View source for Ratlines

{{Short description|Part of ladder on square-rigged ships}}
{{For|the system of escape routes used by Nazis and other fascists after World War II|Ratlines (World War II)}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2014}}
[[File:Mir(22).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Climbing the ratlines of [[STS Mir|STS ''Mir'']]]]
[[File:Christian Radich.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Rat-boards and rigging of ''[[Christian Radich]]'']]
{{wikt | ratline}}
'''Ratlines''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|æ|t|l|ɪ|n|z}}) are lengths of thin line tied between the [[shroud (sailing) |shroud]]s of a [[sailing ship]] to form a ladder.<ref name="The Free Dictionary: Ratlines">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ratlines|title=The Free Dictionary: Ratlines|access-date= 2013-08-29}}</ref> Found on all [[square rig|square-rigged]] [[ship]]s, whose crews must go aloft to stow the square sails, they also appear on larger [[fore-and-aft rig]]ged vessels to aid in repairs aloft or conduct a lookout from above.
==Rat-boards==
'''Rat-boards''' are lower courses in a ratline, often made of slats of wood ([[batten]]s) for support where the distance between shrouds is greatest. In some instances holes in these slats guide and organise low-tension lines between the deck and the rig.
==Knotting==
{{Quote|Although the name [[clove hitch]] is given by Falconer in his Dictionary of 1769, the knot is much older, having been tied in ratlines at least as early as the first quarter of the sixteenth century. This is shown in early sculpture and paintings.|''[[The Ashley Book of Knots]]''<ref>Ashley, Clifford W. (1944). ''The Ashley Book of Knots'', p.&nbsp;214. Doubleday. {{ISBN|0-385-04025-3}}.
</ref>}}
== See also ==
* [[Footrope]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Commons category|Ratlines}}
{{Sail Types}}
[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]]