Combining and updating the renowned ''Rigger's Apprentice'' and ''Rigger's Locker'', ''The Complete Rigger's Apprentice'' meets the changing face of modern materials and technology while remaining true to rigging's best traditional principles and practices. It's much more than a knot book, though the knots a sailor needs are all here. It's a book for sailors who want the satisfaction and hard-cash savings of stepping their own masts, inspecting and maintaining their own rigs, and turning their own tail splices and wire eye splices.It is for boat owners who want to replace an entire gang of rigging themselves - measuring, choosing appropriate wire, turning soft eyes, leathering, and serving. It is for blue water voyagers who want to feel secure in the knowledge that, should a shroud carry away far at sea, they will be able to repair it. ''The Complete Rigger's Apprentice'' is also a free-roaming collection of useful ideas and tips on everything from supplementing winches with block and tackle, to rigging snubbers at anchor, to using pantyhose for an emergency fanbelt. In short, it's the definitive book on the art of rigging, written by its most entertaining practitioner.