The Hands Haven't Changed... Charlie Keeble's hands splice a rope now the same as they did when he started as an apprentice sailmaker in 1917. The same way sailmakers and sailors have spliced rope since man first went to sea under sail. But some things have changed. "Smell the tarred rope?" Keeble smiled, "It's always been a part of sailing. They don't make it anymore and this is probably the last box of it I'll have." k l l / a p v i r --