Fig. 159.
A set of boats to sail around in a circle is not hard to make (Fig. 159). Before beginning work read carefully Marking, Rule, Square, Saw, and look up any other references.
Take two sticks from 2' to 4' in length, and from ¾" to 1¼" square, of any fairly strong wood. Halve these sticks at the middle (see Halving) and fasten them together in the form of a cross, strengthening the joint (weakened by the halving) by nailing or screwing on a piece of board above or below, as shown in Fig. 159.
Fig. 160.
Fig. 161.
The boats can be whittled from a piece of board on edge and fastened to the ends of the sticks by halving (Fig. 160), as well as nails or screws, or they can simply be flat pieces of board shaped as in Fig. 161 and screwed or nailed on top of the sticks. In the first case the halving had best be done before the sticks are fastened together. One mast with a simple leg-of-mutton sail will answer for each boat. A little experimenting will show you how much to haul in the sheet. Each boat must, of course, "come about" and "jibe" once in every rotation of the apparatus. Sandpaper with rather fine sandpaper (see Sandpaper), and paint as you wish (see Painting). The whole affair is balanced and pivoted on top of a pole in the same manner as the windmills just described, which see.
