where ropes, chains, cables, anchors, and similar gear were kept. Such hawsers Henry had never seen before.
“How big are they, anyway?” he asked.
“Those are twelve-inch hawsers,” said the quartermaster. “The captain thinks there’s nothing like a twelve-inch hawser for towing disabled ships, unless it’s those heavy wire cables. You just can’t break them. It’s very difficult to get them aboard of another ship in a heavy sea, though. They haven’t the buoyancy of manila hawsers.”
“I see,” said Henry. “But why do you call those manila hawsers twelve-inch hawsers? They look to me only about four inches in diameter. Maybe they area bit more. But they aren’t anything like twelve inches.”
“Oh, it’s the circumference and not the diameter of a hawser we reckon by. You are right in thinking that hawser is nearly four inches in diameter. It’s also about twelve inches in circumference.”
“To be sure,” said Henry. “The circumference of a circle is always a little more than three times the diameter.”
As they made their way back from the bow, where the hawsers were stored, the quartermaster pointed out to Henry the hammock-hooks overhead, and showed him some of the hammocks