Belaying Pin

A belaying pin is a device used on traditional sailing vessels to secure lines of rigging. Their function on modern vessels has been replaced by cleats, but they are still used, particularly on square rigged ships.

A belaying pin is a solid metal or wooden bar with a curved top portion and cylindrical bottom part. It is inserted into a hole in a wooden pinrail, which usually runs along the inside of the bulwarks as shown (although free-standing pinrails called fife rails are also used). Although the belaying pin can be lifted out and removed, it is usually left in place.

To secure a line, it is first led around the bottom of the pin and then the top, to form a complete turn. It is taken once more around the bottom of the pin, and then three cross-shaped turns are applied by looping the line round alternate sides of the top and bottom. This pattern can be remembered as "one hug and three kisses". Other arrangements are possible, but ensuring that the same pattern is used on a particular ship means that sailors know what to expect when releasing a line fastened by someone else - possibly in the dark.

Once the line is secure, the belaying pin is also used to store the excess. The line should be coiled, starting from where it is secured so that the twist can be worked out of the free end. The completed coil is held next to the pin, and the short length of line between the pin and the coil is pulled through the centre, twisted once (or more if necessary to shorten it) and hooked over the top of the pin, holding the coil in place. The twist is very important as it prevents the "short length of line between the pin and the coil" becoming longer by pulling more line from the coil, eventually dumping the stored line on the deck.