ON AND IN THE WATER
=Boats Safe and Unsafe. Canoeing. Rowing. Poling. Raft-Making. Swimming.
Fishing=
=Safe and Unsafe Boats=
One seldom goes on the long trail, or into camp, without encountering
water, and boats of some kind must be used, generally rowboats or
canoes. The safest boat on placid water is the heavy, flat-bottomed
rowboat with oars secured to the oar-locks. In my younger days we owned
such a boat, and no one felt in the least anxious when I would put off
for hours alone on the lake at our camp in Pike County, Pa.; especially
as the creaking turn of the oar-locks could easily be heard at camp
loudly proclaiming that I still lived, while I enjoyed the luxury of
solitary adventure. But a tub of this kind is not adapted to all waters
and all purposes, and the safest boat on any water is the one best
adapted to it and to the purpose for which the boat is used.
Round-bottomed boats tip easily and should, therefore, not be used when
learning to row, though they are safe enough in the hands of those
accustomed to their management. The best of oarsmen, however, cannot
prevent her boat from capsizing if her passenger does not know how to
enter or leave it, or to sit still when aboard.
[Illustration: A rowboat is a safer craft than a canoe.]
=Stepping in and out of a Boat=
To step on the gunwale (the edge of the boat) will naturally tip it and
most likely turn it over. One should always step directly into the
_middle_ in order to keep the boat evenly balanced, and in getting out,
step _from_ the middle. Stepping on the side or the gunwale of a boat
shows the ignorance of a tenderfoot. There are rowboats that are neither
round-bottomed nor flat but are shaped like the boat in photograph, page
206. These are safer than the round-bottomed, but are more easily
capsized than the flat-bottomed boats.
=Canoes and Canoeing=
If you are to own a canoe select it carefully; consult catalogues of
reliable dealers, and, if possible, have an experienced and good
canoeist help you choose it. The pretty canoe made of wood will answer
in calm waters and wear well with careful usage, but sportsmen prefer
the canvas-covered canoe, declaring it the best boat for cruising, as it
is light, easy to manage, will stand rough usage, and will also carry
greater loads. The best make has a frame of hardwood with cedar ribs and
planking; spruce gunwales and brass bang-plates to protect the ends.
This canoe is covered with strong canvas, treated with some kind of
filler, and then painted and varnished. There are usually two cane
seats, one at the stern, the other near the bow. These are built in.
Canoes vary in the shape of the bow, some being higher than others. The
high bow prevents the shipping of too much water, but will also offer
resistance to the wind and so impede the progress of the boat. A medium
high bow is the best.
One firm of camp-outfitters advertises a canoe called the Sponson, the
name being taken from the air-chambers built along the outside rail,
which are called sponsons. It is claimed that these air-chambers make it
next to impossible to upset the canoe, and that even when filled with
water it will support a heavy weight. Sponsons can also be purchased
separately and can be adjusted to any sized canoe.
[Illustration: Keep your body steady.]
For a novice the sponsons would seem a good thing, as they not only
insure safety but, in doing away with the fear of an upset, make
learning to paddle easier. Then there are the guide canoes made
especially for hunting and fishing. They are strong, flat-bottomed, will
carry a heavy load, are easy to paddle or pole, and will stand rough
water. These canoes are good for general use on the trail.
The prices of a _good_ canoe range from twenty-eight dollars to forty
dollars. One may go higher, of course, but the essentials of the canoe
will be no better. A lower price means, as a rule, not so good a boat.
=Paddles=
Girls and women generally require shorter paddles than men, as they do
not have the same reach of arm, and you can take your choice of lengths.
For the stern the paddle should be longer than for the bow. Paddles are
made of red oak, maple, ash, spruce, and cherry. Some authorities prefer
spruce for ordinary usage, but in rough water and in shooting rapids a
harder wood is best. The weak part of a paddle is where the blade joins
the handle, and this part should not be too slender. If you use spruce
paddles keep them smooth by trimming away all roughness and keep them
well shellacked, else they may become water-soaked. Paddles range in
price from one dollar and fifty cents to three dollars.
[Illustration: Canoeing on placid waters.]
