Punt (boat)

“ George said he had often longed to take to punting for a change. Punting is not as easy as it looks. As in rowing, you soon learn how to get along and handle the craft, but it takes long practice before you can do this with dignity and without getting the water all up your sleeve.
One young man I knew had a very sad accident happen to him the first time he went punting. He had been getting on so well that he had grown quite cheeky over the business, and was walking up and down the punt, working his pole with a careless grace that was quite fascinating to watch. ”

“ A flat bottom boat is easy to make and is one of the safest boats, as it is not readily overturned. It has the advantage of being rowed from either end, and has plenty of good seating capacity.
This punt, as shown in Fig. 1, is built 15 ft. long, about 20 in. deep and 4 ft. wide. The ends are cut sloping for about 20 in. back and under. The sides are each made up from boards held together with battens on the inside of the boat near the ends and in the middle. One wide board should be used for the bottom piece. Two pins are driven in the top board of each side to serve as oarlocks. ”

“ Some excellent rowing-matches, after the Regatta in Cowes, were varied by a “punt chase,”—an amusement thoroughly English; when one man in a punt is chased by four in a low-boat, who have to catch both him and his boat within ten minutes. ”

“ The evolution of the boat as distinct from the punt, or flat-bottomed type, and following the configuration of the dug-out in its length and rounded bottom, must have taxed the inventive art and skill of constructors much more severely than that of the raft. It is possible that the coracle or the canoe may have suggested the construction of a framework of sufficient stiffness to carry a water-tight wooden skin, such as would successfully resist the pressure of wind and water. ”

“ After I have gone under the arch, and am clear of all obstructions, I lay the sculls aside, and reclining let the boat drift past a ballast punt moored over the shallowest place, and with a rising load of gravel. One man holds the pole steadying the scoop, while his mate turns a windlass the chain from which drags it along the bottom, filling the bag with pebbles, and finally hauls it to the surface, when the contents are shot out in the punt. ”

“ The punt-poles are brought into requisition; half the men are in the water; there is poling and pushing and grunting, heaving, and “Yah Mohammed, Yah Mohammed” with all which noise and outlay of brute strength, the boat moves a little on and still is held close in hand. The current runs very swiftly We have to turn almost by a right angle to the left and then by the same angle to the right; and the question is whether the boat is not too long to turn in the space. We just scrape along the rocks, the current growing every moment stronger, and at length get far enough to let the stern swing. ”

“ As we drew nearer, we could see that the three men fishing seemed old and solemn-looking men. They sat on three chairs in the punt, and watched intently their lines. And the red sunset threw a mystic light upon the waters, and tinged with fire the towering woods, and made a golden glory of the piled-up clouds. It was an hour of deep enchantment, of ecstatic hope and longing. The little sail stood out against the purple sky, the gloaming lay around us, wrapping the world in rainbow shadows; and, behind us, crept the night.
We seemed like knights of some old legend, sailing across some mystic lake into the unknown realm of twilight, unto the great land of the sunset. ”

“ When close-hauled, it should be at a sufficient angle with the keel to insure the boat moving ahead through the water. When running free, the boom is swung out to a greater degree over the side, and in going before the wind, or scudding, it is more nearly at a right angle with the mast.
Tacking is the process of working a vessel to windward, or against the wind. When you are ready, put the helm down (that is, if on the port tack, the end of the tiller goes to starboard, turning the rudder to port, and the boat obeys by coming up into the wind) ”

“ Such broad, flat hulls are very stiff, up to a certain point, and boats built in this manner are usually very fast when heeling far over, but when they are tipped a single inch beyond a certain point the weight of the raised side acts with the lever and flops the boat over in an instant. When a hull thus shaped is provided with a centerboard or a weighted keel it becomes far more stable. Many of the fastest racing boats are of this type, a form designed to sail the very best when heeled far over with half the bottom out of water. ”

“ But there was nothing to do, for any one except Ash at the wheel; for the skipper had not stationed the crew for tacking. He had not had time to do so. The lower block of the main-sheet ran on a traveller, which is an iron rod set a couple of inches above the taffrail, or piece across the top of the stern. The ring under the block plays freely, or travels on it, from one side to the other. As the wind carries the sail and boom over, the sheet-block follows it. Of course, the sheet is trimmed so the boom may be at the right angle with the keel, on whichever tack the boat may be. ”

“ Sit to windward while steering.
If struck by a squall, luff up to it, or ease the sheet, or do both.
Always luff up in the wind before hoisting or lowering sail.
Never climb the mast of a small boat. If anything is wrong aloft, lower the mast to set it right.
Belay a halyard by taking a few turns round its cleat. Do not put a half-hitch on the top of the turns.
Do not jibe in the middle of a squall, if you can avoid doing so. If a jibe is unavoidable, lower your peak first; haul in your mainsheet, and pay it out on the other side, so as to lessen the jerk as the boat jibes. ”

“ The lake was subject to sudden and violent squalls, and it was very convenient to be able to let go the peak halyards without leaving the tiller, and have them up again in a moment as soon as the squall had passed, without disturbing the passengers in the least. Had the sail been the uncompromising balance lug, the whole sail would have had to be lowered in a body on to the heads of the passengers.
A topping lift, always belayed so as to feel the weight of the boom, is indispensable in a cat boat, else the end of the boom would drop into the water when the peak was lowered. ”

“ The emergency air valves are opened, the compressed air hisses out of the tanks—the submersion valves sing in all their scales....
I stand with compressed lips, looking through the tower window over the tossing sea around me, waiting for the first sign of sinking....
But still I can see our deck, still the waves toss us up high into the air.... We have no more time to lose.
I order more play to diving rudders, and give the command, "Both engines full speed ahead!"
The whole boat trembles and sways under the increased engine power, and gives a couple of springs; she staggers and reels. ”

