Thomas Fleming Day

“ GENERAL REMARKS If you are going to learn to sail get a small boat. Men who learn in large boats seldom become good helmsmen. Another thing, do not learn in what is called a non-capsizable boat; get a boat that can be upset. The modern outside ballast, non-capsizable, finkeel or semi-finkeel, is a very easy vessel to handle, and it requires very little skill to sail them; as a fact, you don’t sail them; you simply steer them. The old-fashioned, inside ballast, capsizable, long-keel craft was a very different proposition, and it required considerable skill to handle such properly. ”

“ A properly designed and well-constructed boat is perfectly safe in the hands of a sensible person, and if properly used be made to give pleasure not only to the owner but to others. Sailing is one of the safest of our sports; very few yachtsmen lose their lives while boating. It is nothing like so dangerous a sport as bicycling, automobiling or carriage driving. ”

“ If when trimmed to sail on the wind a boat shows herself to be hard on the helm it may be the result of her form, of the position of her ballast, or centerboard, or through having too much after sail. If she gripes—that is, tries to go up in the wind—slack off a little mainsheet, and if she has a jib trim it flatter. If she tries to do the other thing run off to leeward; ease the jib sheets. The worst fault a boat can have is that of carrying a lee helm. Never buy a slack-headed boat; they are an abomination. ”

“ One of my favorite tricks is when the green hand is approaching the shore on a tack to leave him and go below, pretending to pay no attention to his actions. If he is good for anything, he will when the right time arrives go about. Once he has done this by himself he is confident, and will not hesitate to do it again. This is the principal thing to make a beginner understand, [18] that he must depend upon his own judgment and not rely upon yours.
Some persons can never be taught to sail. They can learn to steer perhaps, but never can learn to handle a sailing boat. ”

“ Our modern yachts unlike the old fashioned kind seldom miss-stay, except when attempted to tack in a heavy seaway. The cause of miss-staying is generally either carelessness or haste. Always give the boat a good full and have way on her before you put the helm down. If a boat miss-stay and get in irons do not jam the helm hard over, but keep it amidship until she gathers stern-way then move it over slowly. Remember that the helm when a boat is going stern first acts the opposite to what it does when she is going ahead. ”

“ Knowing that inattention to your work will perhaps result in a spill, you will be constantly on the alert, and you will learn that by quick and proper movements of the helm you can control and maneuvre your boat so as to keep her on her bottom at all times.
If you have your boat ready take a day when the wind is light and steady and get somebody to go with you who understands sailing. Let the old hand tend the sheet while you handle the tiller. ”

“ In rough-water sailing a boat going to windward wants her sheet eased. Do not trim the sails dead flat, nor try to sail the boat very close to the wind; give her what is called a good full, and keep her moving all the time. Remember, that every wave is a hill that the boat has to climb over, and she needs all the drive possible in order to do it. You must learn how to help her with the helm to take these seas easily, first by luffing and then by bearing away.
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A man can only become a good windward helmsman by constant practice and by paying attention to every detail. ”

“ This is what is called meeting her with the helm.
One piece of advice when running before a sea: Never get frightened or rattled, and never look behind you, for the sight of a big sea curling up just ready to drop on the stern will scare any one but a hardened sea-dog. Always carry enough sail to keep the boat racing with the waves, or you are liable to get pooped. But do not carry too much sail, for if you do the boat when on top of a wave if struck, as she usually is in such position by a hard puff, is likely to become unmanageable and get away from you. ”

“ If the hull is all right, buy the boat. The condition of the sail and rigging is not so important, as you can renew these for a few dollars, and it is better to start off with a new sail and first-class gear. A boat with old canvas and weather-wasted gear will not be satisfactory, and it is better to spend a few dollars and get these things right.
In rigging the boat use as few ropes as possible. A green hand, like a canoeman, generally wants to decorate his spars with all the strings he can get on, but the less rope and the simpler tackles you use the easier will it be to handle the craft. ”

