Not P but Moby-Dick (71)

[Mike Jing]

A rope of nine inch diameter seems unlikely to me, so I'm leaning towards
the girth or circumference, but I know nothing about nautical cordage.


On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 11:14 AM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Rope, including wire rope (which was not yet used in nautical applications
> in Melville's maritime days) is generally referred to by its diameter. A
> nine-inch long rope of half inch, or nine inch, diameter might be used as
> an item in an art installation, but otherwise occupy space in a landfill
> somewhere.
>
> On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 9:32 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> So does the "nine-inch" refer to the circumference or the diameter, or is
>> it something else? I searched around and found a lot of mention of
>> "nine-inch cable" in books, but could not find such information.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 6:34 AM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > Standard rope gauges were determined by the number of folds made in the
>> > rope walk. Standard sailing ship rigging usually varied from 1–1/4 inch
>> dia
>> > to 10 inches in diameter, the latter used for towing another ship, tie
>> up
>> > to docks, and far less often for anchors, chain being preferred for
>> anchors.
>> > 2
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Thu, Feb 15, 2024 at 3:31 AM Mike Jing <
>> gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >> From Chapter 89:
>> >>
>> >> First: What is a Fast-Fish? Alive or dead a fish is technically fast,
>> when
>> >> it is connected with an occupied ship or boat, by any medium at all
>> >> controllable by the occupant or occupants,—a mast, an oar, a nine-inch
>> >> cable, a telegraph wire, or a strand of cobweb, it is all the same.
>> >>
>> >> Here, the "nine-inch" refers to the girth of the rope, is that correct?
>> >>
>> >> Previous translations interpreted it as the length, which seems
>> obviously
>> >> wrong to me.
>> >> --
>> >> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >>
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>