Ventilation and Dry-rot.—One cause of dry-rot is the use of unseasoned timber in the construction of a vessel, but this fatal evil has its origin most frequently in want of ventilation.
The air should permeate freely every portion of a vessel’s woodwork. The ballast should be so stowed that it does not interfere with the ventilation of the hold; and holes, which can form an ornamental pattern, must be drilled at intervals along the panelling of the cabin.
Mildew in Sails is always the result of carelessness. It is not wet that causes mildew, but dampness combined with want of ventilation. Thus, if a sail be furled when it is damp, the inner folds will mildew. A wet sail should always be furled loosely, and it should be shaken out and dried at the earliest opportunity. If it has been lying furled in a damp state for some time, do not wait for the sun, but shake it out and give it air, even if the rain be falling.
Do not, because you have furled your sail dry and put its waterproof cover on it, imagine that you can leave it thus with safety for an indefinite time. The damp will get into it in some way, and half the mildew in sails is due to a blind faith in sail-covers.
Remember that the light cotton of which the topsails and spinnakers of small yachts are made is much more liable to mildew than flax canvas.
Stretching New Sails.—If a new sail is not treated with proper care when it first comes from the makers, it will stretch irregularly, forming a great bag in one place, and having tight wrinkles in another. If a sail be thus spoiled at the outset, the fault can never be remedied, and it will remain a badly standing sail to the end.
Do not put too great a strain on any part of a new sail. For instance, while bending the mainsail, do not haul out its peak and clews along the gaff and boom with powerful tackle. Have them out taut, of course, but do not try and stretch them out at first by main force so as to save yourself future trouble. Let the whole sail stretch equally.
It is a good plan, and the delay will be well repaid, not to get under way at once with one’s new sails, but to remain at anchor for a few days, and haul the sails up for some hours each day. They will then, with their own weight and the slight action of the wind swinging them about without filling them, stretch in a gradual and uniform way.
After this you will find your mainsail slack along the gaff, and you can tighten up your peak lashing and lacing.
The first day that you get under way with your new canvas should be a fine one. If it comes on to blow hard, and you have to reef your mainsail, it will certainly be pulled out of shape. You must not expect your sails to stretch in a day. You will have to tighten up the lacing and haul out the earing many times before your mainsail has stretched its full, and the oftener the better for your sail’s flatness.