Hampton Roads and tributary waters are all well adapted for yachting and boating, but all their reputation as a yachting centre has yet to be made. For boats or small yachts there exists an inland watercourse through the Canal of the Dismal Swamp from Hampton Roads to the chain of sounds that skirt the sea-coast of the Carolinas, the waters of which are for the most part shallow, but well suited for small sailing craft, and more particularly for small steam yachts drawing less than 6 ft. of water. Albemarle, the most southerly of these sounds, is broad and deep, and well adapted for the navigation of yachts of the largest tonnage. Access to the ocean may be had at Hatteras Inlet, or still farther south for smaller vessels at Morehead City, where the navigator must take to the open sea if he would continue his voyage still farther to the south. More than 200 miles of open ocean must be passed before Charleston, South Carolina, is reached, which port is well suited for small yachts and sail-boats, many of both classes being already in use as purely pleasure craft. Southward from Charleston is good ground for sail-boats and small steam yachts, numerous islands forming protected channels through which one may pass as far south as Savannah in Georgia. At Brunswick, in the same state, is a bay with a large area of protected water formed by the shelter of islands in which yachts of modest size thrive, but apart from convenience for shooting and fishing little use is made of any craft unless by the more venturesome tourists from the Northern States.
Florida is more the home of the steam yacht than of the sailing craft; you may ascend St. John's River for a distance of 260 miles in a steam yacht; at a few places where this beautiful stream swells into a lake boating may be pursued with no small degree of satisfaction. In the Bay of St. Augustine one finds many small yachts and a very agreeable place to sail them, a yacht club, and many evidences of civilisation in the way of opportunities for sport and pleasure-seeking.
There is also in Florida an extended system of inland navigation, which at present is but partly developed; soon, however, the entire length from north to south may be traversed in a vessel of moderate draught. Of course steam-yachting in such situations is by far the most satisfactory. The Gulf Coast in general does not present a very favourable field for yachting except under steam; in summer it is too hot, and in winter the winds are not steady nor well suited to the taste of the average yachtsman.
There is a deal of semi-protected water along the shores of Mississippi and Louisiana, and also some at widely separated bays in Texas, so that, with a few exceptions, yachting has not been established; at New Orleans, however, there is a yacht club that has for its field some of the large inland lakes where yachts of moderate size can be used with satisfaction.
The Pacific coast is not well designed for yachting on account of the extreme infrequency of harbours, and the generally rough sea found off the coast from Puget's Sound as far south as Point Conception. Puget's Sound is said to be a most favourable place for all marine sports, fishing and shooting as well as yachting; it is surely large enough, and also there is no lack of depth of water, but some time must elapse before the dwellers along its shores will find sufficient time and money to indulge in any pastime. The Bay of San Francisco is well adapted for yachting with vessels of moderate size, the winds are mostly from seaward and are strong, even more so in summer than in winter. There is a yacht club in San Francisco with a large membership and a goodly number of yachts, but most of their sailing is done inside. The scarcity of coal, and consequent large cost, seems to hinder the introduction of steam yachts, but a large number of naphtha launches are used with evident satisfaction.
South of Point Conception the conditions are far more favourable for yachting than in the north; but the want of good harbours, well distributed, will always serve as a block to the sport. It is true that, owing to the wonderfully quiet waters, a shelter is not essential, for a gale of dangerous force is a rarity from a direction that would render anchorage unsafe; but it is the unceasing swell of the ocean that renders landing difficult, and makes felt the absence of a harbour over at least two-thirds of the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
Santa Barbara channel is a charming expanse of water which in summer is admirably calculated to afford great pleasure to the lover of yachting. Fogs are rare, winds steady and moderate in force from S.S.W.; but in winter there is such an entire absence of wind that sailing is wholly impracticable.
On the islands that form the southerly limit of Santa Barbara channel may be found several pretty harbours with most interesting surroundings in scenery, as well as fine fishing and shooting. Forty miles eastward of the Santa Barbara Islands lies the beautiful island of Santa Katalina, where there is a fine harbour for small yachts; and as this island is somewhat removed from the influences of the ocean it may become, in the near future, a favourite centre for all aquatic sports. San Pedro, the port of Los Angeles, has what passes for a harbour, in which may be seen a few yachts and smaller pleasure craft, the embryo squadron of the Los Angeles Yacht Club. San Diego boasts of the finest harbour in South California, and, taken in connection with the neighbouring islands, it is truly a very attractive spot for yachting, which, as yet, has not made much advancement; but by the recent organisation of a yacht club it is hoped that the sport will become well established, and afford pleasure to the many tourists who flock to that blessed climate, where sun and air invite one to spend one's days in comfort and in love with all nature. It will be years, however, before yachting on the Pacific coast will have reached anything like the proportion that it has assumed in the east.
It will be easily seen that the Atlantic coast of the United States and British Provinces offers the greatest facilities for both boating and yachting. In almost every situation there can be found large areas of sheltered and semi-sheltered water specially suitable for small yachts and boats; and it is at once seen that all these expanses of protected water are easily accessible from the open ocean, where those disposed and properly provided may find as large a range of sailing or cruising as their fancy or means will admit. The very favourable distribution of wind, the infrequency of fogs, and the rarity of storms during the yachting season, all combine to make the conditions for general yachting as advantageous as possible—in fact, nothing more perfect could be found even if we search the world over.
From June 1 to the middle of September only one storm of any importance may be expected; it is from the north-east, lasting two days, and occurs about August 20. About the middle of September a gale from the south-east is expected, but it is short in duration, not over eight hours, and if other storms come from the east or north-east, they are always foretold two or more days in advance by the Weather Bureau, prompt notice of them being published in every daily paper in the section threatened; north-east, east, north-west storms are always heralded by the same office; the south-east storms are the only ones that come unforetold. Thunderstorms and sudden squalls are becoming more and more infrequent on the northern and middle Atlantic coast. It is thought that the settling of the country, with its network of railways and telephonic wires, exerts a dispersing influence on all local electrical storms; but, be that as it may, they are now little felt where once they were of almost daily occurrence in the height of summer.