USCGC Eagle display.

USCGC Eagle display.

The line in the middle of this picture carries three sections of baggywrinkle.

Baggywrinkle is a soft covering for cables (or any other obstructions) to reduce sail chafe. A sail is any type of surface intended to generate Thrust by being placed in a Wind &mdashin essence a vertically-oriented Wing. Chafing when used as a nautical term describes the process of wear on a line or Sail caused by constant rubbing against a hard usually metallic surface There are many points in the rig of a large sailing ship where the sails come into contact with the standing rigging; unprotected sails would soon develop holes at the points of contact. Baggywrinkle provides a softer wearing surface for the sail.

Baggywrinkle is made from short pieces of yarn cut from old lines that have been taken out of service. Two parallel lengths of marline are stretched between fixed points, and the lengths of yarn are attached using a hitch - similar to a cow hitch - called a "railroad sennit". The cow hitch is a Knot (specifically a hitch) The cow hitch comprises a pair Sennit is a kind of flat cordage made by plaiting thinner strands of rope or grass This creates a long, shaggy fringe which, when the marline is wound around a cable, becomes a large hairy cylinder.