Cutter (boat)

“ On deck we heard the bos'n's mate pipe, "Away, second cutter!" a voice yelled down the hoist, "Any second cutters down below there?" A couple of men belonging to that boat scrambled hastily up, there was silence again, and we could do nothing but wait and wonder what was happening.
"If we sit here much longer I'm blowed if we sha'n't miss our first dog-watch," said one of the stokers cheerfully, and unbending his cramped legs.
"'Tis a hill wind that don't blow nobody no good," added the other reflectively, and they both spat into a dark corner behind the fire-hose. ”

“ Referring to the midshipman of the Revenue cutter Active, the author speaks of him as a lazy fellow, too inert even to mend his jacket which was out at elbows, and adds, "He has been turned out of half the ships in the service for laziness; but he was born so, and therefore it is not his fault. A Revenue cutter suits him—she is half her time hove-to; and he has no objection to boat-service, as he sits down in the stern-sheets, which is not fatiguing. Creeping for tubs is his delight, as he gets over so little ground." ”

“ Not a man upon the fish-cutter had time to throw out a rope. Warrisden saw the cutter's bulwarks dip, the sailor falling in the boat, and the boat upon the deck of the cutter in so swift a succession that he had not yet realised disaster was inevitable before disaster was avoided. ”

“ We made all sail in chase, and they anchored close in shore, under a battery, which we did not discover until it opened fire upon us. The shot struck the frigate two or three times, for the water was smooth, and the battery nearly level with it. The captain tacked the ship, and stood out again, until the boats were hoisted out, and all ready to pull on shore and storm the battery. O'Brien, who was the officer commanding the first cutter on service, was in his boat, and I again obtained permission from him to smuggle myself into it. ”

“ The second cutter having the start, kept the distance open between her and her competitor (now extended a full length) , which pulled up steadily in her wake; the coxswain of the leading boat dexterously anticipating all his pursuer's efforts to pass, and keeping him dead in his wake until they had shot over half the distance between the ship and the stake boat, when, by a desperate effort, the [169] third cutter appeared to leap bodily out of the water, her oars quivering like the wings of a bird, from the impulse given by those muscular arms. ”

“ Smacks or Cutters.—This type of rig is still largely adopted in the merchant service for small vessels, usually called smacks, of a length, say, from 60 to 90 ft., and a displacement from 150 to 200 tons. They are single-masted, sharp-built vessels, provided with fore-and-aft sails only, and fitted with a running bowsprit; they have no standing jib stay. Such vessels were at one time generally used for coasting passenger traffic. The term “cutter” is also applied to an open sailing boat carried on board ship. ”

“ Whereupon the smuggler began to flee, and, running before the wind, fled to the N.N.W. From five in the afternoon till eleven at night the Revenue cutter, with every stitch of canvas set, chased her, and after firing several shots caused her to heave-to. Johnson then boarded her, and found that the tea was in canvas and oil-skin bags, but Perin and the crew of six had escaped in The Three Brothers boat. However, Johnson captured the cutter with her cargo and took the same into Poole. ”

“ One of my own men from the cutter pulled me by the cuff of the neck off the crest of it with his boat-hook, as it rose swelling away past, till I had fast grip of her quarter; the blacks could be seen struggling in the hollow, to keep up their master's body, with his hands spread helplessly hither and thither above water. The poor devils' wet black faces turned so wistfully, in their desperation, towards the cutter, that I gasped out to save him. ”

“ The first object was to draw water and extinguish the flames, which were spreading over the vessel; as soon as that was accomplished, our hero went aft to the taffrail, and looked for the cutter which had been sunk. "Gascoigne, jump into the boat with four men—I see the cutter floats a quarter of a mile astern: there may be someone alive yet. ”

