THE BLANKET PIECE COMING ABOARD
Reading edition
When the tackle was “block and block,” the third mate or one of the boatsteerers, with his “boarding knife,” made a hole for the second tackle.
A heavy blubber hook, or the eye in the long strop of the block in the foreground was pushed through and secured on the outside by a heavy wooden pin or toggle.
The second tackle was hove taut to take up the weight and the upper piece sliced off.