“ When the helm is let go, the little vessel shoots so quickly into the wind that she might be put about on the other tack by backing the jib, without further touch of the tiller. In fact, so powerful is the great overhang of mainsail and jib in controlling the balance pivoted on the short keel that I have many times tacked a 4-ton boat up a narrow reach without touching the tiller at all, simply by manipulating the sheets, and this, too, while sailing single-handed. ”

“ With a boom-and-gaff sail the sail may be lowered until a very small portion remains and the rest of the sail should then be secured about the boom and the sheets trimmed flat. Sometimes a small triangular sail, such as a spare jib, may be set aft above the furled sail, while with a yawl or ketch rig the mizzen may be set and trimmed flat.
Above all things do not allow anyone to move about, to stand on the deck or to sit upon the gunwales of a boat in a heavy sea or in a squall, but keep all the weight as low and as stationary as possible. ”

“ Now, put up or "step" another mast and sail like the first, about as far from the stern as the first is from the bow. Turn [101] the two sails at an angle of forty-five degrees across the boat (B or C, Fig. 141) and set her adrift. She will make considerable progress across the course of the wind, although she will at the same time drift with it. If she wholly refuses to go in the right direction, place a light weight on her bow, so that she will be a little "down by the head," or move the aftermost mast and sail a little nearer to the stern. ”

“ I propose building a large flat-bottomed punt from the deck of the ship, which can pass over the reef. All agree.
Our punt is almost completed. We see three objects in the distance, which prove to be canoes. We are discovered, for they approach. They are filled with black savages, who keep at a little distance, shouting and flourishing their spears. We make signs of friendship, but they still come on. We stand to our arms, and as they begin to hurl their spears at us, we are compelled to fire; several fall. With loud howls they paddle off to a distance, watching us. ”

“ Such boats are much used for sport or pleasure on rivers with shallow and hard gravelly beds; a small punt with a mounted duck gun and propelled by paddles or short oars is used for wild-fowling. A professional punting championship of England was instituted in 1876, and an amateur championship in 1886. ”

“ The course is railed off by piles and booms, and all the hundreds of craft which gather to the scene have to cram themselves in somehow, so as not to cause obstruction. It is well not to select an outrigged boat for such an occasion. The best and most commonly seen craft are punts, worked by means of canoe paddles; for the punts are too solid to collapse easily in the pressure that may be put upon them, and the paddles, requiring little room to work, are less dangerous to one's neighbours than poles. ”

“ A square sail having the mast in the middle was easiest to begin with for purposes of explanation; but now we will change to a "fore-and-aft" rig—that is, one with the mast at the forward edge or "luff" of the sail, as in Fig. 142. Suppose the sail to be set at the angle shown, and the wind blowing as the arrow points. The boat cannot readily move sidewise, because of the broadside resistance; she does not move backward, because the wind is pressing on the aftermost side of the sail. So she very naturally moves forward. ”

“ Sometimes, owing to the wind not being directly ahead, we are able to remain longer on one tack than on the other. This is what is called making a long and short leg.
To properly sail a boat on the wind requires constant and minute attention to the helm and the canvas. The best way for the new hand is to sit low down in the cockpit to leeward of the tiller; this places him nearly under the boom. Let him look up and watch his sail just at the throat; here is where it will shake first. To sail the boat close he must just keep that portion of the sail shaking—or lifting as it is termed. ”

“ We got the launch and skiff out of danger, carefully overlooked our lines and fenders, but still the tug bumped against the side. How the wind blows, and the waves dash against the side of the tug driving her against our side with a steady succession of blows. It worried us to know that the safety of the boats depended on a single one-inch rope, and the tug lashed against the outside strained on it. The rope was tense as a fiddle-string. If it broke the stern of our boat would swing out and throw us on an ugly snag that projected slightly about six feet below us ”

“ At first only two masts with leg-of-mutton sails were used, but now they have a jib and two sails. With the greatest width or beam about one-third the distance from bow to stern, sharp at both ends, its long, narrow, and heavy hull is easily driven through the water and makes both a fast and stiff boat. ”

“ A mate stood on the top of the gangway, a life preserver on a long line in the water in case someone fell overboard, and then one by one five men went out on the boom, to the end, down the rope ladder, into a tangled up and bouncing boat, and then rowed it aft to be hoisted up by other men onto the ship. ”

“ For scudding the heaviest rudder should be used, or the weight on a loaded tiller should be in its position of maximum power. All the sails abaft the foremast should be slackened out as far as they will go, which will bring the booms almost at right angles with the center line of the boat. If the craft is a cutter or yawl with a light weight, the yachtsman should rig the spinnaker. The head-sails may be left slack or can be tightened. Fig. ”

“ The extreme forward edge of the bow is known as the cutwater; the extreme end of the stern is known as the counter or transom; the curve from bow to stern, horizontally, is called the sheer; the sides above the water are known as freeboard; the inner edge of the decks when provided with a perpendicular edge is the combing; the open space within the edge of the decks is known as the cockpit; the extreme forward portion of the boat is called the peak; the central part of the craft is the waist; the forward part of the hull near the stem and below the water line is the entrance ”

“ Most small boats are steered by means of a rudder and tiller, the rudder being a wooden or metal affair submerged at the stern and the tiller consisting of a handle at the rudder’s upper end. Some rudders are hung or fastened to the counter and can be easily taken off or “unshipped,” while others are under the counter and are fastened to the sternpost with the upper end coming up through the boat or the deck. ”