!

[ken mcclure]

Dan, "poop" comes from a Latin word 'puppis' which means little image. Romans customarily put a sacred image in the stern of their boat. The stern then became known as the 'puppim' and on to today.

I also like "poop rail" which is the stanchion 'round the poop deck. Before I were eddicated, I thought it was a place to sit at that most special time of the day.

And my favorite, "poop staff" which is what the ensign staff used to be called (the flag staff on the stern) which I imagined as a tool for those days when the 'plumbing' was not operating properly.

[Mike Field]

Dan, 'salright -- I was just taking the mickey, really. Cheers, Mike.

[Phil Young]

The shroud plates are extended upward to a height level with the mast tabernacle so that the masts can be lowered without losing shroud tension. The forward shroud plate is to secure an additional guy from the top of the extended shroud plate directly abeam the mast. Stops the mast swaying from side to side while being lowered or raised. Extremely useful for "shooting" bridges, where the mast is lowered while under way, and the boat's way carries her under the bridge, whereupon the mast is raised again and sails set, all without stopping, or using a motor.