Vessel on port tack, allow leeway to the right.
In this connection it might be well to urge the young mariner against keeping his boat all a-shiver and bucking against a head sea, and all the while sagging off bodily to leeward. It is better far to keep the wake right astern and keep way on the vessel—unless, of course, the weather is too violent.
The direction and rate of tides and currents have also to be allowed for when correcting a compass course. Thus in crossing Long Island Sound from Larchmont to Oyster Bay in thick weather, the magnetic course as given in the Government chart would have to be rectified and allowance made for the condition of the tide, whether ebb or flood, or your boat might never reach her destination.
XVI.
CHARTS.
There are no better charted coasts in the world than those bounded by the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The United States Navy has done and is doing magnificent hydrographic work. The charts issued by the Government are accurate, reliable, up-to-date and reasonable in price.
The top of a chart when spread out in front of you so that the reading part appears to you like the page of a book, and you can read it from left to right, is the North, the bottom is the South, the side on your right is the East, and the side on your left is the West. There are always compasses on a chart, either true or magnetic, by reference to which and with the aid of the parallel rulers the bearing of one point from another may easily be ascertained by the following method:
Lay the edge of the rulers over the two places; then slide them (preserving the direction) till the edge of one ruler is on the center of the nearest compass; when this is done read off the course indicated by the direction of the ruler.
To measure the distance between two places on the chart spread out the dividers till their points are over them, then apply to the graduated scale at the bottom of the chart, which will give you the required distance. This method, it should be remembered, is only accurate when applied to the large coasting charts. When measuring distances on general charts which extend across many degrees of latitude, the mean latitude of the two places must be measured from.
There are certain signs and abbreviations used on charts which are easily comprehended, such as hrd for hard, rky for rocky, etc. Lighthouses and lightships are clearly marked, and shoals, rocks and other obstructions to navigation are plainly defined. All the marginal notes on the charts should be made familiar by the navigator. I need scarcely say that charts, instruments and books of sailing instructions should be kept dry. There are cylindrical tin boxes for charts which are quite cheap, and these I recommend.