=Accessories=
A strong, healthy girl will no more need cushions and canoe-chairs than
a boy, but a back rest is not always to be despised. It is well to
have a large sponge aboard for bailing and for cleaning.
At a portage or "carry," the canoe is carried overland on the shoulders,
and though some guides scorn to use a carrier, others are glad of them.
There are several styles, one being the neck-yoke carrier, another the
pneumatic canoe-yoke. The pneumatic yoke, when not inflated with air,
can be rolled into a bundle three by six inches, and when inflated it
can also be used for a canoe-seat, a camp-seat, and even for a pillow.
Its weight is two pounds and the catalogue price is three dollars and
twenty-five cents.
=Care of the Canoe=
Even the strongest canoe should be well cared for. To leave it in the
water for any length of time, when not in use, is to run the risk of
damage and loss. A sudden storm will batter it against shore, send it
adrift, or fill and sink it. A canoe should always be _lifted_, not
dragged, ashore, and it should be turned upside down on the bank with a
support in the middle so that it will not be strained by resting only on
the ends.
=Getting in the Canoe=
Never allow any one to get into your canoe or to sit on it when it is
out of the water. That is harder on it than many days of actual use.
When you are to get aboard your canoe, bring it up broadside to the
shore and put one foot exactly in the middle, then carefully place the
other beside it and sit down quickly, but with care to keep your
balance. If there is no one to hold the canoe for you, use your paddle
to steady yourself by pushing it down to the bottom on the side away
from shore. This will keep the canoe from slipping away from under you
while you are stepping in. One of the first things to learn in
canoeing is to preserve your balance; even a slight lurch to one side or
the other must be avoided. Make every necessary movement cautiously and
do not look backward unless absolutely necessary. Never attempt to
change places with any one while in the canoe. If the change must be
made, land and change there.
[Illustration: Bring your canoe up broadside to the shore.]
=Upset=
Should there be an upset keep hold of your paddle, it will help to keep
you afloat, then if you can reach your craft and hold to it without
trying to climb upon it you can keep your head above water until help
arrives or until you can tread water to shore. If you can swim you are
comparatively safe, and a girl who goes often on the trail should, by
all means, be a swimmer.
=Paddling=
Some expert canoeists strongly advise kneeling in the bottom of the
canoe while paddling, for at least part of the time, but the usual
method is to sit on the seats provided at bow and stern, or sit on the
bottom. The kneeling paddler has her canoe in better control, and
becomes more one with it than one who sits. In shooting rapids and in
rough weather kneeling is the safest when one knows how to paddle in
that position. It is a good thing to learn both methods.
When you paddle close one hand firmly on the end of the paddle and the
other around the handle a short distance above the blade. Then, keeping
your body steady, dip your paddle into the water slightly in front of
you and sweep it backward and downward toward the stern, keeping it
close to the canoe. You face the bow in a canoe, remember, and reach
forward for your stroke. At the finish of a stroke turn the paddle
edgewise and slide it out of the water. For the next stroke bring the
blade forward, swinging it horizontally with the blade parallel to the
water, and slide it edgewise into the water again in front of you. Fig.
34 shows the beginning of a stroke, Fig. 35 while the stroke is in
progress, and Fig. 36 the ending. During the stroke bring your upper
hand forward across your face or breast, and with the lower draw the
blade through the water.
It is well to begin as bow paddler, for your duty there, in smooth
water, is to watch for obstructions such as hidden rocks and submerged
logs or snags, while the paddler at the stern must steer the canoe and
keep it in a straight course.
At the beginning learn to paddle as well from one side as from the
other. To be able to change sides is very restful and sometimes a quick
change will prevent an accident. Like many other things, the knack of
paddling will come with experience and will then require no more thought
than keeping your balance on a bicycle and steering it.
=Loading a Canoe=
A top-heavy canoe is decidedly dangerous, that is why it is safest to
sit or kneel on the bottom, and in loading your camp stuff bear the fact
well in mind. Pack the load as low in the canoe as possible with the
heaviest things at the bottom, but use common sense and do not put
things that should be kept dry underneath where any water that is
shipped will settle and soak them. Think again and put cooking utensils
and lunch provender where you can reach them without unloading the
canoe. The packing should be done in such a way as to cause the canoe
to tip neither at one end or at the other, and certainly not to one
side.
