Boom (sail)

“ The flying-boom is the furthermost pole projecting from the ship's bow, and the sail which is furled upon it is called the flying jib. Many narrow escapes had I on the flying-boom, having to cling to it for dear life when the ship dipped in the trough of the sea, causing me to be drenched through and through; then like a fearless bird she would rise quickly toward the sky, only to descend just as rapidly in the hollow of the next oncoming wave. Giddy, sick, and faint have I furled with my mate the flying jib, pinched with the cold and wet. ”

“ BOOM-BRACE PENDANT. A rope attached to the extremity of a studding-sail boom, and leading down on deck; it is used to counteract the pressure of the sail upon the boom.
BOOM-COVER. The tarpaulin, or painted, cover over the spars.
BOOMING. Sound of distant guns; it is often, but wrongly, applied to the hissing or whistling of shot.
BOOM-IRONS. Are metal rings fitted on the yard-arms, through which the studding-sail booms traverse; there is one on each top-sail yard-arm, but on the lower yards a second, which opens to allow the boom to be triced up ”

“ They are set by means of booms, which slide along in two hoops screwed into bands on the yards. These booms vary in size, of course, with the ship, and also with the height at which they are carried; but even a top-gallant stun'sail-boom, the size of an average scaffold-pole, which has to be rigged out by one man, or even a boy, is a quite heavy enough piece of timber to have loose on your hands, or hand (since you must hold on) , while swaying on a footrope some eighty or ninety feet above the deck. ”

“ The fact of the tack being some way down the boom prevents the pressure of the wind from lifting the after-end of the boom and so forming a belly in the sail, as is the case with the ordinary fore-and-aft sail. A balance-lug sail is always rigid; the boom and yard can only move together, and this rigidity renders it somewhat unfit for rough water, where it is apt to considerably strain mast and boat. ”

“ The sail was cut away and lay on deck, a frozen cylinder, lashed to the rail. Not wanting the gaff, he had sped it over the side by clever handling of ropes and drag-line. The boom lay nearly amidships with the middle of a brand-new hawser knotted to its after end, the ends of which, equally cut to the length of the boom, he had secured to two strong iron rings in the rails, one each side,—stout shrouds for his new mast. A strong tackle led from the end of the boom to the jagged head of the mast stump. ”

“ In America, the foot of a cutter’s mainsail is invariably laced to the boom. There is some prejudice in this country against this method, so far as sea-going boats are concerned. There can be no doubt that a sail sets flatter when its foot is laced, and another great advantage gained is that a much lighter boom can be employed; for the lacing divides the strain throughout the whole length of the boom, instead of concentrating it at the two extremities. The buckling or bending of a boom is also much lessened by this method, and consequently the sail is flatter in a strong wind. ”

“ A long boom, attached obliquely to the mast, serves to support an enormous sail, which, when the boat is on the tack, bellies out to such a remarkable extent that it resembles the section of a balloon. ”

“ The rigs we have so far described are well adapted for a novice, insomuch as they need no booms. As soon as a sail is provided with a boom the danger of sailing is much increased. If you let go the sheet of a sail that has no boom—a spritsail, for instance—it flaps away from the mast innocently like a flag. Put a boom on it, and you at once have a great surface of canvas extended rigidly and offering the greatest possible resistance to the wind. ”

“ When under way drop the sail so that the desired reef-points are about in a line with the boom, and when they are in the right position let the boat [Pg 893] come up into the wind so that the boom will be inboard. Then order the crew to spread along the boom, and when the bow-man has fastened the desired cringle at the jaws of the boom, have them catch hold of the sail, stretch it along the boom, the sheet-tender making fast the cringle on the leach (outer edge) to the boom. ”

“ He sprang forward,—"Hurrah, men! rig out the topmast studding sail boom! Lay aloft, and I'll send the rigging up to you!" We sprang aloft into the top; lowered a girtline down, by which we hauled up the rigging; rove the tacks and halyards; ran out the boom and lashed it fast, and sent down the lower halyards as a preventer. It was a clear starlight night, cold and blowing; but everybody worked with a will. Some, indeed, looked as though they thought the "old man" was mad, but no one said a word. ”

“ BOOM. A long spar run out from different places in the ship, to extend or boom out the foot of a particular sail; as, jib-boom, flying jib-boom, studding-sail booms, driver or spanker boom, ringtail-boom, main-boom, square-sail boom, &c. A ship is said to come booming forwards when she comes with all the sail she can make. Boom also denotes a cable stretched athwart the mouth of a river or harbour, with yards, top-masts, or stout spars of wood lashed to it, to prevent the entrance of an enemy.—To top one's boom, is to start off.—To boom off, to shove a boat or vessel away with spars. ”

“ At the worst, their chances of being picked up would be quite as good while sailing with the wind, as if they allowed themselves to lie adrift upon the ocean.
Fortunately the materials for both mast and sail were on hand, and in abundance. They had found the “spanker” of the Pandora floating about, with its boom and all the cordage attached. By using the boom as a mast, and another smaller spar as a boom, they could rig up such a sail as would carry the Catamaran through the water with considerable velocity. ”

“ When he next looked, we were sweeping down on the Seminole without a chance of retreat; there was nothing but to go ahead fast, and save the hulls at least from collision. Her flying jib-boom came in just behind our main-mast (we had only two masts) ; and as the current of course was setting us down steadily, the topping-lifts of our huge main boom caught her jib-boom. Down came one of the big blocks from our mast-head, narrowly missing the captain's head, while we took out of her all the head booms as far as the bowsprit cap, leaving them dragging in helpless confusion by her side. ”

