BOSUN’S BAG

RESTORING BLOCKS

hen was the last time you noticed a set of blocks ‘clacking’ as you hoisted the gaff or sweated in your sheets? In case you don’t know, that’s the sound of patent sheaves whose bearings have stuck in one place and whose pins have worn. As the rollers are forced unwillingly over the resulting ‘flat’ on the pin, they clatter as they go. The friction is awful and it all happens through lack of basic maintenance. Yet looking after wooden blocks is one of the least onerous jobs on a boat. I actually enjoy