Belaying pins
Many people know belaying pins from nautical books or pirate novels. Wooden belay pins are always at hand on sailing ships, so they are often misused as improvised weapons or as means of discipline, especially for the shanghaiing of additional crew members. Nowadays, belaying pins are mainly used on traditional sailing vessels and square-rigged tall ships. Onboard these ships, belaying pins are used for attaching the lines of the running rigging, such as halyards, stretchers and sheets. The upper part of the cylindrical pinstick is rounded at the head and …