“ By the time that the cruiser's commander had come up on deck, both the cutter and the Diane were hove-to, and the vessels were close alongside. When first sighted by the boatswain the smuggler was standing out from the land. The Tartar's boat was now launched into the water, and the bo'sun and two men pulled off in her and boarded the Diane, and then came back to fetch Lieutenant Davies. The instant the latter boarded the Diane, he saw one of the latter's crew throwing something overboard. ”

“ We will now take up the account as given by Marshall, in his Naval Biograghy: [10]
'Whilst the Ajax was propelling the cutter in the above alarming manner, the flames reached the shank, painter, and stopper, of her remaining bower anchor, and it fell from her bows, nearly effecting the destruction of the boat at its first plunge into the water. The cable caught her outer gunwale, over which it ran, apparently one sheet of fire; orders, exertion, and presence of mind were now of no avail. Death to all in the cutter appeared inevitable. ”

“ Two third cutters, unable to stand the additional labor, gave out. The flag was hauled down from the fore as the second cutter passed the line, and the third, contending to the last, came in about three boats' lengths astern.
The next race was between the launch and the first cutter; the launch, a heavy boat, called by sailors the "Purser's Gig," pulling sixteen oars; first cutter, a fast craft, with a crack crew, pulling just eight. This was the race of the Regatta, and excited much interest. ”

“ The fancy of the forecastle seems to have crept aft among the officers. They, too, begin to feel something of superstitious fear—an awe of the uncanny!
Chapter Four. The Cutter’s Crew.
Manned by ten stout tars, and as many oars propelling her, the cutter continues her course with celerity. The lieutenant, seated in the stern-sheets, with the midshipman by his side, directs the movements of the boat; while the glances of both are kept constantly upon the barque. In their eyes is an earnest expression—quite different from that of ordinary interrogation.
The men may not observe it ”

“ Captain Moore, the carpenter and mate, also willingly agreed to his proposal to go in the cutter.
The cutter was accordingly got over the side, and the ship lying pretty quiet, they cut the tackles, when she dropt very well into the water, and the penter brought her up. They next went to work with the long-boat, and day-light having fairly come in, gave them great spirits, as they flattered [Pg 311] themselves, should it please God Almighty to send a ship, it would be in their power to save all their lives, the weather being now much more moderate than before. ”

“ The boat was shoved off from the sloop by the smugglers, and was soon lost sight of in the fog, which had now covered the revenue boats as well as the yacht, at the same time it brought down a breeze from the eastward.
“Haul to the wind, Morrison,” said Pickersgill, “we will stand out to get rid of the boats; if they pull on they will take it for granted that we shall run into the bay, as will the revenue-cutter.” ”

“ As soon as the Badger had shot past, down went her helm and she came alongside the Iris as the galley was dropped into the leaden waters. But just at that moment the Badger's people overheard some men on the lugger exclaim, "Now's your time," whereupon the crew of the lugger also launched their boat, forsook the Iris, and began to row off as fast as they could. The Badger called to them—among whom was a man named Albert Hugnet—ordering them under pain of [Pg 266] being shot to come alongside the cutter. ”

“ I know a man who has a little boat down here which he isn’t using, and I’m sure I can arrange to get the loan of her for a week or two. Suppose I anchor her about as far away on the other side of the brown cutter as your steam launch is on this side. Then I can keep an eye upon the cutter at night, and if by any chance she tried to give us the slip, and made, as I expect she would, for the open sea, she’d have to run almost into your arms to do it. ”

“ III. There were several counts, including one with regard to the vessel being fitted with "arms for resistance," but the case turned on the question whether she was cutter-rigged or sloop-rigged. Counsel for the prosecution defined a cutter as "a thing constructed for swift sailing, which, with a view to effect that purpose, is to sink prodigiously at her stern, and her head to be very much out of water ... built so that she should measure a great deal more than she would contain." ”

