Two captains aboard one schooner! What do you think was the first thing they argued about?
When the master of Schooner Sunshine took one look at the mountaineers butterfly coil that I was using to stow the remnants of the topsail sheet, he stated in his most grumbly salty sea-captains voice, “You’re not going to do that on your new vessel I hope!” 
With a kick in my step and a little attitude in my voice I replied, “I sure as hell am, and furthermore, when you’re aboard my vessel, I’ll expect you to do the same! Now look on and I’ll show you how it’s done!” His retort followed in a heated tone, “Why I’ve never seen such a messy coil in all my years at sea (obviously exaggerated) and I’ll not have coils such as those aboard my ship! You’ll correct it at once” – he demanded! Imagine a salty British schooner captain scolding me in a classic scurvy sea dog fashion! And so, the argument of HOW BEST TO COIL A ROPE ensued. I mean really, with two captains aboard one schooner, what else is there to do but argue about the best way to coil a rope?
The standard gasket coil is a time tested and proven seamanlike way to coil a line and is implemented where the rope is coiled from the working end in a clockwise fashion, taking care to put a half a twist in for each coil, so the rope will lay flat. While I fully understand that this is a tried and true method of rope management that has been standard practice since the golden age of sail, IT’S NOT WHAT I DO! My rational is of course one of function. The mountaineers butterfly coil does not tangle as easily when unraveling and is faster to coil, resulting in a fair lead.
The Of course, this is the ultimate goal of any rope coil, to manage the rope and not get tangled (a fair lead) when uncoiling. Admittedly, the butterfly coil does not look quite as “seamanlike” as a nicely laid gasket coil – which are notorious for tangles if not done correctly or uncoiled in a hurry. I’ve always been one to choose function over fashion – which I would (and did) argue, is in fact, more seamanlike!
While this fun, tongue-and-cheek discussion ensued for several days afterwards, it became clear that the debate was not entirely about the best practices of rope management, but rather had much deeper undertones. In my opinion, the real question at hand was “when is age and experience preferred over youth and innovation?” However, we saved that topic for another night when the argument was lubricated with drink and laughter – and continues to this day! That’s what happens when you have two captains aboard one schooner!
Comments