metal or wooden appliances in the form of notches and are
used where ropes pass over the edge of a boat to hold them in one
position. _Cleats_ are devices for holding a rope without tying it and
are very useful and numerous on boats. They are either of metal or wood
and by winding the rope over them it may be held securely and yet can be
thrown off at a moment’s notice. _Turnbuckles_ are metal arrangements
for tightening ropes, wires or chains and have hooks or eyes at the ends
with screw-threads which may be drawn together or separated by turning
the central portion of the turnbuckle. On small boats they are seldom
used, but on large and medium-sized craft they are very necessary.
_Eyebolts_ are eyes bolted or screwed in position and to them
turnbuckles, ropes, blocks or other objects are fastened, while
_travelers_ are metal rods over which blocks, rings or things slide or
“travel.” _Travelers_ are usually placed at the stern of single-sailed
boats for the tackle of the sheet, the rope which controls the sail, to
slide on, and they are also used on masts for the sail to slide up and
down upon when it is raised or lowered, as well as in many other places.

A great many people who have used boats or have traveled on them speak
of a vessel’s _rigging_ without knowing what the rigging really is. In
the same way they speak of the “ropes” of a ship and while both terms
may be correct in a way, yet to a sailor the terms would mean nothing
definite. _Rigging_ comprises all the ropes, sails, stays, halyards and
in fact, everything above the decks which has anything to do with the
sail plan or _rig_ of a boat, but to sailors there are two definite
types of rigging, even in the smallest craft. These are the standing
rigging and the running rigging. The latter comprises only the various
ropes, lines, etc., which move when the vessel is in use, while the
_standing rigging_ consists of all the permanent ropes, stays and other
things which remain stationary. To enumerate the various individual
parts of the standin