[Illustration: 34 36
35 How to use the paddle and a flat-bottomed rowboat.]
=Rowing=
A rowboat is a safer craft than a canoe, and rowing is not a difficult
feat, but there is a difference between the rowing of a heavy
flat-bottomed boat and rowing a light skiff or round-bottomed rowboat.
In rowing properly one's body does most of the work and the strain comes
more on the muscles of the back than on those of the arms.
In paddling you face the bow of the canoe; in rowing you are turned
around and face the stern of your boat. In paddling you reach forward
and draw your paddle back; in rowing you lean back and pull your oars
forward. When beginning a stroke grasp the handles of your oars firmly
near the ends, lean forward with arms outstretched and elbows straight,
the oars slanting backward, and, by bearing down on the handles of the
oars, lift the blades above the water. Then drop them in edgewise and
pull, straightening your body, bending your elbows, and bringing your
hands together one above the other. As you finish the stroke bear down
on your oars to lift the blades out of the water again, turn your wrists
to bring the flat of the blades almost parallel with the water but with
the back edge lifted a little; then bend forward and, sweeping the oars
backward, turning the edge down, plunge them in the water for another
pull. Turning the wrists at the beginning of a stroke feathers the oar,
the forward edge of which is sometimes allowed to skim lightly over the
surface of the water as the oar is carried backward. In steering with
the oars you pull hardest on the oar on the side _opposite_ to the
direction you wish to take. A little practise and all this comes easy
enough.
The thing for a beginner to avoid is "catching a crab." That is,
dipping the oars so lightly in the water as not to give sufficient hold,
which will cause them, when pulled forward, to fly up and send the rower
sprawling on her back. In dipping too deeply there is danger of losing
an oar by the suction of the water. Experience will teach the proper
depth for the stroke.
On some of the Adirondack lakes the round-bottomed rowboats are used
almost exclusively, but the boat with a narrow, flat bottom is safer and
is both light and easy to row. A cedar rowboat is the most desirable.
The oars should be light for ordinary rowing yet strong enough to
prevent their snapping above the blade in rough water.
=Rafts=
You can never tell just what will happen when you go on the long trail,
that is one of its charms, nor do you know what you will be called upon
to do. The girl best versed in the ways of the water as well as of the
woods is surest of safety, and can be most helpful to her party.
Possibly you may never be called upon to build a raft, and again an
emergency may arise when a raft will not only be convenient but
absolutely necessary. When such an emergency does come it is not likely
that you will have anything besides the roughest of building material
and no tools besides your small axe or hatchet. But with your axe you
can chop off limbs of sufficient size for the raft from fallen trees,
and with ropes made of the inner bark of trees you can bind your small
logs together in such a way as to hold them firmly. Do not use green
wood, it will not float like the dry. Logs about twelve inches in
diameter are the best, but half that size will make a good raft. Six
feet by twelve is a fair size. The smaller the logs the larger the raft
must be in order to carry any weight, for it must cover a wider surface
of water than is necessary for one made of large logs. One good-sized
log will carry your weight easily, but a small one will sink beneath
you.
If you have two long, strong ropes you can use them for binding the logs
together; if not you must make the ropes from fibre of some kind. Daniel
C. Beard in his book, "Boat-Building and Boating," tells of making a
very strong rope of the inner bark of a chestnut-tree which had been
killed by fire. The fibre torn off in long strips must be twisted by two
persons, or one end may be tied to a branch while you twist the other.
When two are twisting one person takes one end, the other takes the
other end, and, standing as far apart as possible, each twists the fibre
between her fingers, turning it in opposite directions until when held
slack it will double on itself and make a double twist. The ends are
then brought together and the rope kept from snarling until it is bent
at the middle and allowed to double twist evenly all the way to the end.
The fibre rope will be a little less than _half_ the length of the
original strands, and it should be about the size of heavy clothes-line
rope. The short lengths of rope must be tied together to make two long
ropes. Use the square knot in tying to make sure that it will not slip.
