Dr. John More on Chain Plates. (puff out Ted's deff a bit.) The lines that hold a mast up, where they attach to the vessel, This is called the chain plate. sometimes they are stanless steel that go deep inside the hull, they have to carry the full weight of all the ships sails and rigging. Chain may have been used to help hold things down at one time.

On the old time sailing ships, men would climb up the side ropes (ratlins) to get to the yards (things square sails are hung from). On the bottom of these ratlins, where they attached to the ship, there were a series of wood blocks rigged as sort of an early block and tackel rig (called deadeyes). These were adjusted to set the angle of the mast. The bottom of these were attached to the chain plate. Most modern sailing vessels now use wire rigging and a turnbuckle to adjust the tenson. However th ere some advantages of the old deadeye system. (like they never ever fail without lots of warning, turnbuckles can just snap. Surpriese! Mast comes tumbling down. This is very bad.)

As lots of these terms come down to us over the ages, some of the orginal prouncouition (sp?) have been lost. To properly pronounce some of these terms it helps to have a large wad of tobaco in your mouth. If you don't chew, then a couple of large pieces of potato will work. Just put them in your mouth and say,

ForCastle = 'focsl (mumble spit.) Top sail = T'sail (dribble) etc.

Enjoy,

Fadac