Closing a flag halyard loop
- Thread starter Kermit
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If it is three strand the a long splice will do the trick
if it is braded the again a long splice will do.
if it is braded the again a long splice will do.
While you are at it learn the eye-splice. Very handy for anchor and dock lines. At $15/splice at WM a handy way to save your money too.
I use 1/8" diameter line and tie a small fisherman's blood knot to join the ends. Then make a marlinespike loop just above the bloodknot for the flag's toggle. The tail of the flag ties to a second marlinespike hitch below so the two ends are aloft when the flag is flying.
I just use a figure-8 bend, mostly because I can remember it. If you can tie a figure-8 stopper knot, you can tie the bend. Gently burn the tails, which are cut real short, and a little of th knot to make it permanent.
A Carrick bend is probably a little more elegant, but I can't remember how to tie it when I need to, and it's a flag halyard, so elegant just isn't that important to me.
A Carrick bend is probably a little more elegant, but I can't remember how to tie it when I need to, and it's a flag halyard, so elegant just isn't that important to me.
Put an engilfield clip on each end of the flag halyard, and englfied clip on each end of the flag, then you can clip the flag on to the halyard, and when the flag is not on, you can clip the halyard together. It the way the Royal Navy, and all british merchant ship do it.
Al,
We amateurs are constantly showing the RN the way to do things.
Their system makes for big problems if some matey lets go of an end.
Better to have a continuous loop and tie the englefield clips to it but half a yard apart. Same effect but no problems.
I use those little white nylon jimmies.
We amateurs are constantly showing the RN the way to do things.
Their system makes for big problems if some matey lets go of an end.
Better to have a continuous loop and tie the englefield clips to it but half a yard apart. Same effect but no problems.
I use those little white nylon jimmies.
I warp the ends around stainless thimbles large enough to fit my signal flag toggles. I then use waxed tread whipping to secure the halyard onto the thimble.
Took me a while, but i see what you are saying. Never seen it done that way, but it does make sence. However, sometimes you want to haul more than one flag at a time, in the case of running a signal (ok not used much now) where your multiple flags couldnt be hoisted on your system, due to you only being able to hoist one flag. Which is probably why the Royal and Merchant navy dont do that, even though nowadays they dont hoist signals. Although, about ten years ago, i was on a ship and we tried to hoist a signal, our chief officer was forty that day, and we decieded to hoist a signal with flags, saying Archies 40, it didnt work, we had so many flags, and it was so windy, that when we got it halfway up, it broke, and we lost all the flags. Another signal that was hoisted in the clyde in recent years, was when the captain of the waverly (maybe twenty years ago) got charged with pedophilia, he had been having sex with a boy that was under 21 i think at the time that was illegal, it may have been under eighteen, but whatever, it was illegal then, but is not today. The captain was arrested, but the waverly sailed on the clyde that day, as it passed one of the Caledonian Macbrayne ferries, a hoist was raised that said "hi gayverly"
Hi Al,
Great yarn about Waverley. See it regularly in the Solent. Also go aboard the SS Shieldhall in Southampton docks (ex Glasgow 'honey boat'!!!)
Re flags, lower englefield has halyard passed through its eye then back over the clip forming a cow hitch. This way it is adjustable.
When seeking bragging rights or on posh occasions I fly former Commodore Warsash SC, Legend Owners Assoc, RYA Yachtmaster and RNLI member on same hoist this way.
Great yarn about Waverley. See it regularly in the Solent. Also go aboard the SS Shieldhall in Southampton docks (ex Glasgow 'honey boat'!!!)
Re flags, lower englefield has halyard passed through its eye then back over the clip forming a cow hitch. This way it is adjustable.
When seeking bragging rights or on posh occasions I fly former Commodore Warsash SC, Legend Owners Assoc, RYA Yachtmaster and RNLI member on same hoist this way.
I was AB aboard the waverly for a while, i never stuck it for a full season, as the season is very long, and the hours are incredible, I just did reliefe AB where i would go for a few weeks to relieve someone that wanted some time off. Its a great ship, but has a horrible movement, we had a bad day in the solent that must have been, maybe 2000, and all the passangers were being sick, one of the engineers came out of the engine room, with vomit all down the front of his overalls. The ship sort of corcksrews, due to how narrow she is, if you dont count the paddle boxes (which have no buoyancy) she is a very narrow ship. She is a very fast ship though, does about eighteen knots.
