“Down with the helm!”—“Haul the sheet!”—“Slack the jib!” and we gave chase in great glee, and catching her soon with the boat-hook, we quickly pulled the dingey on board, and lashed her securely down to the deck, an arrangement that answered well.
One of the great delights of real sailing is the large variety of incident that comes. Mere sitting in a yacht, while others have all the work in a breeze, and all the responsibility, is no pleasure to me; nay, I confess frankly, it is a “bore.”
Once round Dungeness, we could see Folkestone and Dover cliffs; and after a few minutes of rest, to put all in readiness for a fast run before the wind, we steered straight for Dover pier.
The breeze freshened so much that the mizen had to be lowered, and as the wind was now favourable, the only thing to beware of was falling asleep; in which case the boom might jibe (swing-over from one side to the other) with great force, and if it hit me on the head, then I should certainly have either a very short nap or a very long one. [270]
Dover pier was, we must say, welcome to see. Often at other times we had intentionally lengthened the day’s journey, in arriving near a destination sooner than it was absolutely necessary to stop the pleasure of sailing, but now we ran into Dover as fast as the flying wind would speed us.
The friends who greeted the Rob Roy here knew her well from a long way off, as she danced lightly over the sea; for hence had we started months ago, and here was, in one sense, the end of my voyage, as Ulysses said when he came alone from his raft.
“And now two nights, and now two days were past,
Since wide I wandered on the wat’ry waste;
Heaved on the surge with intermitting breath,
And hourly panting in the arms of death.”Pope’s ‘Odyssey,’ Book V.
“Then first my eyes, by watchful toils opprest,
Complied to take the balmy gifts of rest;
Then first my hands did from the rudder part,
So much the love of home possessed my heart.”Ibid., Book X.
I went up to the Lord Warden hotel, meaning to write home, dine, and go to bed after fifty-three hours without sleep; but while waiting for the servant to bring hot water, and with my jacket off, I tumbled on the bed for a moment—then it was three o’clock, p.m.
Soon (as it seemed) awake again, I saw it was still light, and with bright sun shining; also my watch had run down, the water-jug was cold, and it was a puzzle to make out how I felt so wonderfully fresh.
Why, it was next day, and I had soundly slept on the top of the bed in my soaking wet clothes for seventeen hours!