Page:Small-boat sailing; an explanation of the management of small yachts, half-decked and open sailing-boats of various rigs; sailing on sea and on river; cruising, etc (IA smallboatsailing01knig).pdf/48

 therefore be rove through any block which will take the rope. Consequently the long splice must always be used for repairing a halyard, sheet, or other part of the rigging which has to run through blocks.

A is thus made: The two ropes that are to be joined are unlaid for at least four times as far as would be the case if making a short splice. The strands are brought together as in the short splice; then one strand of each rope (a, a, in Fig. 13) is unlaid for a still further distance (about half as far again). This leaves two grooves in the rope, which are next filled up by neatly laying in each of them the opposite central strands b, b. This brings the strands together in pairs in three places as in Fig. 14. At these three points, the strands are reduced in thickness by cutting off half the yarns, as when completing a short