“That’s just my case, but I am very anxious to learn how to do it.”
“You will soon learn. One sails a boat as he drives a horse: it is done more by the feeling than by the sight. All you need is practice, for the science is very simple. But I think we had better come about, for I am afraid some of those fellows will get into trouble. Bolly has trimmed his sail in a very careless manner; and, if a puff of wind should come upon him, he don’t know what to do any more than a baby. His sheet is made fast too.”
“I don’t know any better than he does what to do.”
“Bolly has the wind on the beam, but he has his sail trimmed to go as close to the wind as his boat will lie. Now put the helm down, if you please, and we will come about.”
“Which way is ‘down’?” asked Oscar blankly. “Do you mean down the lake?”
“It happens to be so in this instance, but that is not what we mean by ‘down.’ ‘Down’ is to leeward. ‘Up’ is the way from which the wind comes, and ‘down’ the way towards which it blows.”
“Nothing was said about ‘up’ and ‘down’ on the steamer the other day.”
“In a steamer it makes no difference which way the wind blows, and the terms don’t mean any thing in particular. But, in a sailboat, we manage her altogether by the wind. Now put the helm down,” added Dory, as he stood by the sheets.
Oscar did as he was directed; and, as soon as he shifted the tiller, all the sails began to shake.
“There is some mistake about that,” said Oscar, as he began to restore the tiller to its former position. “That knocks all the wind out of the sails.”