Sailing

by E. F. Knight

When a yacht is lying at anchor with her dinghy afloat, it often happens that the wind and tide being opposed to each other, now one and then the other influences the dinghy most, so that she wanders in erratic fashion as far as her painter’s length will allow, now scraping along the yacht’s sides, and now thumping into her stern, much to the damage of the new paint.

The patience of the novice is often severely tried by such tricks on his dinghy’s part. Half a dozen times in the night he leaves his snug berth and leaps on deck to shift the dinghy’s painter from one part of the vessel to the other, first to one side, then to the other, then to the bows, and then back to the stern again, but all to no avail, for as soon as he has turned in, the dismal “thud,” “thud” recommences.

If the yacht be a large one, and the bowsprit be therefore sufficiently high above the water, the dinghy’s painter can be made fast to the bowsprit end, and the dinghy will thus keep clear of the yacht. But if the vessel is a small one and this plan is not practicable, the following method generally proves successful. Drop an iron bucket with a line attached to its handle over the dinghy’s stern. The bucket sinking in the water will offer so much resistance to the tide that the dinghy will ride to the tide only, and the wind will not have power to blow her over the tide against the yacht’s sides.

Foul Anchor.—If a yacht is at anchor in a tideway, the slack of the chain is very liable to get round the anchor and foul it when the vessel swings at the turn of the tide. It is therefore advisable to get in the chain at slack water until the yacht is right over her anchor. As soon as the new current has set in and the yacht has swung to it, the necessary amount of chain can be given her.

Mooring.—If it is blowing hard, or the holding ground is bad, it may be necessary to moor, that is, to ride to two anchors in different directions. Having come to with one anchor, pay out chain and let the vessel drop astern until you have out twice the length of chain you intend to ride by. Then let go the other anchor. Slack out the last anchor chain and heave in that of the first till the same scope of chain is on each. Moor with open hawse towards the direction from which the greatest pressure of wind or current is expected, that is, with a line drawn between the two anchors opposite that direction.

The vessel in swinging round to the tide may get a foul hawse, that is, one chain may take turns over the other. By steering the vessel, setting a sail, or by other means adapted to the particular circumstances, so tend her while she is swinging at each turn of the tide that she never makes a complete revolution, but swings backwards and forwards in the same semicircle. Foul hawse will thus be avoided.

To Unmoor.—Heave in on one anchor and pay out chain to the other, get the first anchor on board, then heave in on the other anchor. To ride easily in heavy weather put rope springs on the chain cables.

A coir rope makes an excellent cable for a small yacht. It floats on the water, and has plenty of spring in it, so that the yacht rides very lightly.

The Drogue.—When a small yacht cruises on broad and stormy seas such as the North Sea, it is advisable to have a drogue or deep sea anchor among her inventory. Many a small fishing boat has been saved from destruction by this precaution.

A drogue is a conical bag of stout canvas sometimes having its mouth bent on to an iron ring. When a little craft is far from the land and so high a sea is running that she cannot sail or even lie to with safety, the drogue is attached by a bridle to a hawser and let go over the bows like an anchor. It offers so much resistance to the water that as the vessel is driven astern by the wind the strain on the hawser keeps her head to wind and sea, and she rides safely and easily. A tripping line is attached to the pointed end of the drogue so that it can be capsized and easily hauled on board.