Not P but Moby-Dick (71)

[Mike Jing]

For whatever reason, it's not showing up on my end.


On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 4:31 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> See my historical find that rope went to 10 in diameter… for like moving
> boats.
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Feb 16, 2024, at 3:33 PM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > 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
> >>>
> >>
> > --
> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>