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This diagram illustrates some of the angles formed by the boom and the keel line of the boat in different positions:
Running free, or before the wind
Wind abeam Port tack
Wind abeam Starboard tack
Pointing into the wind Port tack
Pointing into the wind Starboard tack.
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Row-boats
There is a certain caution in the use of boats which you will always find among sailors and fishermen and all persons who are using them constantly. Such a person instinctively steps into the middle of the boat when getting in, and always sits in the middle of the thwart or seat. This is a matter of instinct with seafaring people, and so is the habit of never fooling in a boat. Only landlubbers will try to stand up in a small boat while in motion; and, as for the man who rocks a boat "for fun," he is like the man "who didn't know the gun was loaded."
Rowing
Row-boats are propelled either by rowing or by sculling; and rowing is either "pulling" or "backing water." The usual way of rowing is to "pull" and to do so, you sit with your back to the bow and propel the boat by pulling the handles toward your body and so pressing the blades of the oars against the water toward the stern, while pushing with your feet against a brace. In backing water you reverse the action of the oars, pushing the handles away from your body and pressing the blades of the oars against the water toward the bow.