PREFACE:

This Winch and Wire Handbook has been prepared for the ship operator, engineer, scientist and technician who is involved in the use, and reliance upon, the various combinations of winches, wires and cables found within the oceanographic and commercial communities. This third edition is an update of the previous edition and is an outgrowth of a Winch and Wire Symposium held at the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research in New Orleans, Louisiana on 30 November and 1 December 1999. Several of the authors of the original handbook were speakers at this symposium. All fourteen of the original chapters have been reviewed and updated for this third edition. Two chapters have been removed and partially incorporated into other chapters. Several chapters remain with no changes. The index has been reduced and streamlined. The chapters remaining in this third edition were originally written and subsequently reviewed and updated by recognized authorities in their respective fields. The editing has been limited to providing continuity of material without altering the individual author's content or style.

The first edition of this handbook had its beginnings in late 1981 as a result of conversations with ship users. As a result, it became increasingly clear that some consolidated approach to the handling and understanding of both deck machinery and wires used at sea by the oceanographic community was required. The success of the first edition combined with the appearance of new cable types, which were applicable to deep ocean use, prompted the writing of a second revised edition, published in 1991. Alan Driscoll of the University of Rhode Island, edited the original publication and the first edition. This third edition became necessary because of the continued changing of technology and the need to reprint the manual due to an exhausted supply of copies. Chapters 3,4,6,10 and 11 underwent major rewrites. Chapters 1 and 9 remain as published in the second edition. Chapters 12 and 13 have been removed since much of the subject matter has been covered in other chapters. The remaining chapters have received minor updated changes.

The completion of this third edition could not have been accomplished without the hard work and dedication of many. First credit must be given to Ms. Dolly Dieter of the National Science Foundation for providing guidance and funding for the project. Credit also goes to the Steering Committee established to provide the planning of the update process, the initial review of the manual and direction to the editor for the updating. This committee included:

Jon Alberts, WHOI
Tom Althouse, Scripps
Sherman Bloomer, OSU
Richard Findley, HBOI/U Miami
William Hahn,URI
Kenneth Johnson,MLML
Craig Lee, U of Washington
Robert Pickart, WHOI
Kenneth Smith, Scripps
Michael Webb, NOAA
Albert Williams, WHOI
Mark Holmes, U of Washington

Setting the stage for the update was accomplished at a Winch and Wire Symposium held 30 November and 1 December 1999 at the Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research in New Orleans, Louisiana. The following members of a panel provided summaries for future needs of the scientific community. These were:

Tom Althouse, Scripps
Sherman Bloomer, OSU
Kenneth Johnson, MLML
Craig Lee, U of Washington
Kenneth Smith, Scripps
Albert Williams, WHOI

Speakers at the symposium provided industry's response to the scientific needs. These were:

Jon Alberts, WHOI
Tom Coughlin, Vector
Alec Crawford, Deep Tek, Ltd.
Phil Gibson, TMT Laboratories
Etienne Grignard, Grignard Co.
William Hurley, Glosten Associates
Michael Markey, Markey Machine
Reed Okawa, North American Crane and Equipment Co.
James Stasny, Dynacon, Inc.
Sim Whitehill, Whitehill Manufacturing

Considerable credit must be given to the hard work of reviewing, rewriting and updating the manual. These reviewers were:

Finally, considerable credit must be given to the secretarial support of Mrs. Diane McGannon of URI for her tireless effort of scanning the 550 plus pages of this manual as well as assisting with the layout and printing preparations.

John F. Bash
Editor