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Article: Building blocks: both simple and sophisticated, the block is one product that makes deck work easier and safer.(Deck Equipment)
- Article from:
- National Fisherman
- Article date:
- March 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Diversified Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Near as archaeologists can tell, it was around 3000 B.C. that a piece of deck machinery now called the Spanish windlass showed up. The device was a fiber rope tied in a loop and wound with a tensioner in the form of a stave. Egyptian seafarers used it to secure their masts, and to hold their boats together fore and aft. They also created a lever, using a fulcrum and a boulder lashed to the mast as a counterweight.
The counterweighted mast and the Spanish windlass were probably the first pieces of mechanical deck gear. Eventually, the counterweighted mast led to the development of the boom, the Spanish windlass led to the development of the deadeye, and the deadeye ...