SOUNDINGS
Are very regular upon the American coast; and if the time of tide be known, and the note concerning soundings, on the margin of the chart, consulted, one can often, when caught in a fog, tell quite correctly the position of the yacht, its general place upon the chart being known.
The Lead-Line.—For the purpose of getting soundings, the lead-line must be used, of which there are two kinds,—the dipsey lead, i.e., the deep-sea lead, and the hand lead. The deep-sea lead consists of a lead sinker, usually about twenty-five pounds in weight, the lower part of which is hollowed out, and filled with tallow, when it is said to be armed: this is for the purpose of bringing up a specimen of the bottom which it strikes upon in its descent, often thus aiding the navigator in determining his position. The line to which this lead is attached is coiled up in a half-barrel or tub, and is usually a hundred fathoms in length, a fathom being six feet. It is generally as large as one's little finger, and is laid up in what sailors call a "left-handed coil," the opposite to most other ropes in common use. It is marked up to twenty fathoms in the same manner as the hand lead-line, and then one knot for every ten fathoms, and a strip of leather for each five fathoms. The manner of casting the deep-sea lead is to bring the yacht to the wind, and as nearly stationary as possible, when the lead is taken by hand outside of all the rigging, forward on the weather-side, the tub remaining aft; the person forward then casts the lead as far as possible ahead of the yacht, singing out at the same moment, "Watch! Oh, watch!" and the person aft at the tub allows the line to be taken out by the lead in its descent as fast as possible; and when it reaches the bottom he hauls it carefully up till his hand hits upon the knots, the number of which determines the depth; the yacht is then kept on her course, and the line hauled in over the stern, and coiled down in the tub, as it comes in, for immediate use again. When the lead arrives on deck, it is unbent from the lead-line, the arming examined and scraped off, ready for a new cast.
Heaving the Hand Lead.—The hand lead is used in a different manner, and is the most perfect instrument yet devised to warn the yachtsman or sailor of unknown dangers and the rapid shoaling of the water, or approach to some unknown or unexpected shoal.
Custom has, from time immemorial, marked the lead-line in a peculiar and, the writer does not hesitate to say, ridiculous manner, which can be understood by the initiated only. But that it may be done according to "Gunter," and in "ship-shape and Bristol fashion," the following explanation is given:—
Heaving the lead is done usually by a person who is placed in the main-chains for that purpose, on the weather-side, or, in smaller craft, on deck, forward, just clear of the shrouds. It is thrown whilst the yacht is under way, and being kept on her course, and the results announced in a singing voice by the one casting; and, when the water becomes too shoal, the yacht is put about, and stands off from the danger which she was approaching. The one casting the lead takes hold of the line at about a fathom from it, and swings it to and fro till enough velocity is gained to swing it over his head; when at the right angle it is released, and flies forward in the air, striking the water far in advance of the yacht and the bottom, before the yacht reaches the place where it struck the water, so that the line may be kept perpendicular for a moment from the yacht to the bottom of the sea, and the distance measured by means of marks upon the lead-line, which are as follows:—
At 1 fathom one knot.
2 " two knots.
3 " three knots.
4 " nothing.
5 " a white rag.
6 " nothing.
7 " a red rag.
8 " nothing.
9 " nothing.
10 " leather with one hole.
11 " one knot.
12 " two knots.
13 " nothing.
14 " nothing.
15 " white rag.
16 " nothing.
17 " red rag.
18 " nothing.
19 " nothing.
20 " leather with two holes.
Those that are marked are called "marks," the others, "deeps;" and a lead-line as above consists of eleven "marks" and nine "deeps."
If the mark of three fathoms is near the surface of the water, the caster sings out, "By the mark three!" or, if such be the case, "By the deep eight!" and, should he consider the depth to be a quarter or half more than any particular number, he sings out, "And a quarter six!" or, "A half five!" &c. If the depth is estimated to be three-quarters more than any particular number, he calls it a quarter less than the next higher number; thus, at two fathoms and three-quarters, he sings out, "A quarter less three!"
For all practical purposes a lead-line twenty fathoms in length, but marked only to ten fathoms, will be the most useful for yachts and small sail-boats. This line should be marked as follows:—