Sailing

“ In sailing, the interest never flags; the rigging, the sails, the anchors, the cables, the boats, the decks, all have their separate interest; every puff of wind, every catspaw, is a source of entertainment, and when the breeze comes, and, with everything drawing below and aloft, you tear along ten or twelve knots an hour, the sensation of pleasure is complete—if you are not sick. ”

“ We kept very quiet about it, and got the sail up quickly before they found it out, and then we spread ourselves about the boat in thoughtful attitudes, and the sail bellied out, and strained, and grumbled at the mast, and the boat flew.
I steered.
There is no more thrilling sensation I know of than sailing. It comes as near to flying as man has got to yet—except in dreams. The wings of the rushing wind seem to be bearing you onward, you know not where. You are no longer the slow, plodding, puny thing of clay, creeping tortuously upon the ground; you are a part of Nature! ”

“ The art of sailing here is to know the river; for what with its back currents and its eddies, its channels behind islands and its sandbanks, one who knows it can manage to make his way up, while one who didn't know would be drifting backward instead of getting forward. ”

“ The sailing and racing of yachts has developed a class of fore-and-aft sailors, men born and bred to the sea, fishing in winter and yachting in summer; men to whom the handling of that particular rig presents no mystery. It is their striving for victory that has elevated the sailing of pleasure craft to the dignity of a fine art in that special sense. As I have said, I know nothing of racing and but little of fore-and-aft rig ”

“ Yet for genuine excitement and thrill, give me the small boat. Things happen so quickly, and there are always so few to do the work--and hard work, too, as the small-boat sailor knows. I have toiled all night, both watches on deck, in a typhoon off the coast of Japan, and been less exhausted than by two hours' work at reefing down a thirty-foot sloop and heaving up two anchors on a lee shore in a screaming southeaster.
Hard work and excitement? Let the wind baffle and drop in a heavy tide- way just as you are sailing your little sloop through a narrow draw-bridge. ”

“ For racing, a cutter; for a long pleasure voyage, a schooner; for cruising in home waters, the yawl; and the handling of them all is indeed a fine art. It requires not only the knowledge of the general principles of sailing, but a particular acquaintance with the character of the craft. All vessels are handled in the same way as far as theory goes, just as you may deal with all men on broad and rigid principles. ”

“ He imagined how pleasant it would be sitting in the boat sailing along with a gentle wind. "When the wind is favorable," he thought, "I will only have to steer with my paddle."
So he set about weaving a sail of his sisal fibre. To do this he had to make a much larger loom than he had yet used. ”

“ You must have got a pretty good notion of how to sail a boat, by watching them. Here, take the wheel. But you’ll find that practice in real sailing, and just having it in your head from watching others, are two different things. However, you’ll learn fast. I never knew any one who had any sort of courage, and any natural liking toward boat-sailing, but what he could pick it up fast, if he kept his eyes open.
“The first thing to do, to learn to sail a boat, is to take hold in moderate weather and work her yourself. ”

“ Even landing and putting off to the ship become a pleasure when they are done under sail instead of steam or oars. I have had many an interesting and exhilarating day's sailing which has been made up entirely of trips between the yacht and the shore with passengers, luggage, provisions, telegrams, and what not. ”

“ All our school-books were extravagantly illustrated with drawings of every kind of sailing-vessel, and every boy owned some sort of craft whittled from a block of wood and trimmed with infinite pains,—sloops, schooners, brigs, and full-rigged ships, with their sails and string ropes properly adjusted and named for us by some old sailor. ”

“ The primitive square sail of antiquity embodies the same principle as that governing the motion through the water of the modern full rigged ship, which is admirably adapted for efficient beating to windward, or sailing against the wind. Superiority in this branch of sailing is the crucial test of every vessel whose propelling power is derived from canvas, and the shipbuilders and sailmakers of all seafaring nations have vied with each other for centuries to secure the desired perfection. ”

“ As for the fun to be got out of her, a good sailing boat simply doubles the pleasure of yachting. It combines the amusement of small yacht sailing with all the advantages and comforts of a large vessel to sail in from port to port. When the anchor goes down, and fires are banked or put out, your fun begins rather than ends. In less than half an hour you are off in your cutter, to sail, to fish, or to explore ”

“ In all night sailing it is important to know the direction in which any passing vessel is proceeding, and also to be able to give notice of the direction in which one's own yacht is sailing, or, if she be at anchor, to so denote, so as to avoid collisions ”

“ The general principles of sailing are as simple as the national game of "one ole cat." That is to say, if the wind always blew moderately and steadily, it would be as easy and as safe to sail a boat as it is to drive a steady old family horse of good and regular habits. ”

“ CLOSE-HAULED. The general arrangement or trim of a ship's sails when she endeavours to progress in the nearest direction possible contrary to the wind; in this manner of sailing the keel of square-rigged vessels commonly makes an angle of six points with the line of the wind, but cutters, luggers, and other fore-and-aft rigged vessels will sail even nearer. This point of sailing is synonymous with on a taut bowline and on a wind.
CLOSE PACK. The ice floes so jammed together that boring is impossible, and present efforts useless. ”

“ Sailing as he will be on such occasions in company with yachts of various sizes, sail-carrying power and speed, the yachtsman who can keep station will have learnt not only to have a confidence in himself and his vessel, but also how to vary her degrees of sailing from the reeling off of knots to an up and down log line. ”

