MY STORY: MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE US NAVY

AN EXAMPLE OF A MONKEY'S FIST

By JOHN R. BAKER

 

CHAPTER FIVE: WHAT THE HECK’S A MONKEY’S FIST?

When O’Toole got to Pearl Harbor she had a wonderful collection of monkey’s fists stowed in her gear locker.  We had just come westward through the Panama Canal.  (I’m certain after 60 years the statute of limitations has expired, so I’ll tell you more.) 

Now, a monkey’s fist is made from a chunk of lead intricately wrapped with light line to about the size of a baseball, and thus it can  be accurately tossed from pier to boat or vice-versa.  Next, a hawser is affixed to the line and then the whole thing can be hauled back to the thrower.  In this way the linehandlers moved us through the Panama Canal from lock to lock position as the funny little lock locomotives connected with our cleats and pulled us along.

We knew Panama Canal monkey fists were probably the world’s best — after all, so many of them were made!  Anyhow, when a fist and line crashed down on our deck — snick–snick — one more  prime piece of ground tackle joined our collection before the hawser could be bent  on.  This turned out to be our very best source of supply.  Of course, being a left arm rate, I was merely an observer, not a line handler.  I can still hear those lock workers, wishing all of us bon voyage and smooth sailing.