G. L. Blake

“ There is, indeed, every temptation to the sport in this favoured region. No mal de mer can haunt its smooth waters; there is no tossing about in exposed anchorages, but instead the mooring by grassy banks odorous with flowers. Gales lose their terrors and zephyrs gain additional charm on these placid and sinuous waterways and toy lakes. Yet there is room enough and to spare for all the evolutions the boat-sailer delights in, and the exploring cruises dear to the owners of small yachts, while life on sailing houseboats is sufficiently tempting to the laziest lotus-eater. ”

“ A more unfavourable racing day than that which opened the Royal Club Regatta has never been experienced even on the unutterably fluky Firth. Sudden spurts of wind, calms, a very long spell of what was quite a deluge of rain, deafening thunder, blinding lightning and depressing gloom, made up the sample of weather vouchsafed to the competitors during the time that the 'sport' was progressing. The big cutters mustered in full force, and had a light easterly breeze, which gave a reach down the Clyde. ”

“ The river runs through far-reaching marshes, a branch leads through a wilderness of water and tall reeds, the brown tops of the latter trembling against the clouds from our low point of view. Water, reeds, clouds; a kestrel hovering overhead, our boat gliding on clear, shallow water over trailing weeds and shoals of startled rudd; then the wider channel of Heigham Sounds, and at last the expanse of Hickling Broad. ”

“ With 'Calluna' crippled, the 'Satanita' and 'Britannia' had a match for the club prize, and not at all unexpectedly 'Britannia' was winner. She scored by no means a bloodless victory, and her crew had a scare when 'Satanita' struck into a breeze about half water between the Muglins and Kish, and went streaking past like a flash of greased lightning. 'Satanita' was pluckily sailed, but had not wind enough to wake her up and, when the match was stopped at the end of the second round, 'Britannia' had a lead of 4 mins. ”

“ Inspiriting racing marked the opening of the Irish fixtures at Bangor, and the Royal Ulster Regatta attracted all the big cutters. The wind was fresh from the north-north-east, slab reefs were down in mainsails and sharp-headed topsails set. A thrilling and eventful contest followed a perfectly judged start, and 'Britannia,' 'Satanita,' and 'Valkyrie' formed first flight in a plain sail round the Lough as far as the South Briggs flagboat, where the last named lost her place through one of her hands getting knocked overboard in a gybe. ”

“ Still they are near enough to enable us to hear, above the fighting winds, the shrill cries of the men to 'Let draw,' or 'Hold on, Pat,' the rattling of blocks, the vicious flap of the canvas and shock of the heavy boom as each vessel goes about, and soon the rattling of cables as anchors are dropped, followed by such silence as the gale permits, while the men seek some rest after a heavy battle with nature. ”

“ But in single-handed boat sailing this humiliating sense of dependence and inferiority disappears. For the first time in his life, no matter how frequent may have been his cruises on bigger vessels, he finds himself the bona fide master of his own ship, with that delightful sense of unlimited responsibility and co-extensive omnipotence which is the acme of human enjoyment. The smallness of his craft does not in the slightest degree diminish the sense of his importance and dignity ”

“ The lofty peak of our wherry's sail holds the air over the bushes, and we keep slowly moving along, while smaller boats are either becalmed or, catching sudden puffs, lay over at alarming angles. It is a Saturday evening, and very many little yachts, from the open lugsail sailing boat on which a high-roofed cabin-top has been placed to the 4- or 8-ton yachts of smarter build, are making their way down to more open waters for the happy and healthy week end, most blessed to the person whose occupations are sedentary. ”

“ Steam yachts having abnormally high speed are occasionally seen in a large yachting fleet. There are always a few men, who, from a love of seeing their names in print and their movements and those of their yacht recorded in the newspapers of the day, find that by tearing up the waters of our bays and harbours with yachts which show a speed of 25 miles an hour, their fondest hope is realised; for every eye follows them, and every reporter wastes his pencil in recording the performances of the speedy craft. ”

“ He gives the order to weigh anchor, and, as if by a magical impulse, he finds that the being upon whom he has lavished so much affection has become a thing of life, has spread her wings, and is carrying him into the unknown. He paces the deck with telescope under his arm, in the proud consciousness that he is absolute master of her movements, and that with a wave of his hand he can direct her to the golden islands of the west or to the fabled homes of Calypso and the Cyclops, according as his fancy may suggest. No emperor or autocrat has ever been so conscious of his own majesty. ”