“ Although the two remaining volumes of the series are especially devoted to rigging and sailing a boat, the present and the preceding books incidentally treat of these subjects. While so many young men [Pg 7] on the sea, lakes and rivers seem to inherit or early acquire a taste for boats and boating, it is important that they should understand the theory of managing a sailing craft, though nothing but intelligent practice can make a competent "skipper." With such knowledge and skill, boat-sailing is a safe, as well as a healthy and improving sport. ”

“ These rivers are capital places for the man fond of single-handed sailing. One well-known and elderly amateur sails a lugsail boat alone, but at a proper distance behind him comes his man in another single-handed boat. ”

“ Always remember that a sailing vessel on the starboard tack has the right of way over a vessel on the port tack, and that a vessel sailing close hauled or against the wind has the right of way over a vessel running free or on the wind regardless of their size, the direction in which they are moving or anything else. ”

“ Of course the amateur sailor can scarcely hope to become as expert as these old shellbacks who have spent their lives knocking about in boats, but you can readily learn the bearings of certain places, the location of certain tide-rips and the direction and flow of certain currents in the waters where you sail and these will all help to guide you when sailing in darkness or in fog. ”

“ The leading principles of boat-sailing are the same as those for sailing a larger vessel. The gear of a boat, as far as it goes, is identical, and the knots, bends, and hitches that are most used are common to both. ”

“ In harbor-sailing, a buoy or point often appears ahead, which, if passed, the yacht could be at once kept away free, being now close-hauled, thus saving the time and inconvenience of tacking, but, as she is going, will be right in the way, unless she is put about. ”

“ Another popular amusement upon the water is sailing, and many persons have pleasure boats for this purpose; I do not mean the open boats which are usually let out for hire by the boat-builders for the purpose of sailing, but vessels of much greater magnitude, that are covered with a deck, and able with skilful management to weather a rough storm; many large bets are frequently dependant upon the swiftness of these boats, and the contest is sometimes determined at sea. ”

“ This manner of turning about when sailing free or before the wind, is called wearing ship and to perform the evolution neatly and in a sailor-like manner will require some practice, for the sail must be hauled in and the helm put over at the same time and in perfect unison. ”

“ 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. ”

“ To understand the principle of sailing we must realize that a sail-boat, without the use of a rudder, acts in the water and wind very much the way a weather vane acts in the air. The bow of the boat naturally turns toward the wind, thus relieving the sail of all pressure and keeping it shaking. But if by keeping the main sheet in your hand you hold the sail in a fixed position, and, at the same time, draw the tiller away from the sail, it will gradually fill with air beginning at the hoist or mast end of the sail and impel the boat in the direction in which you are steering. ”

“ 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. ”

“ This was our best point of sailing, and probably the lugger’s worst; at all events that rig of vessel has generally the greatest advantage on a wind. Our square-sail, square-topsail, and every sail the cutter could carry was now set, to overtake the chase; and the breeze freshening as the day advanced, we bowled away at a famous rate.
“Do you think, Hanks, we have a chance of catching her?” I asked, as the old mate and I were intently watching her.
“As to catching her, depends upon circumstances. If we get the strength of the breeze before her, and she doesn’t hide away in another fog ”

“ If one should fairly add up the comparative discomforts of ship and shore, would life at sea prove to have the most of them? I came to the conclusion that a good sailing-ship, with agreeable company, is as near a perfect state of rest and peace as ever falls to our lot.
TARRING DOWN.
“Tarring down,” already mentioned, and now repeated because the operation is renewed as the vessel is coming near to port, is to a landsman an animating sight. Every rope in the standing rigging, beginning aloft, feels the smearing process, which is carried on without gloves. ”

“ All of these matters must be considered in working out a position by dead reckoning and the course of a sailing vessel when thus pricked out on a chart often looks like the track made by a drunken man, as it zigzags hither and thither, swings about, and varies widely from one side or the other of its true course. ”

“ It will be seen, then, that the science of sailing lies in being able to manage a boat with her head pointing at any possible angle to or from the wind. Nothing but experience can teach one all the niceties of the art, but a little aptitude and address will do to start with, keeping near shore and carrying little sail.
Simplest Rig Possible
I will suppose that the reader has the use of a broad, flat-bottomed boat without any rudder. (See Fig. 143.) She cannot be made to work like a racing yacht under canvas, but lots of fun can be had out of her. ”

“ In the cove before them lie at their moorings in the late afternoon a fleet of fifteen or twenty fishing and pleasure boats, all cat-rigged, all of one general build, wide, shoal, with one broad sail, all painted white, by the custom of the place, and all or nearly all kept neat and clean: they are all likely enough to be called upon now and then for sailing-parties. Often of a bright afternoon in summer the sails will all be up, as the boats swing at their floats: then you have all the effect of a regatta in still life. ”

“ On these Booms a Stage is made above the Water, on a Level with the Side of the Boat, upon which they carry Goods or Passengers. The greatest inconveniency in sailing these Boats is before the Wind, for by the Out-layer, which is built out on one Side, if the Wind presses any thing heavy on the contrary Side, the Boat is over-set, which often happens ”

“ The effect of sailing is produced by a judicious arrangement of the sails to the direction of the wind. ”

“ 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. ”