When the knot is wet it will be quite secure.
[Illustration: The raft of logs.]
=Primitive Weaving Method=
For tying the logs together use the primitive weaving method. Lay three
lengths of rope on the ground, one for the middle and one each for the
ends of the logs. Roll one log along the ropes until it rests across the
middle of each rope, then turn each rope over the log, forming a bight
as in Fig. 37. Bring the lower rope over the upper (Fig. 38) to form a
loop, and turn it back over the log (Fig. 39). This leaves the log with
three loops of rope around it, one end of each rope lying on the
ground, the other end turned back over the log. Now roll another log
over the lower ropes up close to the first log (Fig. 40). Bring down the
upper ropes over the second log (Fig. 41), cross the lower ropes _over_
the upper ones and turn them back (Fig. 42). Draw the ropes tight and
push the logs as closely together as possible; unless your logs are
straight there will be wide spaces between. Roll the third log over the
lower ropes and make the weaving loop as with the other two, _always_
crossing the lower rope _over_ the upper (Fig. 43). Continue weaving in
new logs until the raft is the required width, then tie the ends of the
ropes around the last log. Remember to keep the ropes on the ground
always in a straight line without slanting them, otherwise the sides of
your raft will not be at right angles to the ends, and it will be a
crazily built affair, cranky and difficult to manage.
Chop notches on the outside logs where the ropes are to pass over them,
and they will keep the rope from slipping out of place (Fig. 44). Cut
two, more slender, logs for the ends of the raft and lash them on across
the others as in Fig. 45. The end logs should extend a little beyond
each side of the raft. Fasten a rope with a strong slip knot to one end
of the cross log and wrap it over the log and under the first lengthwise
log, then over and under again to form a cross on top. When the rope is
under the second time bring it up between the second and third log, then
down between the third and fourth log, and so on to the end, when you
must make a secure fastening. These cross logs give additional strength,
keep the raft in shape, and prevent its shipping too much water.
If you will make a miniature raft, following these directions carefully,
when the time comes for you to build a full-sized one you will be quite
familiar with the method of construction and will know exactly how to go
about it.
[Illustration: 37 38 39
40 41 42
43
44
45
Primitive weaving in raft building.]
For the little raft use small, straight branches about twelve inches
long. Twist your slender rope of fibre if you can get it, of string if
you cannot, and weave it around the sticks just as you would weave the
rope around the logs, finishing off with the two end sticks for the end
logs.
=Poling=
If you have a raft you must know how to pole it, and at times it is
necessary to pole other kinds of craft. Select a straight pole of
strong, green wood eight feet or more in length. The length of the pole
will depend upon the depth of the water, for it must be long enough to
reach bottom. Trim off all the small branches and make it as smooth as
possible.
When the water is deep and calm a pole may sometimes be used as a paddle
to send the raft along, but its real purpose is to push from the bottom.
In poling you must necessarily stand near the edge of the raft and must
therefore be careful not to lean too far over the water lest you lose
your balance and fall in.
Poling is a primitive, go-as-you-please method of propelling a craft and
is almost free from rules except those suggested by the common sense of
the poler. Like the early pioneers, you simply do the best you can under
the circumstances and are alert to take advantage of every element in
your favor. Where there is a current you pole for it and then allow your
raft to float with it, provided it goes in the direction you wish to
take and is not too swift. In this case you use your pole for steering,
which may sometimes be done from the stern, making a rudder of the pole,
at others from the side, and at times reaching down to the river bed. If
the current runs the wrong way be careful to keep out of it as much as
possible.
Shallow water near the shore is usually the most quiet and the safest
for a raft. Here you can generally pole your raft up-stream when the
water is deep enough to float it and is not obstructed by rocks, logs,
or snags. A raft is not safe where there is a swift current, and there
should always be strong arms to manage it.
=Swimming=
If you will realize that your body is buoyant, not a dead weight in the
water, and that swimming should come as naturally to you as to the wild
creatures, it may help you to gain the confidence so essential in
learning to swim. If you are not afraid of the water you will not
struggle while in it, and the air in your lungs will keep you afloat
while you learn to make the movements that will carry you along. You
will not sink if you are quite calm and move only your hands _under_
water with a slight paddling movement. Keep in mind that every inch
above water but adds so much to the weight to sink you lower. To throw
up your arms is the surest way of going straight to the bottom. Do not
be afraid to allow the water to come up and partially cover your chin.