“ The entrance of the squadron into Narragansett Bay is one of the most beautiful of all imaginable marine pictures; the ranks are then complete, often numbering 200 vessels, by steam and sail. Every available craft is pressed into service by the dwellers of Newport and vicinity to go out to meet the arriving yachts; steamers laden with passengers, tugs, trading schooners with their decks black with unusual freight, the ubiquitous cat-boat, all assemble in waiting off the Lightship at Brenton's Reef to welcome the approaching fleet that is already coming into view off Point Judith. ”

“ The invasion of fields of sport by the engine did not then recommend, nor has it since recommended, itself to the hearts of true yachtsmen; all that is so attractive in yachting seems to vanish as soon as the element of uncertainty is eliminated: all the poetry of motion, all the sense of freedom from disagreeable surroundings, as well as all interest in winds and water—all are sunk when the sail is changed for the engine as a propelling force. ”

“ Probably the proudest moment of the life of anyone who loves the sea, not even excepting the analogous epoch of his marriage morning, is the one in which he weighs anchor for the first time on board his own vessel. It is true that from the first hour he could call her his own his existence has been a dream of delight, unless perhaps for the passing cloud cast by the shadow of the cheque he has been required to draw for her payment. As soon as she has come into his possession, her ungainly naked bulk, as she lies upon the mud, assumes divine proportions ”

“ Kingstown is the headquarters of the Royal Alfred Yacht Club, the Royal Irish Yacht Club, the Royal St. George Yacht Club, and several minor sailing clubs, including the Water Wags.
The pleasantest part of a coast to reside on is, perhaps, that which has a sandy beach shelving gently down into deep water. Along such a beach in fine weather boating, bathing, and fishing are easy and enjoyable occupations; the wavelets ripple, making soft music with the pebbles, and the little skiff lies half in the water waiting to be stepped into and pushed off. ”

“ Most of the larger yachts and pleasure wherries have centreboard sailing dinghies, and it is more convenient to take ours through the narrow arch where the tide-impelled current sweeps upward to diffuse itself over the terminal lakes, twenty-five miles from the sea by river, three miles by land. ”

“ The principal thing one must be careful about is not to fall overboard, and in moving about the ship one should never leave go one holdfast till one's hand is on another. It is also advisable not to expose one's head to a crack from the boom as one is belaying the jib and staysail sheets in tacking, for it might very well knock one senseless.
In conclusion, I would submit that to anyone wearied with the business, the pleasures, the politics, or the ordinary worries of life, there is no such harbour of refuge and repose as single-handed sailing. ”

“ As has already been said, there exists every facility in our Australasian Colonies both for cruising and racing. These colonial waters are indeed the only ones in the world where yachting can be enjoyed among our fellow-countrymen on summer seas and in a temperate climate during that portion of the year when yachts are laid up in the mud in England and yachtsmen shiver in the bitter winds, the fogs and frosts of Northern Europe. ”

“ Let him also bring his rifle, for the island is swarming with wild goats, and if he can steel his heart against the piercing and humanlike screams to which they give utterance when wounded, he may, by getting up to the highest ground and stalking them down the mountain-sides, secure more than he will find it possible to get back to his yacht, be he never so impervious to powerful odours. ”

“ From the rail there is nothing to see but a flat marsh and a winding river. But from a boat on the river the view assumes an altogether different aspect. If one pleases, the tall and swaying reeds, brown topped and feathery, may bound the scene, hide the rail, and provide one with the loneliness of nought but water and sky—a veritable solitude ”

“ With regard to the designing and construction of steam yachts, it seems to be the aim of every designer and builder to try his hand at this branch of naval architecture, and, as might naturally be expected, the resultant vessel is too often an example of semi-successful work of the novice, clumsy in form, construction, and machinery, rude in design and ill fitted to its duty. Nearly all the deep-sea pleasure craft are built on the Delaware, and as a rule are staunch, seaworthy vessels with good speed, and generally satisfactory performance in all situations. ”

“ Yachts enter by a channel 11⁄4 mile wide, pass under a remarkable rock resembling the Duke of Wellington's head, and come to Governor's Pass, a narrow channel, 178 feet across, which opens out into an inner harbour three miles in length and more than half a mile wide, surrounded on all sides by high mountains which give complete security from every wind. The harbour is full of fish of every kind, from the little New Zealand herring to the flat stingaree resembling an enormous skate with a formidable spiked tail. ”