“ As the movement of the boat is dependent upon the pressure exerted upon her canvas by the wind, it is necessary that the wind strike the sail on one side and fill it, and that it exert this pressure in a constant manner. ”

“ If you can use tools, and have the materials and space, I would advise building your own boat, as by so doing you will gather knowledge that will prove invaluable to you in your after days. But don’t build from your own design. Such boats are invariably failures. ”

“ A great deal of nonsense has been written and talked about jibing, and it is commonly supposed to be a very dangerous maneuvre. So it is, if carried out by incompetent persons or reckless fools in a bad boat, but if common sense and caution are used there is no danger whatever in jibing a sail at any time. ”

“ The amount of sail that can be carried off the wind depends largely upon the form of the boat and the height and action of the sea. If the boat is of a good form for running and the water smooth you can carry all the sail her spars will stand and she can be steered under. But if she is a bad runner, a boat that roots—goes down by the head—or chokes up forward, she will do better with less sail. On all boats there is a time when they reach their maximum speed running and when [45] they will go along easier and better with less canvas. ”

“ In the first action she is constantly approaching the source of the wind, in the second receding from it. For instance, if the wind is blowing at the rate of 20 miles an hour and a vessel sailing before it makes 10 miles an hour the pressure in her sails will only be equal to a rate of 10 miles. In calculating how much sail to carry the young yachtsman must remember this: That a windward breeze is nearly double the wind’s velocity, that a leeward breeze is equal to the wind’s velocity minus the boat’s speed; so that more sail can be carried off the wind that can be carried on it. ”

“ Before shaking out a reef, if you have a topping lift fitted pull up on that so as to take the weight of the boom off the sail. If the air is damp, or rain or spray knocking about, don’t haul the sail out very taut or tie the points down hard, as the wet will cause the rope and canvas to shrink and strain the sail out of shape. Never leave reefs tied in sail when stowed, as the canvas will mildew and rot.
Jibing is the operation of passing a boom sail over from one side of the boat to the other when sailing off the wind. ”

“ If you get afraid or rattled, as it is called, by the boat getting a knockdown in a puff, just let her come up in the wind and rest, and you will see that she is perfectly safe, and your courage will soon return.
I have taught many—both boys and girls—to sail, and I always put them right at the helm, and insist upon them staying there. If they get in a tight place the beginner will generally want to give up the helm. ”

“ Nothing sounds worse than to hear a man who is sailing a boat call the ropes, spars, etc., by wrong names, and use in speaking of the boat and her actions unnautical language. One of the quickest and easiest ways to learn the nomenclature of the boat is to build and rig a small model. ”

“ The most difficult helming of a boat is off the wind in a tall following sea, and great care is necessary then in steering a vessel. If the sea is very heavy and the wind strong do not try to run directly before it, but beat to leeward, first taking the wind on one quarter, and then on the other. If you run dead before, be careful not to let the boat sheer off the helm on either side, or she will be brought by the lee or broach to. ”

“ If you have to jibe all standing—what is called a North River jibe—that is, with the sheet all off—just as soon as boom goes over put your helm hard the other way; this will throw the boat’s head so the wind will strike the fore side of the sail and break the force of the swing. It is a very dangerous method, unless you are a skillful skipper, and should never be employed except in an emergency. ”

“ You will frequently hear a man when conning the helm of a boat—that is, directing the steering—tell the helmsman to keep off, meaning by that to put the helm up and cause the boat to move further away from the wind or course which the boat has been holding; or else he will order the helmsman to luff, meaning for him to put the helm down, and bring the boat’s bow nearer to the wind. ”

“ A man who with others in a boat plays such tricks as rocking or trying to carry large sail in a breeze, climbing a mast, or any other silly stunt, is a fool, and is not fit to be trusted with any sort of a craft. ”