“ Of those three varieties of fore-and-aft rig, the cutter—the racing rig par excellence—is of an appearance the most imposing, from the fact that practically all her canvas is in one piece. The enormous mainsail of a cutter, as she draws slowly past a point of land or the end of a jetty under your admiring gaze, invests her with an air of lofty and silent majesty. At anchor a schooner looks better; she has an aspect of greater efficiency and a better balance to the eye, with her two masts distributed over the hull with a swaggering rake aft. The yawl rig one comes in time to love. ”

“ A cutter may have a standing bowsprit of a certain length without a licence, but the distinction between a sloop and a cutter should not be looked for in the rigging but in the build and form of the hull, and, therefore, when a carvel-built vessel corresponds as to her hull with the usual form of a sloop, she will not merely, by having a running bowsprit, become a cutter within the meaning of the Act of the 24 Geo. ”

“ Railroad cars, cabins of steam and canal-boats, omnibuses, and stage-coaches, require ample ventilation. In the construction of these public conveyances, too frequently, the only apparent design is, to seat the greatest number of persons, regardless of the quantity and character of the air to maintain health and even life. The character of the air is only realized when, from the fresh, pure air, we enter a crowded cabin of a boat or a closed coach; then the vitiated air from animal excretions and noxious gases is offensive, and frequently produces sickness. ”

“ On the size of these vessels, however, it is necessary to remark, that a cutter under one hundred tons is sufficiently handy; but, when the size is equal to that of the larger yachts, a strong crew is necessary, as the spars are very heavy, and a number of men requisite to set or shorten sail. As a single-masted vessel, in the event of springing a spar, becomes helpless, even large cutters are used only in short voyages, or on the coast; for, in case of accident, they can always manage to reach some harbour or anchorage to repair any damage they may [107] sustain. ”

“ Should it come on to blow, it is much easier to reef down on the short boom than on the overhanging boom of a cutter.
It is not so often necessary to reef a yawl’s mainsail as a cutter’s; for, instead of reefing, the mizzen can be stowed and smaller headsail set, or she can be made to sail under mainsail and foresail alone, or under mizzen and foresail alone. ”

“ All sorts of vessels and of many rigs were fitted with places of concealment, and there was even a 50-ton cutter named the Alborough, belonging to London, employed in this business, which had formerly been a private yacht, but was now more profitably engaged running goods from Nieuport in Belgium to Hull. The descriptions of some of these craft sent to the various outports, so that a smart look-out for them might be kept up, are certainly valuable to us, as they preserve a record of a type of craft that has altered so much during the past century as almost to be forgotten. ”

“ It was quite an easy operation, for in those days when there was no telegraph and no steamboat service across the Channel, all the "wanted" man had to do was instantly to board his cutter, set sail, and hurry across to France or Holland, where he was sure of a welcome, where also he could employ himself in arranging for cargoes to be run into England perhaps in the very vessel which had brought him across. There were plenty of his compatriots resident in Flushing, so he need not feel homesick, and when at last the incident had blown over he could find his way back to Kent or Sussex. ”

“ Iron blocks should never be used in a small yacht. They [52] are only necessary on large craft, where chain halyards are employed.
Where a tackle is used, as in the backstay runners, it is advisable that one of the blocks should have a swivel hook. In this way, all turns will be taken out of the tackle, and jamming will be prevented.
Fig. 40.
The difference between a cutter and a yawl is that the latter has not so big a mainsail as the cutter; the main boom does not project over the stern, but is all inboard, thus permitting of a small mizzen-mast being stepped right aft. ”

“ Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century the only difference between a cutter and a sloop in England was that, while a cutter carried a running bowsprit and her jib was set flying, a sloop had a standing bowsprit and her jib was set on a stay. The evolution of the cutter rig in England we shall deal with later. ”

“ In discussing rigs suitable for cruising we may at once dismiss from consideration several that are in common use, but which are not adapted for service in our waters, or are distinctly inferior by reason of being difficult to handle with small and unskillful crews. We will, also, dismiss the true cutter rig from our considerations, as it has almost passed out of use, its place being taken by the modern type of single-sticker, which is part cutter and part sloop. ”