Posted by Mike Field on September 22, 2002 at 02:17:32 from 203.26.98.4 user mikefield.
In Reply to: Re: Jargon posted by Peter H on September 20, 2002 at 21:25:52:
The worst (best?) profession at using jargon is the medical one. Coming a canvas behind is the legal profession, both several lengths ahead of competitors.
I think it's no accident that members of these two professions are among the most highly-paid professionals in society.
Now Peter H, I"m about to describe sisterhooks and their mousing, so you should stop reading at this point.
To clear up this matter, which has been plaguing TarBoard for as long as I can remember, here's a picture of a pair of sisterhooks. Sisterhooks can be used in a variety of places to support a line or a ring. Because one works from each side to support the whatever-it-is, the theory is that between them they can't let go. Scarab's halyard (if I remember rightly) terminated in a pair which supported the traveller to which the yard was attached.
I say "in theory" they can't let go because a famous pair of sisterhooks did once let go with flogging around in a high wind. One of the pair caught amateur sailor R T McMullen in the corner of his eye and nearly dragged him off his yacht. His description of the horrible event is contained in his famous book "Down Channel" of 1869. AR would certainly have known of the incident (and indeed when the book was republished in 1931, AR wrote a forward to it.)
The way to stop sister-hooks flying apart, which McMullen hadn't done and which Nancy exhorts the D's (?) to do, is to "mouse" the hooks. Mousing a hook is to put a lashing of light line arond it to stop whatever it's supporting from jumping out. In this case it means to put a seizing around the necks of both hooks just below the eyes to hold the two firmly together so they can't fly apart.
