You have a ring block and a deck, but you don't have the shackle to hit them together. We will learn how to make one, in a few minutes and without any seamanship tools. It is a shackle for emergency use, available to everyone and will temporarily replace a metal shackle.
For higher tensions, you can make a much longer shackle and multiply the turns as needed. It is important to know that a 4 mm Spectra or Dyneema rope has a strength before breaking of approximately 1.6 tons. With the textile shackle we are going to make, we will be able to pull about 1/3 of this load, but we will reserve it for reasonable tensions like a possible spinnaker sheet or a mast foot block.
For your shackle, you need:
- A few centimeters of hollow braid in Spectra or Dyneema
- Electrician's tape
- Scissors or a knife
1 - We will use electrician's tape to wrap the end of the rope. The objective is to stiffen it so that it can cross the hollow braid. We transform our rope into a temporary needle.
2 - We are going to make a braid with two frames of equal length.
3 - We will take the taped end and present it 1 cm before the fold of the rope, to pierce and cross the end. We will pull on the sliding end so that the loop is about the diameter of the rope. In this case, 4 mm. We thus obtain our sliding loop.
3 - We reposition the ends so that they have the same length.
4 - We will tie a simple knot (full fist knots) positioned about fifteen centimeters back. Experienced sailors will be able to make a Turkish cap. It is more appropriate, but more time-consuming.
5 - To use the shackle, simply widen the loop, pass the knot inside and close by tightening the loop.
