“Just notice how your canoe comes almost to a dead stop every time she sinks between two seas, and you won’t feel quite so sure that you’re running faster than the sea is.”
The boys saw that Charley was right. The canoes were so light that they lost their headway between the seas, and it was evident that they were in danger of being overtaken by a following sea.
“Tell us two or three more dangers, just to cheer us up, won’t you?” asked Joe, who was in high spirits with the excitement of the sail.
“There’s the danger of rolling our booms under, and there is a great deal of danger that Harry’s canoe and mine will broach-to when our rudders are out of water.”
“What will happen if they do broach-to?”
“They’ll capsize, that’s all,” replied Charley.
“What had we better do?” asked Harry. “There’s no use in capsizing ourselves in the middle of the lake.”
“My advice is that we haul on the port tack, and run over to the west shore. The moment we get this wind and sea on the quarter we shall be all right—though, to be sure, we’ve got more sail up than we ought to have.”
The canoes were quite near together, with the exception of the Twilight, which was outsailing the others; but even she was still near enough to be hailed. Harry hailed her, and ordered the fleet to steer for a cove on the west shore. As soon as the wind was brought on the port quarter the canoes increased their speed; and although the Twilight made more leeway than the others, she drew ahead of them very fast. The wind was now precisely what the canoes wanted to bring out their sailing qualities. The Sunshine soon showed that she was the most weatherly, as the Twilight was the least weatherly, of the fleet. The Midnight kept up very fairly with the Sunshine; and the Dawn, with her small lateen-sail, skimmed over the water so fast that it was evident that if she could have carried the big balance-lug of the Sunshine she would easily have beaten her.
The canoes were no longer in danger of being swamped; but the wind continuing to rise, the boys found that they were carrying more sail than was safe. They did not want to take in their sails and paddle, and though all of the sails except the Dawn’s lateen could be reefed, nobody wanted to be the first to propose to reef; and Harry, in his excitement, forgot all about reefing. The wind, which had been blowing very steadily, now began to blow in gusts, and the boys had to lean far out to windward to keep their canoes right side up.