Fig. 44.
It adds considerably to the safety of a small vessel if her well be made completely water-tight. In this case there must be an additional pump in the well, to throw out any water that gets into it.
It is very convenient to have an awning that will fit over the well when the vessel is at anchor. An additional room is thus obtained which will be found very useful to perform one’s toilette in.
The raised roof over the cabin is generally covered with canvas and painted white. This effectually prevents leakage.
It is not easy to keep a small yacht’s decks quite water-tight, and every one who has been to sea in a little craft has passed through the unpleasant sensation of having the water falling drop by drop upon his face, as he lies in his bunk at night, from the seams in the planking between the raised cabin roof and the waterways.
In dry weather, water should be freely poured on the decks morning and evening, to prevent them shrinking.
A black marine putty is now made which in our experience serves as well as pitch, and as it does not require heating is much more convenient to use. Wherever a leak is discovered in the deck seams while on a voyage, stop with cotton (using a blunt knife, not a caulking-iron) and fill up the seam with this putty.
Tagg’s patent caulking, which swells as the planking shrinks, seems to be very well adapted for the decks of small yachts, and can be recommended as the best method of preventing leakage, next to covering all the deck with canvas, an unyachty and unsightly way of meeting the difficulty.