“ The first and easiest way, which can be performed when the boat is at anchor or lying to a dock, is to hoist the sail up until the reef band is as high as the boom; then take the tack and pass the ends round the boom, pass the ends back again through the cringle several times, if it will go, and then tie hard. Having the tack fast, haul out on the pendant, which should be rove through a beehole or cheek block on the boom; pull on this until the sail’s foot is out taut, but do not pull until the cloth is strained. When the foot is out taut make the pendant fast ”

“ The definitions given are those that define the terms as used in sailing or navigating small craft, and may have a different meaning when applied to larger vessels. It is very difficult to exactly define many nautical terms, as they are words in action, and consequently present different phases, as they are differently employed. In many cases only one who is a trained seaman can comprehend their exact purport or understand their significant application. ”

“ If in a place where the water is generally smooth, the Lark type is an excellent craft to learn in; if where it is rough, get one of those cheap sailing dories. The Rudder Skip is also a good boat, but is somewhat more expensive. Another good boat for a beginner is a 15-foot, half-decked, cat-rigged boat; a boat with considerable freeboard and a water-tight cockpit. Such a boat can be built in first-class style for about $250 or $300. I strongly advise the beginner to use the cat rig, no matter what type of hull he employs.
WIND ABEAM.
Many begin in a rowboat, fitted with a sail. ”

“ A small spinnaker is a great help in steering a boat when running before a strong breeze.
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REEFING AND JIBING By reefing is meant the means by which a sail is reduced in size by rolling up and tying part of it down to a spar. The sail that you will have to reef is the mainsail, as the jib on a small boat is generally too little to be bothered with in that way. You will notice on a sail, stretching across it from luff to leach, a band, or sometimes two or three bands, in which are inserted short lengths of small line. ”

“ A man must have considerable knowledge of boats before he can design a proper one. A deal of money has been wasted, and many have been sadly disheartened and made sick of the sport at the outset because they have built a boat after their own plans, and it has turned out a failure. If you are going to build get one of The Rudder How-to Books, and you will from it be able to construct a good sailing craft for a reasonable price, with the least amount of labor. ”

“ This is doubly so when the subject is one like sailing—an art whose language is wholly technical and almost totally divorced from the common expressions of life. It is impossible to translate sea language into land language ”

“ While they will do, if nothing better can be had, they are far inferior to a properly designed sailing dory or a Lark. If the beginner starts in a poor sailing craft he is apt to get disgusted with the results of his work and give up.
After you have learned to handle a boat under cat rig you can get one with a jib, and learn to sail the more complicated rig. It is not best at first to go in for too many sails, as it means much more gear and [15] this is apt to confuse the beginner, and make the task of learning harder.
DIAGRAM A.—DECK PLAN OF YACHT. ”

“ Always, after coming in from a sail, coil down and clear up all the ends of the gear. Keep your rodes and warps neatly coiled or Flemished, and not heaped in a tangled mass, thrown in any way. Take up on your tackles so that ropes don’t swing loose, but be careful not to take up too hard, if you are not staying on the boat, because if dampness or rain sets in the rope will absorb the moisture and swell, causing it to contract and shrink lengthways. ”

“ To cast a vessel is to turn her head from an anchorage or mooring so as to make her go off on a chosen tack. This is sometimes necessary when anchored between other vessels or close to shore. Supposing it is necessary in order to clear to take the port tack: Haul your mainsail over to starboard, putting your helm the same way. This wall cause her to make a sternboard and her bow will fall off to port. A surer way if at a mooring is to pass a light line to the buoy; carry this aft outside of the rigging to the starboard quarter, then let go the mooring warp and haul in on the spring line. ”

“ Flukes—The broad, arrow-shaped parts of an anchor.
Fore—The part of a vessel nearest to the bow.
Fore and aft—Parallel to the keel. A fore-and-after is a vessel without square sails like a sloop or schooner.
Foul—Entangled or caught, as a rope is foul, meaning it is caught in someway. To foul another boat is to run into it.
Furl—To roll up and make sails fast so that the wind cannot distend them.
Gaff—The spar that extends the head of a main or foresail. ”