The only gauntlets to be run are West Bay, which can be very troublesome at times, and the Race off Portland Bill, which can generally be avoided by hugging the shore of the Bill. Weymouth, again, requires no words of encomium. It is as well to anchor off Portland or go right up Weymouth Harbour, where the yacht will have to take the ground.
From Weymouth to Swanage is an afternoon's sail, but it is scarcely worth while going into the bay, unless the weather is boisterous from the west or south-west, when the yacht will find a very good berth free from the turmoil of the elements. There is a race off St. Alban's Head, which can always be avoided by keeping well out a couple of miles. When Swanage has been left behind, the course should be steered for the Needles. Once inside the Solent, Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight, and Lymington on the Hampshire coast, Cowes, Ryde, Bembridge, and Portsmouth all open up ports and land, not only different in scenery from any that is visible in the North, but spots and localities interesting on account of the history attached to them.
The Dutch coast with its canals, Norway with its fiords, and Sweden with its canal running from Christiania to Stockholm, all merit a description did these pages permit, and are well worth the time taken up in a summer cruise; but whichever way the yacht's head may be turned, or whatever seas may be chosen to be cruised over, the following few hints may prove serviceable.
In cruising along an unknown coast, it is always well to keep a good look out for buoys or boats at anchor inshore. It may be a great help in cheating tides. For instance if the yacht is struggling against a strong tide, an inshore eddy may be discovered from the way the boats are lying, and so, by making use of it, a long journey may be shortened and time saved.
Barges and coasters, especially small ones, should be watched. They, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, know the tides, currents, and eddies thoroughly, and the best course to be steered from one point to another. If a short cut can be taken, the coaster is sure to know it, and he can be followed through narrow channels with the greatest safety. A coaster rarely draws less than 6 feet when full up with cargo, or a barge less than 4 to 5 feet.
When sailing along the bight of a bay, with the wind off the shore and close-hauled, because in the bight itself the wind may come off a point or so free, the yacht's sheets should not therefore be checked, but she should be still kept a clean full and bye; for, as the further point of the bay is reached, the wind will be sure to head and come off the land, and instead of being able to round the head close in shore, most likely the yacht will have to be kept away, and much valuable time and distance lost.
When passing high land, with the wind off the shore, care should be exercised should a gully, valley, or ravine open out, for fear a sudden squall may take the yacht aback, and a topsail and topmast be sent flying. The wind is very much influenced by the lay of the land, not only in the matter of the direction in which it blows, but also the power of its gusts.
Regard should always be paid, on entering land-locked waters from the open sea, to the force of the wind. Many open-sea sailors, from being accustomed to a fair amount of wave disturbance whenever the wind has any strength in it, are misled when sailing in enclosed lochs by the smoothness of the water, and so, misjudging the force of the wind, are apt to carry on longer than is desirable, to the danger of spars.
When cruising in the vicinity of yachts racing, the yacht should be kept well out of the way to leeward; and if by chance she happens to find herself to windward of an approaching racing yacht, her head should be turned in whatever direction will seem the best for not taking the wind out of the racer's sails.
When coming to in unknown or any other roads or anchorage, the prevailing wind should not be forgotten, and the spot chosen for letting go the killick should be one from which a speedy retreat can be made should necessity compel. An outside berth in a close-crowded anchorage is therefore always the safest, though, perhaps, not always the most agreeable. The writer hopes that these few wrinkles may prove as serviceable to the readers of these pages as they have been from time to time to himself.