Hand over Hand
.To go or to come up hand over hand, is to travel with great rapidity, as climbing a rope or a ladder, or as one vessel overtakes another. Sailors in hauling a rope put one hand over the other alternately as fast as they can. In French, “Main sur main.”
“Commandment fait aux matelots qui halent sur une manœuvre pour quʹils passent alternativement une main sur lʹautre sans interruption, et pour que le travail se fasse plus promptement.”—Royal Dictionnaire.
