wire splicing opinion

[Mike Griffiths]

I worked down below mid 60s to mid 70s and was shown how to splice (Liverpool) by a Dutch mate who was teaching some of the Indonesian deck crowd. I have not had to use the skill a great deal,but on occasions it was useful ,but lately I was given a lot of coils of 10mm and 7.5mm wire , and as I live in the sticks have been making up soft eye slings and tow ropes for friends for farming , fencing and timber work ,all buckshee as it gets me out of the way of the bucko bosun I wed at least till smoko . I wondered if any one has looked at the youtube tutorials on splicing ,lots start with flemish eye and go straight over and under all the way 1 to 6 ,the end result is very tidy, I have not tried the Aussie way,I do not know if there was a correct BOT method, but any opinions on preferred methods and strengths

[j.sabourn]

Seem to remember but possibly wrong as such a long time ago but coming out here on trading ships think and only think that the Liverpool locking splice was considered illegal. JS
I do remember though that good wire splicers were always looked for when I was mate and I was mate for a lot of years.Today splicing at sea is a no no or was when I left. It was all ferrels and on my frequent visitations to rigs had to inspect and say all was correct and sign to that effect. A good old AB with splicing experience would have been more conducive to the report on same. The same as condemning a wire think it was roughly if 30% of the strands were damaged then the lot was ready for the waste bin. I am talking about big wires such as runners and up to tow wires not to the small stuff that you could open the lay of the wire by hand and a 6 inch spike. What really got me though was all your old Derrick runner wires when their life came to an end were utilised as Derrick preventer wires and crept under the safety issues . The wires in those days were 12 24 or 37 wires to a strand . Today wires are made special for the job in hand and could call them specialised wires. JS.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
I did plenty of wire splicing such as runners, slings etc but when on the NZ coast unless it was something that needed to be done at sea most of our slings came from the shore rigging lofts, I was going to try for a job in Auckland then changed my mind as being at sea gave one a wider scope of jobs .
i can see where Mike uses those skills, very handy for some of the jobs around the farm, I have done all our rotary clothes line wires using a post office splice.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Hope you didn’t put your penny blacks on them Des ? As you probably know in Australia when a rig is shifted they have to have a marine crew on board , depending on the distance depended the number of crew for watchkeeping purposes this used to get up the noses of the rig workers as thought they were capable of doing. So the OIMs used to have a list of jobs especially small wire splicing halyards and the likes he had prepared. Depending only on how he asked, the crew might or might not do as he had no authority over them and they were there purely to shift the rig legally. There were quite a few strong union men on the coast here as you know and quite capable of stopping the rig shifting anywhere. The original rigs crew including the OIMs were only allowed a maximum of 6 weeks on the coast then had to leave the country, which was good for me as kept me in work especially bringing in and taking ships in and out of Australia being a permanent resident and then a citizen. I can only speak for the offshore agreements 1991 to 2002 . Today believe things are different. Those in the rig world used to being in the North Sea had to come down a peg or two and go by Aussie rules and learn to be a bit more humble or stay away. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

Think have spelt ferrules wrong , picking up John in Oz’s words like feral politicians. JS
For those unaware of the Maritime rules of Australia in the years mentioned the maritime unions consisted of all the shipping world which included stevedores, so could if inclined to do so have more power than most realize , as each would back the other. Today the maritime unions are not once what they were. They are there though as a reminder to any would be politician that thinks he can do as he pleases , that public opinion could change its mind and their membership multiplied , their own jobs would then be untenable. At the end of the day the general public have the wherewithal to change any poor government. That is the one thing that Democracy provides that others don’t. JS the present PM is getting very close to the knuckle when rumours about him changing the GST or known as VAT to others , against all the promises made , and he has yet to denounce in the case of WA , and he is walking a very tight line once more. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

John, Oz maritime union so weak now it has incorporated with the CFMEU which is now the CFMMEU.

But the best splicing of all is slicing the main brace.

[j.sabourn]

As long as you leave that last locking tuck out. JS

[John Arton]

As cadet on the beaverfir I spent hours in the focsle making up wire cargo slings out of old cargo runners using the Liverpool splice. The mate then sold them to the stevedoring outfit in Saint John new Brunswick. He made a tidy sum out of those sales, non of which came my way. By the eighties or nineties the health and safety lot had made it almost impossible for ships staff to carry out repairs to or make up new wires for any lifting and safety gear. Engine room strops had to be labelled and tested along with a register of when and what they were used for. Tricing in pennants had to be examined, tested and renewed dy a suitably qualified person which excluded seafarers.
Rgds
J.A.
https://www.google.com/search?q=live...obile&ie=UTF-8

[Des Taff Jenkins]

John S
I think Albanese has announced that he wont be changing the rules on the GST in Western Aus, as you know both Western Aus and Queensland are touchy on the subject.
Des

- - - Updated - - -

Hi John A.
We all say we would like to go back to sea, but it would have to be the sea time of our past, I doubt we would last nowadays, to much rubbish to put up with.
Des

[j.sabourn]

Des the utter rubbish in the media about the illegal immigrants in the NW the other day. I already have a post on this elsewhere years ago so will not go through the imbecility of it again. I reported 2 illegal immigrant boats off Ashmore reef some years ago direct by radio link to coast watch in Canberra on a Friday night , a recorded msg. This office was closed until 0900 hrs . Monday morning. Meanwhile those same two boats where never reported by the media or coast watch to the general public. Just another hundred or so still walking around today. JS