The choice of a boat—Description of the various parts of a cutter. More , probably, could be written on boat-sailing than on any other sport; for this pursuit owes much of its extraordinary fascination to the fact that its science is practically infinite; the most experienced sailor has always something new to learn, and is ever acquiring fresh wrinkles. Of all inanimate objects a boat is surely the most beloved of its owner; there is something almost human in its ways and vagaries; and whereas

A man cannot be even an amateur sailor until he knows his ropes. A great number of knots, hitches, bends, et cætera , are employed by sailors; but the skipper of a small fore-and-after will find that the different manipulations of cordage which we will now describe will suffice his needs. The ropes in ordinary use are what are known as hawser-laid ropes, and are thus put together. Several threads of hemp, called yarns , are twisted together to form a strand . Three strands twisted together from

Leeway and lateral resistance—Heeling—Balancing sails—Tacking—Action of rudder—Longitudinal resistance—Deep keel or centre-board. Any object floating on the water will have a tendency to drift before the wind; but a boat, with its scientifically constructed hull, sails, and rudder, can be so guided as to sail with the wind on her quarter or abeam, or even close-hauled, as it is called, that is, with the wind meeting her at an angle of about forty-five degrees. Fig. 20 represents the deck plan of

Open and half-decked boats—Ballast—The centre-board—False keels—Lee-boards—Counters, square and pointed sterns—Battened sails. The following observations apply chiefly to small boats, which can be rowed as well as sailed, and be easily handled by one man—that is, boats from the smallest size up to about eighteen feet in length. Open and Half-decked Boats. —A small boat is often half-decked, that is, she is provided with a small deck in the bows and a narrow deck on either side, low coamings bein

Spritsails—Dipping lugs—Standing lugs—Leg-of-mutton sails—The balance lug—The Una rig—Balance reefs—The sloop—Rules of open boat sailing. The Spritsail rig is much used on small boats all round the coast of England. It is an exceedingly handy and safe rig, and the spritsail will set flatter and is better adapted for turning to windward than almost any other form of sail. It has no boom or gaff, but is extended by a long diagonal spar called the sprit , which tapers away at the two extremities, t

The bowsprit—Backstays—Main halyards—Tack tricing line—Lacing mainsail to boom—Maintack tackle—The gaff—Foresheets—Forehorse—Jib sheets—Mainsheet-horse—Topsail—Spinnaker—Strops for blocks, etc.—The Yawl —The Ketch . As this is a treatise on small craft, we will speak of the cutter, yawl, and ketch-rigged yachts only, for the schooner rig is only adapted to a larger style of vessel. With the object of familiarizing the reader with the names of those portions of her rigging common to nearly all bo

To get under way from mooring or anchorage—Setting sail—Close hauled—Tacking—Missing stays—Waring—Squalls—Shifting jibs—Jibing—Scandalizing mainsail—Hove to—Reefing—Returning to moorings—Running aground. Each rig has its own little special tricks of sailing differing from those of other rigs; but the main rules are the same for all, and one who has thoroughly grasped the mechanical laws that govern the relation of a boat’s sails, hull, and rudder to wind and water, and has learnt how to sail one

Towing a dinghy—Berthon boats—To prevent a dinghy bumping against an anchored yacht—Foul anchor—Mooring—The drogue—The management of open boats in a heavy sea—Management of a yacht in a rough sea—Boarding—Inventory. In the last chapter we have described the principal manœuvres that must be employed on a small yacht. This chapter will contain a variety of wrinkles connected with the management of a yacht or boat which may be of service to a novice. Towing a Dinghy. —If a yacht is running before a

Ballasting a yacht—Lead on keel—The anchor—Setting up rigging—Ventilation and dry rot—Mildew in sails—Stretching new sails—Laying up a boat for the winter—Inventory. Ballast. —In ballasting a yacht, whatever material be used, certain general rules must be observed. In the first place no ballast should be stowed at either extremity of a vessel; it should, as far as is possible, be concentrated in the midship section. This cannot be done unless a heavy and therefore compact form of ballast such as

The well—Arrangement of cabin—Leaky decks—Cabin lights—The forecastle—Cooking stoves. The available space in a small yacht is generally partitioned off into an open well, a cabin, and a forecastle. The steering is done from the well, and all the sheets are belayed to cleats within easy reach of it. The well is surrounded with seats and lockers. The after locker is sometimes used as a sail room: but in a very small yacht the forecastle answers better for this purpose, and the warps, etc., can be

Board of Trade regulations concerning lights, fog signals, steering and sailing rules, pilot signals, etc.—Custom House clearance on returning from a foreign port—Explanation of the terms used in giving steering directions, etc. Any one who ventures to take charge of even a small yacht should be familiar with the Board of Trade regulations for preventing collisions at sea, and not only with those rules which have been laid down for his own guidance, but with those applying specially to steamers,

Mercator’s chart—The mariner’s compass—The spirit compass—Variation—Deviation—The log ship and line—The lead line. As soon as the amateur leaves the bay or river with whose features he is well acquainted and ventures to take his vessel along a coast unknown to him, he must provide himself with the necessary instruments for finding his way and make himself familiar with their use. As the management of large yachts is not within the scope of this book, it will be unnecessary to treat here of navig

Cross bearings—Tacking across the sea—Leeway—How to allow for a current—To find the hour of high water. Having in the last chapter described the various instruments which enable a mariner to direct his course, we will now give some further explanations of the method of employing the chart and compass. Cross Bearings. —When a vessel is in sight of land, her position can be calculated with exactness by several methods. First. By cross bearings of two known objects. If two well-known landmarks are

Use of the instruments—Forecasting weather from natural phenomena, etc. Weather wisdom is more necessary to the man who travels along the coast in a small vessel than to any one else. A large vessel is constructed to encounter any weather with safety, and she must take fair and foul as she finds it; but the safety of a small craft often depends entirely on an accurate forecast of the wind. When the skipper of the little yacht undertakes a voyage, say from Harwich to Rotterdam, he has to pick his

The new Y.R.A. rule of measurement—Sail area—Time allowance—Rules of racing—Methods of starting. Other things being equal, the speed of a vessel increases with her size; so it has always been the custom to handicap yachts competing in a race by giving time allowance to smaller craft. In order to carry out this handicapping, it is of course necessary to have some general rule of measurement by which the size—so far as racing is concerned—of any yacht can be determined with exactitude. It has taxe

Those nautical terms whose meanings have already been defined at some length in this work, will not be repeated in this glossary. Aback. —Said of a sail when its sheet is to windward and it drives the vessel astern. About. —On the other tack. A-lee. —The position of the helm when it is put in an opposite direction to the wind. A-peek. —When the chain is hove taut and the vessel is over her anchor. A-trip. —Said of an anchor when it is hauled clear of the ground—same as weighed . Balance Reef. —A