Worm,parcel and serve supplies

[al ailsworth]

I know I read this info previously, but currently where is the best place to obtain proper supplies and tools to worm,parcel and serve rigging? I live on the east coast in the mid Chesapeake area.

Thanks

[Thad Van Gilder]

I just had a discussion about that with a guy at the boatyard in Galena that I am at. (the ever famous Gregg Neck Boat Yard)
From my experience, boats of the size I usually work on (16 to 40 feet ish), don't need worming and parcelling.

I serve shrouds and stays with tarred marlin that I make much cheaper than you can buy. I get good hemp string from hippie craft shops and stockholm tar from places like Kirby's. I soak the hemp line in the tar and let it dry for a while. I usually stretch the shrouds and stays between trees, serve them, and give them a few coats of slush before putting them on the mast.

I suppose you could parcell the wires with sunbrella if you wanted, but I never have. I also have never served anything other than S.S. wire, so perhaps if you were working with galvanized wire, parcelling might help.

I don't believe I have ever talked to anyone who has wormed any rigging wire, ever. fancy ropework, yes. standing rigging, no. I think you'd need some pretty big wire to even have room to worm it...

-Thad

[Jay Greer]

Genuine tared Italian hemp marlin is available from the ship's store at the Wooden Boat Foundation in Port Townsend.
Jay

[al ailsworth]

Thank you. I have just about given up on trying to find a small schooner, and oh my- I have started looking at sevral in steel. I found one with galvanized shrouds and stays, very rusty, and if I were to purchase this boat I probably will replace the headstay with stainless and replace the rest with galvanized. I want to protect both. Maybe you are correct, it may not be necessary to worm, parcel and serve standing rigging on a 40' sailboat. Does Kirby also sell mallets? Thanks again.

[Captain Intrepid]

For serving mallets, just get a chunk of hardwood and make your own. That way you can be sure of having the right size for your rigging. I've heard of people parcelling wire rigging with electrical tape, or you can use pretty much any any cloth soaked in tar. Old sheets work alright. As for worming? I've never heard of anyone worming wire stays or shrouds.

Even if you decide not to parcel and serve the entirety of your standing rigging, consider parceling and serving the ends around the eye and splice and up a few feet. It looks handsome and gives it a much nice feel than cold metal.

[Ian McColgin]

Get Brion Toss's book for more than just the joys of service. You do not want to serve any ss stay that takes a staysail or anything else - ss is not happy covered up that way.

It makes good sense to at least worm and maybe parcel galvi 7x7 as that fills up the hollows to make a nice surface for the service.

Brion's book shows a nice serving mallet he calls Ring-around-Sue - basicly a mallet with a spool attached. Once you get it started rotating on a stay stretched between something - I use trees - you can keep it going by swaying the stay and do a fast clean job.

I like better having a couple of swivels at each end and use a belt around some sort of drum mounted on a drill to get the stay turning. A weighted version of the ring-around feeds the service on finastkind. You can even slush the service and underlying parceling as it goes if you don't mind a little splatter on your cloths.

G'luck

[Thad Van Gilder]

Oh, you know, There are two available small schooners at Gregg neck right now. One on a mooring. I think its a Alden about 40 feet...

another cement one at a dock.

1 1/2 miles past the 213 bridge on the sasafrass.

I'll be down there saturday, and I'll take a picture of the wood schooner on the mooring.

-Thad