Slaves of Socorro (9780698158580) by Flanagan John A

Author:Flanagan, John A.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin USA
Published: 2014-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

chapter twenty-eight

Hal spent the morning trimming and shaping the two spars that he had selected for his new mast and yardarm. He set up simple workbenches, made from logs supported on twin X-shaped brackets, and laid the timbers across them as he worked with his adze. Thorn watched, admiring his skill and precision. Hal made only the roughest measurements, relying on his eye to shape the timber as he needed it.

The rest of the crew watched idly. Four of them had a ball made from an inflated pig’s bladder, and they amused themselves kicking it around the beach, controlling it only with their feet and keeping their hands behind their backs.

Heron’s mast was shorter than a standard wolfship’s. The long, curving yardarm angled up above the top of the mast when it was raised, providing the height needed for the sails. To rig the ship for a square sail, where the yardarm would be parallel to the deck, Hal would have to extend the mast upward by at least two meters. He planned to overlap the new spar with the existing mast for its entire length, using the original mast as a support. He would bind it tightly along the entire length of the join.

The spar was almost ready and he was currently curving one side to fit snugly to the rounded shape of the thick, stubby mast. Several times, he and Ingvar would heave the new spar over to the ship and test the fit. He would mark where it wasn’t quite right, then go back to work.

Finally satisfied, he and Ingvar carried the new spar to the ship one final time and Ingvar held it in place against the mast. There were still a few small projections that needed trimming, and Hal made the necessary adjustments in place, using a heavy straight-bladed woodworking knife, until the spar sat snugly against the mast, with the curved section of the mast nestled neatly into the groove he had shaped.

“Stig! Ulf! Wulf! Lend us a hand here, will you?” he called.

The three abandoned their ball game and clambered aboard. They lashed the new mast temporarily in place at three points along its length, then Hal began to bind it permanently, using wet rope that would shrink as it dried, tightening the bindings even further. He’d already detached the forestay. Now he climbed the shrouds and reattached it, passing it through a hole he had drilled in the extension mast for that purpose.

He looked up at the new, taller mast and nodded in satisfaction.

“That should do the job,” he told Stig, who was standing beside him.

His friend nodded. Hal had done a neat and efficient job putting the new mast in place. But then, Hal was always neat and efficient with his woodwork.

“Looks just like a bought one,” Stig said, grinning.

Hal raised an eyebrow. “Never thought I’d go back to square-rigging. It just won’t feel like the Heron. Still, it’s only for a day or two.” He replaced the trimming knife and

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