BY THOMAS FLEMING DAY NEW YORK AND LONDON: The Rudder Publishing Company 1901 COPYRIGHT, 1901 , BY Thomas Fleming Day All Rights Reserved. TO THOSE WHO HAVE SPENT MANY HOURS WITH ME ROUND THE CLUBHOUSE FIRE...

"Books were made that man might pass his knowledge to his fellows; through them he speaks to a vast audience, and his power to enlighten is only circumscribed by the ability to impart this knowledge in lucid and interesting language." ON THIS BOOK My reason for writing this book is, that it is wanted; my excuse, thirty years' experience. In those years I have handled many boats, upon many waters. You will find this book very different from other works on the same subject. In the first place, I b

"The tar's a smart tar that can band, reef and steer, That can nimbly cast off and belay; Who in darkest nights finds each halyard and gear, And dead reckoning knows well, and leeway; But the tar to please me must more knowing be."— Dibden —(Modernized). ON SEAMANSHIP I have been all my life a lover of the sea; an observer of its natural and social conditions; a student of its phases and fabrics; but while my mind in its long and wide search has touched upon almost every subject connected with o

"Is it come?" they said, on the banks of the Nile, Who looked for the world's long-promised boat, And saw that the lines he had drawn on a tile Would make a good cruiser—if it would float, Thro' pyramids, temples, and mummies stuffed, We vainly search for this ideal plan; We fear the Burgess of Pharaoh's bluffed— Yet there was hope when that day began. ON BOATS IN GENERAL Men frequently come to me, and ask, "What sort of a boat would you recommend me to have?" My reply always is, "What for?" In

"Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea!" Coleridge. ON ONE-MAN BOATS This is a subject upon which volumes of rot have been written by men who ought to have known better. We can forgive a man of no experience for writing absurdly upon a subject, but when those who have had experience in handling craft alone come out in print in advocacy of an utterly unsuitable type of vessel it is about time for somebody to call them down. It is the books of such men that have made common the i

"The sea and the wind are not our enemies. They seldom destroy our vessels without our connivance. It is our own folly, neglect or carelessness, that opens the way for the attack." ON SEAGOING BOATS The first and absolute necessity of a seagoing boat is freeboard; the second is a complete deck and water-tight openings. Given these two things and you have an almost safe craft. There is no question of capsizing a well-designed yacht of to-day by power of the wind. Our outside ballasted boats canno

"The present tendency of canvasing is to increase the number of sails on cruising yachts, and to decrease on racing craft. Experience teaches that in both cases we are doing the right thing. Ultimate speed is found in single sails; ease of handling, safety and mobility in divided sail." ON RIGS In discussing rigs suitable for cruising we may at once dismiss from consideration several that are in common use, but which are not adapted for service in our waters, or are distinctly inferior by reason

"When blows the breeze we spread our sail And save the gasoline, But when the gentle zephyrs fail We start the old machine; And with a clank of shaft and crank Go rattling into port— And this is what, to be quite frank, Some folks consider sport." ON SAIL AS AN AUXILIARY One day, while standing talking to a builder, we were joined by the owner of a naphtha launch who was desirous of having his vessel rigged as a yawl, and had come to get the builder's opinion as to what the change would accompli

Precaution is the mother of safety. ON REEFING This is a short chapter on a short subject, but one that is of interest to the green hand. Men often ask when it is time to reef? It is always time to reef when you think it is. The moment you would feel easier and your boat handle better by having less sail spread, is the time to shorten down. Never mind what anybody else is doing or what anybody else tells you. It is your boat, not some other boat that is worrying, and yourself, and not some other

These weights should be (excepting kedge) increased 25 per cent. when anchors are for use on a broad shoal model, and can be decreased if model is very sharp and the hull light. There is no advantage to be had by decreasing the weight of the spare in any case. Anchors are seldom forged to weigh exactly the above weights, but the matter of a few pounds either way will not effect the service....

From Catalogue of A. S. Morss, Boston, Mass....

"Then let his vessel feel the strain When wars the gale along the main; Strong in his trust of shroud and stay The seaman holds his leeward way, Spreads the reef'd sail on buckling mast And proudly dares the stormy blast." ON RIGGING When we speak of a vessel's rigging we mean everything that supports the spars and is employed in setting and trimming the sails. Rigging is divided into two classes—standing and running. The first is the portion that remains stationary, and whose office is to hold

Borne o'er a latent reef the hull impends, And thundering on a marble crag descends; Her ponderous bulk the dire concussion feels, And o'er upheaving surges wounded reels— Again she plunges! hark! a second shock Bilges the splitting vessel on the rock. —Falconer ON STRANDING This is a subject upon which I can pose as a master. If any man has been ashore more times than I have, I should like to meet him and spend an evening comparing notes. One of my favorite amusements is to sail into places whe