All seamen dread a lee shore, as it is a most dangerous shore to approach, from the fact that the wind is doing its best to blow you on the rocks or beach. But the windward shore can be approached with safety, because the wind will keep you off the rocks, and if it is blowing hard, the land will break the force of the wind.
In a canoe or shell the boatman sits either directly on the bottom, or, as in the shell, very close to it, and the weight of his body serves to keep the boat steady, but larger crafts seldom rely upon live weights to steady them. They use
Ballast—that is, weights of stone, lead, iron, or sand-bags, used to balance the boat and make her steady.
As has been said before in this chapter, the sail is a big canvas kite made fast to the boat and called a sail, but the ordinary kite has its covering stretched permanently on rigid sticks.
The sail, however, can be stretched to its full extent or only partially, or it may be rolled up, exposing nothing but the masts to the force of the wind. To accomplish all this there are various ropes and attachments, all of which are named.
Fig. 126.—Sail and sheet.