All sorts of contrivances have been invented to keep a person afloat
while learning to swim, but they all tend to take from, rather than to
give confidence, for it is natural to depend entirely upon them and to
feel helpless when they are taken away. According to my own experience
the best method is to have a friend place a hand under your chin while
her feet are touching bottom and to walk with you while you learn to
make the swimming movements. This will keep your head above water and
give you a sense of security, and you will then strike out confidently.
The support rendered is so slight you learn to manage your own weight in
the water almost immediately, while you have the feeling that some one
upholds you, and the friendly hand may be withdrawn at intervals to
allow you to try entirely alone.
You see that after all it is the _feeling_ of being supported more than
the actual support that counts, and if you can convince yourself that
you need no support you won't need it. It is best to start by swimming
_toward_ land instead of away from it. To know that you are not going
beyond your depth but are gaining the shore is a great help in
conquering fear.
=Movements in Swimming=
If you are learning alone, begin in quiet, shallow water only deep
enough to float you; waist-high is sufficiently deep. Assume the first
position for swimming by throwing your body forward with arms extended
and palms of hands together, at the same time lifting your feet from the
bottom with a spring. This should bring your body out perfectly straight
in the water, feet together and arms ready for the first movement.
Now separate your hands, turn them palm outward, and swing your arms
around in a half-circle until they extend straight out from the sides,
pushing the water back with your hands. In the second movement bend your
elbows and bring them down with palms of hands together under your chin,
and at the same time draw your legs up under your body with knees and
feet still held close together. The third movement is to send your arms
shooting straight ahead, while your legs, separating, describe a
half-circle and your feet pushing against the water force you forward
and then come together again in the first position.
This is a point to be remembered: always thrust your hands forward, to
open the way, and your feet back, to push yourself through it, at the
_same time_. It is like a wire spring being freed at both ends at once,
each end springing away from the middle. When you push the spring
together, that is, when in taking the second movement you draw in your
hands and feet, do it slowly; then take the third movement--letting the
spring out--quickly, thrusting out your hands in front and your feet at
the back with a sudden movement, pushing your feet strongly against the
water and stretching yourself out as far as you can reach.
[Illustration: THE FRIENDLY HAND UNDER YOUR CHIN WILL GIVE YOU
CONFIDENCE
LEARN TO TREAD WATER FOR SAFETY
Learn to be at home in the water.]
=Floating=
Some people can float who cannot swim. Others can swim but are not able
to float. That is, they think they are not and do not seem willing to
try, but it is quite necessary every one should know how to rest in the
water, and learning to float is very essential.
The hand of a friend will help you in this as in learning to swim, but
for floating it is held under the back of your head instead of under
your chin. Lie on your back with legs straight before you, feet
together, arms close at your sides, and head thrown back; trust the
water to bear you up and all that is necessary to keep you afloat is a
rotary motion of your hands _under_ water. After a time all movement may
be given up and you will lie easily and quietly as on a bed. It is said
that it is easier for women and girls to float than for men, because
their bones are lighter, and some learn to float the first time they
enter the water; all of which is very encouraging to girls. Breathe
deeply but naturally while floating, for the more air there is in your
lungs the more buoyant will be your body and the higher it will float.
If your body is inclined to roll from side to side spread out your arms
_under_ water until you steady yourself. If your feet persist in sinking
extend your arms above your head _under_ water and this will maintain
the balance.
Do not try to lift your head, but keep it well back in the water. If
your nose and mouth are out that is all that is necessary. Let your
muscles relax and lie limply.
To regain your feet after floating bring your arms in front and pull on
the water with scooped hands while raising your body from the hips.
=Diving=
You will learn to dive merely for the joy of the quick plunge into cool
waters, but there are times when to understand diving may mean the
saving of your own or some one else's life, and no matter how suddenly
or unexpectedly you are cast into the water by accident, you will retain
your self-possession and be able to strike out and swim immediately.
