Boat Sailing in Fair Weather and Foul, 6th ed.

by A. J. Kenealy

I think it my duty to warn the inexperienced boat sailer against gybing his little craft. It is a maneuver that requires skill and care, especially in a brisk breeze. If you must gybe, lower the peak so as to "scandalize" the sail, and haul the boom well aboard as the helm is put up. As the wind shifts from dead astern and comes on the other quarter, carrying the boom over, ease off the sheet handsomely and take care to meet her promptly with the helm as she flies to, which is invariably the case. You can then hoist the peak up again.

If you have women and children aboard the boat, gybing should never be resorted to if the wind is strong. It is far preferable to luff up into the wind and tack and then keep off again.

In coming to anchor or picking up moorings make the boat describe a good sweep, so that she may come up in the wind and lose her way exactly where you wish. You can then either let go the anchor or pick up the moorings, as the case may be. Then lower the sail, furl it snugly, put on the sail cover, stow away everything neatly, haul taut the halyards and the mainsheet, which you should coil up, and leave everything tidy and in readiness for getting under way next time.

When, on a wind with a light breeze and in smooth water, it becomes necessary to heave to to let a boat come alongside, haul the mainsheet flat aft and haul the fore and jib sheets a-weather. If in a fresh breeze, flatten in the mainsheet, let the jib sheet flow, and haul the fore sheet a-weather.

For small open boats the anchor should weigh one pound for every foot of length up to twenty feet length. If the boat is ballasted, another half pound per foot should be added.

If you have the misfortune to get stuck fast in the mud or on a sand bank, you must act quickly. If you ground while running before the wind, lower your sails at once. If you have a dinghy, run out your kedge anchor, with a line fast to it, astern into deep water and try to haul off. Work the helm to and fro. Run from side to side so as to loosen the boat from her muddy bed. If the tide is rising and your kedge does not drag, you will be sure to get off.

If you run aground while close-hauled, let go the mainsheet, put the helm hard over and try to back her off with the jib, at the same time using a boathook or oar to try to shove her into deep water. If you have any passengers, concentrate all their weight as far aft as possible. Send out a kedge, and let all hands clap to on the line. If the tide is on the ebb, you may probably have to wait till high water. Now comes a ticklish crisis. If your craft is beamy, with full bilges, she will take the ground and lie easily as the water recedes. If, on the other hand, your little ship is of the deep and narrow kind and is not provided with "legs," you will have to improvise something in that direction to prevent her from careening on her side. "Legs" are not fashionable on this side of the Atlantic. They are props of wood shod with iron, one end of which rests on the bottom, while the other fits under the channels, or is lashed to a shroud. If you have no other spar available, unbend the head of the mainsail from the gaff. Stick it in the mud jaws downward close to the rigging and lash it firmly to a shroud. List the boat over to the side the gaff is out by guying over the boom and putting any extra weight you happen to have on the same side. The boat will then take the ground in safety.

IV.
THE YAWL RIG.

Though I recommend the catboat as a general craft for knocking about and having a good time in, I am not blind to the advantages of the yawl rig. In fact, the bold young seaman contemplating long cruises and sometimes venturing out of sight of land will find that the yawl rig possesses no mean merit. For single-handed cruising its worth has long been recognized. The sails are so divided that they are small and easy to handle, but this division of sail inevitably decreases the speed and also the weatherly qualities of the boat. If we take a catboat and change her into a yawl rig she will not be nearly so fast, nor will she point so close to the wind. There are fathoms of scientific reasons for this with which I will not bother my readers. Suffice it to say that it has been demonstrated practically over and over again.

But although the yawl-rigged sailing boat of the smallest type has at least three sails—foresail, mainsail and mizzen—yet the last named, after once being set, practically takes care of itself. The mainsail, too, is quite easily handled, the whole sail being in the body of the boat. The foresail sometimes gives a little annoyance in taking it in, if the boat is pitching her nose under in a steep sea. This, however, is unavoidable. Headsails on all sailing vessels, big or little, have never been conducive to dry skins under certain conditions of wind and sea. The yawl is always under control, and in this attribute lies her chief charm. When a squall is bearing down all one has to do is to lower the mainsail and pass a tyer or two round it to keep it muzzled. When the gust strikes the boat she is under easy sail and is not likely to come to grief. If the squall is of exceptional strength, ease off the foresheet and keep the sail shaking a little until you have felt the full strength of the wind. Act then as judgment may dictate. If the blow is very heavy and seems likely to last it may be necessary to take in the foresail and the mizzen, and close reef the mainsail.