SPLICES
When your bend or loop is to be permanent, splice your lines together or put in a loop with an eye splice.
EYE SPLICE
To make an eye splice, unlay (untwist) the strands in the end of your line as far as you think necessary, and splice them into the standing part of the line by tucking the unlaid strands from the end into the standing part. Learn to estimate the length of line you need to unlay for your complete splice so that you won't finish short or waste a lot of line by cutting it off. An original round of tucks, plus two more complete rounds, is enough for an ordinary eye splice
With large lines you must whip the ends of the strands before you start, otherwise they will frazzle out and be trouble. Large lines also must be seized at the point where unlaying stops, or you will have trouble working them. With any line up to about 2 inches, you can open the strands in the standing part with your fingers. The fid must be used for larger lines.
When working the fid in making an eye splice. Lay out your line along the deck with the end to your right. Bend it back until the eye is the desired size, and shove the fid through the standing part at the correct spot, to raise the top strand. With your right hand shove the fid through, away from you, holding the line with your left hand. Grab the raised strand with your left finger and thumb, and hold it up while you pull out the fid. Drop the fid, pick up the proper strand in the end, and tuck it through the raised strand from outboard toward you.
Your first round of tucks must be taken in proper order to avoid getting fouled up. Separate the strands in the end and hold them up. The middle strand (facing you) ALWAYS tucks first. Be sure to keep the right-hand strand, on the side of the line that is toward you. Tuck that one next, OVER the strand you just tucked the other one under, and under the strand just below it.
Now turn the whole thing over. You can see that you now have only one strand from the end left untucked, and only one strand in the standing part that doesn't already have a strand under it. Don't forget to tuck the last strand also from outboard toward you.
The first round of tucks is the key to making perfect eye splices; the rest is easy. Just tuck each strand from the end over the strand of the standing part that it is now above, and under the next strand below that one, until you tuck each strand twice more besides the original tuck. Three tucks to each strand in all is enough.
SHORT SPLICE
Lines are short-spliced together when a slight enlargement of the diameter of the line is a matter of no importance. Slings are made of pieces of line, with their own ends short-spliced together.
The only trick to short-splicing is in seizing the ends together so that each strand in one end lies along a corresponding strand in the other end. After unlaying the strands, you simply butt the two ends against each other until you see that they are interlaced correctly.
With large lines you now must put a temporary seizing where they join, to keep them from coming apart. It is better to do that with small lines, until you get the hang of holding them together while you tuck.
Once your seizing is on, tuck over and under the same way you finish off an eye splice. Three tucks on either side ofthe seizing are plenty.