One should never dive into unknown water if it can be avoided, but as on
the trail all water is likely to be unknown, investigate it well before
diving and look out for hidden rocks. Do not dive into shallow water;
that is dangerous. If you are to dive from the bank some distance above
the water, stand on the edge with your toes reaching over it. Extend
your arms, raise them, and duck your head between with your arms,
forming an arch above, your ears covered by your arms. Lock your thumbs
together to keep your hands from separating when they strike the water.
Bend your knees slightly and spring from them, but straighten them
immediately so that you will be stretched full length as you enter the
water. As soon as your body is in the water curve your back inward, lift
your head up, and make a curve through the water to the surface.
=Breathing=
Breathe through your nose always when swimming as well as when walking.
To open your mouth while swimming is usually to swallow a pint or two of
water. Exhale your breath as you thrust your hands forward, inhale it as
you bring them back. "Blow your hands from you."
=Treading Water=
In treading water you maintain an upright position as in walking. Some
one says: "To tread water is like running up-stairs rapidly." Try
running up-stairs and you will get the leg movement. While the water is
up to your neck, bend your elbows and bring your hands to the surface,
then keep the palms pressing down the water. The principle is the same
as in swimming. When you swim you force the water back with your hands
and feet and so send your body forward. When you tread water you force
the water _down_ with your hands and feet and so send your body, or keep
it, up.
It is even possible to stand quite still in deep water when you learn to
keep your balance. All you do is to spread out your arms at the sides on
a line with your shoulders and keep your head well back. You may go
below the surface once or twice until you learn, but you will come up
again and the feat is well worth while. What an outdoor girl should
strive for is to become thoroughly at home in the water so that she may
enter it fearlessly and know what to do when she is there.
[Illustration: For dinner.]
=Fishing=
Just here would seem to be the place to talk of fishing, but I am not
going to try to tell you how to fish; that would take a volume, there
are so many kinds of fish and so many ways of fishing. One way is to cut
a slender pole, tie a fish-line on the small end, tie a fish-hook to the
end of the line, bait it with an angleworm, stand on the bank, drop the
hook and bait into the water, and await results. Another way is to put
together a delicate, quivering fishing-rod, carefully select a "fly,"
adjust it, stand on the bank, or in a boat, and "cast" the fly far out
on the water with a dexterous turn of the wrist. You may catch fish in
either way, but in some cases the pole and angleworm is the surest.
A visitor stood on the bank of our Pike County lake and skilfully sent
his fly skimming over the water while the boy of the family, catching
perch with his home-cut pole and angleworms, was told to watch and
learn. He did watch politely for a while, then turned again to his own
affairs. Once more some one said: "Look at Mr. J., boy, and learn to
cast a fly." But the boy, placidly fishing, returned: "I'd rather know
how to catch fish." It was true the boy had caught the fish and the
skilful angler had not. All of which goes to prove that if it is fish
you want, just any kind of fish and not the excitement of the sport, a
pole like the boy's will probably be equal to all requirements. But
there are black bass in the lake, and had one of them been in that
particular part of it, no doubt the fly would have tempted him, and the
experience and skill of Mr. J. supplemented by his long, flexible rod,
his reel and landing net, would have done the rest, while the boy had
little chance of such a bite and almost none of landing a game fish like
the bass.
[Illustration: The veteran.]
If you want to fish, and every girl on the trail should know how, take
it up in a common-sense way and learn from an experienced person. Own a
good, serviceable rod and fishing tackle and let it be your business to
know why they are good. Make up your mind to long, patient, trying
waits, to early and late excursions, and to some disappointments. Take a
fisherman's luck cheerfully and carry the thing through like a true
sportsman. There is one thing to remember which sportsmen sometimes
forget in the excitement of the game and that is _not to catch more fish
than you have use for_. One need not be cruel even to cold-blooded fish,
nor need one selfishly grab all one can get merely for the sake of the
getting and without a thought for those who are to come after. We have
all heard of good fishing places which have been "fished out," and that
could not be if the fishermen had taken only as many as they could use.
This rule holds good all through the wild: Take what you need, it is
yours, but all the rest belongs to others.