“ An exceptional year, alike in regard to weather and sport, for not within living memory has there been so fine a spring, summer and autumn, and there is no previous record of such a sequence of eventful and stirring racing. It is highly gratifying that sport so truly national in character as yacht racing enlisted more general interest during the past season than has ever previously been the case; in fact, it can further be said that the doings of the 'Britannia,' 'Valkyrie,' 'Satanita,' 'Calluna,' 'Navahoe,' and 'Iverna' arrested world-wide attention. ”

“ At every port along its course the New York Yacht Squadron receives large augmentations of both sailing and steam yachts, so that at last, when the fleet anchors in the harbour of New London, it is an armada of pleasure craft laden with pleasure-seeking yachtsmen, all in accord to make this demonstration the brightest and gayest event of the season. ”

“ Travelling to the southern end of the North Island to the harbour of Port Nicholson, we come to Wellington, the capital, where the Port Nicholson Yacht Club have their headquarters.
An annual regatta is held here in January. The harbour, though magnificent for steamers or vessels of large tonnage, is subject to the gales and sudden squalls which blow through Cook's Strait as through a blast pipe, and therefore not always to be trusted. Not a few sad accidents have happened to small craft sailing on the waters of the harbour. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The complicated mysteries of existence reassume their primæval simplicity, while the freshness and triumphant joyousness of early youth return upon you as you sweep in a dream past the magic headlands and islands of the Ionian Sea or glide along the Southern coast of your native land, with its sweet English homes, its little red brick villages and homesteads nestling in repose amid the soft outlines of the dear and familiar landscape. ”

“ It must be admitted that comfort and pleasure can be, and doubtless are, found on many steam yachts; for instance, a yacht of 125 ft. water-line, by 19 ft. beam, with a well-kept flush-deck, a comfortable deck-house forward, a large awning spread over all, the deck set out with Persian rugs, tables, and comfortable rattan chairs, and a number of congenial friends present, who are not tired of life and each other—I think no one will deny that pleasure in the highest degree could be realised with such surroundings. ”

“ When your whole thoughts are intent on the management of your vessel, and the pulling of the right instead of the wrong string, it is impossible to think either of your breakdown in your maiden speech in the House of Commons, of your tailor's bills, or of the young lady who has jilted you. On the other hand, Nature, in all her beauty and majesty, reasserts her supremacy, and claims you for her own, soothing your irritated nerves, and pouring balm over your lacerated feelings. ”

“ Not far from Hickling, and connected with it by Heigham Sounds and a narrow dyke, is Horsey Mere, so near the sea that the sea-water at times wells into it in the shape of salt springs. At the entrance of the mere a small cruising yacht is lying, the men having gone ashore for a walk over the sand dunes to the sea. The mooring rope is fast to a deck scrub thrust into the bank, and a heifer, having found out the roughness of the scrub, is leisurely rubbing herself all over and most thoroughly against the bristles. ”

“ One or two men manage to eke out a hermit's existence in certain of the sounds, but are chiefly dependent on the periodical visits of the Government steamer; otherwise the only living things on the land are the wingless kiwis and kakapos, and an occasional seal lying upon the rocks. Probably no one visiting New Zealand will care to omit a trip to these sounds; but let the yachtsman leave his vessel snugly berthed in the harbour of Lyttelton or Port Chalmers, and pin his faith to the screws of the Union Steamship Company's well-found vessels, rather than to the sails of his own craft. ”

“ The quartet began the race at 12.5, and went reaching down the Lower Hope, with flowing sheets and carrying a swirl of ebb-tide with them. 'Valkyrie' had made a clever start, and keeping to the Essex side was first to square away in Sea Reach, and get spinnaker set to port. 'Britannia' had been edged off to the heart of the fairway, but about Thames Haven she was drawn in across 'Valkyrie's' wake, and straightened on a down-river course directly she had angled the latter's wind. ”

“ The breadth of the interlying ocean and the disparity between the winds and water of the two countries should make no barrier to closer relations, to the end that the noble science of naval architecture and its most useful teachings may find in the progress of yachting a fit subject to bind more and more closely two nations of one blood, one language, and one desire—to attain to that which is highest and best even in sports and pastimes. ”