“ Taking them in order of simplicity, we first come to the "leg-o'-mutton" rig. Here only two spars are used, and no halyards. In No. 1 (Plate I) the boom has no jaws, and is held in place at the mast by catching the projecting end in a sling, and by poking the other end through a cringle in the leech. The only lacing required is to fasten the sail to the mast, the sail only being fastened to the boom (more properly sprit) at the points mentioned. If it is found to bag, the remedy is to shorten the sling until the sail sets flatly. ”

“ See Mizen.
A boom-main-sail is balanced, after all its reefs are taken in, by rolling up a similar portion of the hindmost, or aftmost lower-corner, called the clue, and fastening it strongly to the boom, having previously wrapped a piece of old canvas round the part (which is done in both cases) to prevent the sail from being fretted by the cord which fastens it.
BALLAST, lest, (ballaste, Dut. ballastro, Span.) a certain portion of stone, iron, gravel, or such like materials, deposited in a ship’s hold, when she has either no cargo, or too little to bring her sufficiently low in the water. ”

“ The final stage comes later when a boom is added, and that, too, may be traced for its origin to the Dutch fore-and-afters, which, discarding the sprit extending diagonally across the mainsail, added a tiny gaff and a much longer boom, the sail being loose-footed. Instead of the long bowsprit of the early Stuarts, the middle of the eighteenth century saw this mast-like projection cut into two pieces, so as to make bowsprit and jib-boom. Topgallants now become far more frequently used. ”

“ You cannot expect a sail to sit properly and hold its draught on buckling spars. The lead of the sheet is such that the boom cannot be kept rigid, and just as soon as it blows its end turns up like a pugdog's tail, throwing the canvas all out of shape. Then the back-wind from the mainsail makes it impossible to keep the mizzen full unless it is sheeted very flat. ”

“ When he had fashioned the stick as well as his one tool—a hatchet from the locker of the Spray—would admit of, he unscrewed the jaws from the old boom, fastened them upon the new, and the boom was done.
Then they set about mending several tears in the mainsail, with a needle and twine, also from the yacht’s locker, and by noon everything was in readiness for rigging the sail once more. This proved the most difficult task of all, for they found that it is one thing to know the running rigging of a sailboat, and another thing to reeve it when it has been displaced. ”

“ If the boom has a tendency to jibe, to swing 75badly or to kick up, it often helps a great deal to bring down the side over which the boom swings, by placing passengers, cargo or ballast on that side. If you are using a centerboard boat the board should be hauled up when before the wind and many boats will sail better with a beam or quarter wind when the board is half up, but the only way to determine when the board should be partly up, fully up, or down is to experiment. ”

“ Then you can man the throat and peak halyards and set the sail, trimming the sheet well down.
If you should have the misfortune to carry away the main boom, and you have no trysail on board, lower away the sail, unlace it from the boom, close-reef it, and set it with a luff-tackle for a sheet. When about to set the storm trysail and your vessel is yawl rigged, set the storm mizzen. It will keep her head up to the sea while the sails are being shifted. In a cutter, heave to by hauling the fore sheet to windward, keeping the jib full. Shifting jibs in heavy weather in a cutter requires care. ”

“ Besides a long main and short jib-boom, it has a long, tapering, raking mast, stepped just over the fore-foot, generally unsupported by shrouds or stays; on it a jib-headed main-sail is hoisted to a height of twice, and sometimes three times, the length of the keel. This sail is triangular, stretched at its foot by a long boom. The only other sail is a small fore-sail or jib. They claim to be the fastest craft in the world for working to windward in smooth water, it being recorded of one that she made five miles dead to windward in the hour during a race ”

“ It is not necessary for your crew to lay down now, and you may allow them to stand and stretch themselves, as whatever wind they will catch will help the boat instead of retarding, as in the other cases. (See sketch of finish.) The only thing to be looked out for when running free, or nearly so, is a "goose-wing." This happens when the wind is so strong as to cause the boom to jump up parallel to the mast, and the sail wrap around it. If when running before the wind you find your boom is jumping too much, lowering the peak a little will lessen the pressure on the sail, and stop it. ”

“ 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 boom is pushed out by the effort of the wind upon the sail, and is restrained in a proper situation by a strong tackle communicating with the vessel’s stern, and called the sheet. It is also confined on the fore-part by another tackle, called the guy. ”

“ Of course, when the schooner canted over, the boom had swung outboard, and the cap of it and a foot or two of sail hung even under water. I thought this made it still more dangerous, yet the strain was so heavy that I half feared to meddle. ”

“ A short boom or beam of timber projecting from each bow of a ship, where it is fayed down upon the false rail. Its use is to extend the clue or lower corner of the fore-sail to windward, for which purpose there is a large block fixed on its outer end, through which the tack is passed, and when hauled tight down is said to be aboard. The name is also applied to the pieces on each quarter, for the main-brace blocks.
BUMKIN. A small out-rigger over the stern of a boat, usually serving to extend the mizen. ”

“ You can neither luff, nor spill the wind out of the sail by slackening off the sheet, nor put your boat in a position to take a heavy sea safely. The end of your long boom is liable to trip as you roll and wallow through the waves, and every time you rise on the crest of a big comber your rudder comes out of water, and your bow swings around until there is imminent danger of an accidental jibe. ”

“ In scudding before a strong wind and a heavy sea in a small craft, a trysail is always preferable to a sail with a boom, which may effect much mischief by trailing in the water or suddenly gybing. The helmsman must be always on the alert to prevent the boat from "broaching to," which means flying up in the wind ”