Most impressed i ever was by a sailboat flag, was when i had a bayliner (20 foot speed boat) i was out on the clyde, heading from Kip marina, to Arran, and the weather wasnt too good, and the boat started pitching, so I had to back down the on the engine, and bring her off the plane, she was just kind of wallowing, at slow speed, when this large sailboat, maybe 40 plus feet, came from behind us, and slowly overtook us, the single hander aboard waved at us, and the person in my boat said "he lookes like he knows what he is doing" (and like i a mere Able seaman, with IMO Fast rescue craft certificates didnt) as he passed us, i noticed the blue ensigne on the stern of his boat. I think only a royal navy commander, or royal navy reserve commander can fly that flag from a pleasure boat.
Al,
There are a number of clubs with 'Royal' in their names, and others, entitled to wear the blue ensign. They must hold an Admiralty warrant allowing them to use a blue ensign (and no other when the owner is aboard). This ensign is normally defaced by having the club's symbol or badge in the fly.
It is also the flag flown by British colonies and dependencies both current and former.
Apart from the RN ships, only the Royal Yacht Squadron is allowed to fly the white ensign.
This all dates back to 1624 and is rather tedious.
There are a number of clubs with 'Royal' in their names, and others, entitled to wear the blue ensign. They must hold an Admiralty warrant allowing them to use a blue ensign (and no other when the owner is aboard). This ensign is normally defaced by having the club's symbol or badge in the fly.
It is also the flag flown by British colonies and dependencies both current and former.
Apart from the RN ships, only the Royal Yacht Squadron is allowed to fly the white ensign.
This all dates back to 1624 and is rather tedious.
I often hoist signals using the 1938 version of the International Signal Code. I use both the port and starboard flag halyards to hoist two sets of codes, making a more complete message.
I usually hoist weather related codes, or welcome guests aboard.
The codes are all centered around boat handling, cargo, safety, navigation, and weather. It takes some work to pull off humor or get racy. I had one female guest hoist the code for "What is the diameter of your discharge hose?"
I usually hoist weather related codes, or welcome guests aboard.
The codes are all centered around boat handling, cargo, safety, navigation, and weather. It takes some work to pull off humor or get racy. I had one female guest hoist the code for "What is the diameter of your discharge hose?"
Last edited:
NotCook
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- Dec 29, 2008
- 806
The challenge we have is that we only have one flag for each of the alphabet and numerals. What do you do for duplicate letters or numbers? We don't seem to have any of the "substitute character" flags...
That is a challenge. With a four character code you need the "repeater" flags (As I grew up calling them) I just figured all sets of code flags came with them.
The only problem with splicing the ends of your flag halyard is that you're not going to be able to remove it from the sheave without cutting it. I suppose that if you have a detachable sheave on your starboard spreader, then it wouldn't be much of an issue. You can always remove the sheave with the line on it.
On my boat I mounted a cheek block on the side of my mast near the top and it's easier for me to have the line tied with a knot so that I can untie it at the end of the year and stow it.
I have a 6' flag staff with the flag attached to it. The flag staff has a eye screw at the bottom and a hollowed out spot on the staff about 1/4 of the way up the stick. This allows the flag to fly over the top of my mast, radio antenna, and wind indicator.
One end of my flag halyard is tied to the eye screw and the other end of the halyard is tied around the hollowed out area of the staff.
When I remove the flag staff I use a bend known as the "Benson Bend" to join the two ends together. Courtesy of Mr. John "Fud" Benson.
It's a real handsome bend and it can be used to join two ropes of equal size and it won't shake loose. It's also simple to tie.
I use a palm and needle whipping on all my halyards and lines and this bend looks real nautical with a whipped flag halyard.
You can find this bend and the whipping in a book entitled "The Rigger's Apprentice" by Brion Toss.
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I was a member of Royal west of scotland amatuer boat club. As far as i know, no one flew a blue ensign, we did sometimes fly the red. I know they originated back in the day, where squadren were split into blue white and red ensigned vessels, the white being most senior. Red eventually going to merchant navy. Its my understanding, you have to have a warrant to fly blue, but its automatically given to serving reserve and retired commanders of the RN.
Some years ago, i bought a boat in Florida, and sailed around the west coast of florida. We wanted to put a red ensign on it, but couldnt because the boat was registered in the USA, so we took down the stars and stripes, and put up the Lion Rampant, (the old scottish flag) We thought people would ask about it, no one even noticed it, even when i sold that boat, the buyer didnt ask me about that flag.
A merchant vessel would normaly have about four substitute flags. Your signal is not going to be that long anyway, and the substitute flags can be easily understood, that is provided you can read flags. Which i think nowadays, few people can, if i saw a hoist, i would have to look at the book, to see what it said. More commonly now, is that cruise ships just throw flags together as decorations, and they mean nothing. If they do mean something, its by accident.
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