"It is not a dangerous operation. If the wind blows hard, you need a long rode, which means a long cable. In a blow, there is a heavy sea, and the motion of the boat causes a constant jerking on the anchor. With a short rode, it may lift it so that the flukes are detached from the bottom, especially if it be rocky. The longer the cable, the less the slant of the rope. In Lake Champlain, the water is four hundred feet deep in some places."
"Where, Dory?" asked Ash.
"In the middle of the lake, between Essex and Wing's Point; and it is nearly that off Split Rock Point. Fifty fathoms, or three hundred feet, would be a very long cable in these waters: but it would be useless anywhere out in the middle of the lake. It is almost three hundred feet deep within a stone's-throw of Thomson's Point. The moral of all this is, that you must know the bottom of the lake as well as the top when you want to anchor. As a general rule, you must run into some bay for the purpose."
"But a fellow may be caught out in the middle of the lake when the bad weather comes," suggested Ash.
"Then he must take his chances; but he need not be caught if he looks out in season. If it looks like bad weather, get under a lee if you can. Don't anchor off a lee-shore if it can be avoided. Look out in season. That will do for anchoring till we get caught in a tight place. Now we will get under way. Take the stops off the mainsail."
"What is a gasket, Dory?" asked Ash.
"Some boatmen call the stops a gasket. Properly, a gasket is the rope used to fasten the sail to the yard or boom when it is furled. Sometimes the gasket is made of strips of canvas sewed together, or ropes plaited into a flat shape. I want you all to have your stations, so that, when the order is given, it can be executed without calling any names. Archie Pinkler and Con Bunker may take the throat-halyards, and Syl Peckman and Hop Cabright the peak-halyards. These are your stations in hoisting or lowering the mainsail. Ben Sinker will stand by the main-sheet, overhaul it, and make it fast when told to do so. Ash Burton will take the wheel."
The students designated took their places; and the mainsail was hoisted, though the skipper was obliged to give a good many directions. Then he required them to lower the sail, and go through the routine again. The second time the work satisfied him, and it was done in half the time it required the first time.
"This is precisely the way they get a ship, or any larger vessel, under way," continued Dory. "The first thing is to set the principal sails, never including the head-sails."
"What are the head-sails?" asked Con.