Art of Sailing

Maritime Heritage Art Contemporary art with a traditional theme.

Deadeyes sounds a terrifying name - it’s derived from the appearance of the two circular blocks of wood that have drillings which look like empty eye sockets before the rope is belayed through them.  The purpose of them is to allow the rigging that holds the mast up to be swigged up taut - a job that is done these days with bottle screws which don’t look nearly as interesting! The rope has to pass through all the holes in a particular order. The deadeyes pictured here belong to a modern classic sailing boat the 44 ft Pilot cutter Ezra, built by Working Sail and now chartering on the West coast of Scotland.