"Right. And the act of getting under way, as we did, is called 'casting on the starboard-tack,'" added Dory.
"Well, we couldn't cast on any other," suggested Hop, as they were all seated in the standing-room.
"It would have been just as easy to cast on the port-tack as on the starboard," replied the instructor.
"It seems to me that it is just as the wind happens to hit the sails on one side or the other," added Hop.
"There is no happen about it. I cast on the starboard because it gives us the longest tack in this pond. When any boat or vessel is at anchor, she points her nose directly into the wind. Then it is as easy to cast on one tack as the other."
"But after the mainsail is set, the boat keeps flopping one way and the other," said Con.
"If you make fast the main-sheet, it will. In that case, you are to take advantage of the right moment to trip the anchor and set the jib. It is sometimes necessary to sway off the boom to get her in position."
By this time the Goldwing was nearing the shore on the west side.
CHAPTER XXIX.
ALL OF DORY'S CLASS BECOME SKIPPERS.
"Ready about!" shouted Dory, with more vim than he usually put into his orders.