PRACTICAL HINTS ON BOAT-SAILING.
Remember, in the first place, that no small boat fit to be called a
sail-boat can capsize, unless the sail is confined by the sheet being
made fast.
If the sail is loose, and the boom, or lower leach of the sail, as the
case may be, can move in a direction parallel to the wind, or in the
"wind's eye" as sailors would say, the boat cannot be upset by an
ordinary gust of wind.
In other words, in all fore-and-aft sails, such as are used almost the
world over for small sail-boats, the sheet, or rope that confines the
after-part of the sail to the stern-part of the boat, is the key to the
whole science of boat-sailing.
If one knows how to use the sheet properly, one knows how to sail a boat
with comparative safety. Of course it is supposed that he should also
understand flaws of wind and their effects.
It is the flaws of wind caught by the sail--more than it can bear--that
capsize a boat; and, if the wind that has force enough to do this could
be "spilled" out of the sail, the boat would be immediately relieved.
Therefore to insure safety, the person steering a boat should never
belay the sheet, but keep it in hand, so as to be able to slack it off
gradually, or cast it off entirely at a moment's notice. To do this,
only one turn should be taken round the cleat; so that the sheet will
slip under the force of a gust of wind, when the hand retaining it in
place slackens it in the slightest degree.
If the whole sail points towards the wind's eye, it no longer has any
effect upon the boat. The sail then shakes in the wind exactly as a flag
does from the top of a flag-staff, the wind passing by on both sides.
Should the sheet be hauled aft, the sail would be filled with wind upon
one side, and, if the wind had strength to overcome the gravity of the
boat, capsize her.
Or, if the boat is so heavy ballasted that its gravity cannot be readily
overcome, the mast or sail are liable to be carried away, and danger
incurred on account of the towing mast and sail. These would most likely
draw the boat into the trough of the sea, where she would be swamped
almost instantly.
It does not follow, because the slacking of the sheet is a safe thing to
do, that it should always be done. With boatmen who are thoroughly
practised, it seldom is done; for they can obtain the same result with
the rudder by bringing the boat into the wind until the sail shakes,
with the sheet still fast. This gives more control of the boat than
would be the case if the boom were out to leeward, perhaps dragging in
the water, on account of the pressure of the wind upon the hull and
mast.
The very best thing to do in a sudden squall is to use a modification of
both these methods; i.e., slack off the sheet for a foot or two, so that
the sail, before it can fill with wind, will be at such an angle with
the hull, that the shock upon the latter cannot be great. This gives one
more command of the boat, and insures quicker movement of the hull, and
hence quicker obedience to the helm, should a sudden change occur. This
slacking of the sheet also prevents the boat from going about on the
other tack, should she be brought too suddenly to the wind.
With an experienced hand at the helm, unless the squall is very severe,
there is no need of luffing so as to shake the sail to any great degree.
The slightest movement of the tiller will keep the sail just quivering
in the wind, the boat still advancing, so that she will not lose
steerage-way; thus enabling one to at once luff up nearer to the wind,
or change the boat's position rapidly, should the wind, which is often
the case, shift its direction suddenly.
Nothing is of more importance than to keep steerage-way on the boat, as
it is only in the utmost emergency that the sheet should be slacked
wholly off, and the headway lost.
If the boat is well under command when the squall is seen advancing,
then the method of steering into the wind's eye may be safely adopted,
and is, in fact, the better and more seamanlike method.
In small sail-boats on ponds, or arms of the sea, when a thunder-shower
is coming up,--which can always be seen in time,--it is, as a rule, much
the safest plan to take the boat as quickly as possible towards the
nearest harbor or land, unless rocky, inaccessible, or dangerous; in
which case, furl all sail and let go an anchor, paying out such a scope
of cable that the boat will ride easily. Then wait for the coming blast.
However severe it may be, the thunder-gust can then do no harm. With an
oar you can head the boat towards the coming blast, so that she will
feel but little of its force, and prevent the dragging of the anchor.
Thunder-showers are particularly dangerous, however, from the fact that
they almost always make their way directly against the prevailing wind.
When the two winds meet, and one finds one's self in the vortex between
them, it is very difficult to command a boat. Each wind, fighting for
the supremacy, will fill the sails with gusts, for which one does not
more than have time to prepare before a counter-gust will throw them
aback, or violently to the opposite side of the boat. Often, in fact,
the wind, blowing a gale all the time, will in less than five minutes
have visited every point of the compass. An anchor down and a furled
sail are the best for all small, open, or half-decked boats or yachts in
such an emergency.
Boats are often capsized by persons on board suddenly scrambling to the
windward, or upper side, when a squall buries the lee gunwale in the
water. Should the boat at this moment be taken aback by a counter squall
or flaw, she will almost surely capsize, for in one moment the windward
side becomes the leeward side; and the mass of weight hanging to what
was, a moment before, the weather-side, will carry the boat over. It is
too late to try and struggle back again: the bodies are all in the wrong
position to be able to turn around inboard towards the centre of the
boat. In their helpless postures they face the waves that are ready to
devour them.
The safest position in an open boat, when preparing for an approaching
squall, is, for all except the helmsman, to sit down in the bottom of
the boat, as near the centre as possible, thus being safe from any blows
from the boom of the sail, and increasing the steadiness of the boat in
a marked degree. Here they act as ballast, and do much good in keeping
the boat upright.
To the above knowledge should be added also the science of reefing the
sails of a boat quickly and neatly, so that she will stand up under a
great pressure of wind.
The mistake most frequently made is to neglect to reef till it is too
late. Landsmen scarcely ever calculate how quickly wind moves, and how
suddenly a change in the weather takes place. It is easy to reef while
there is time, but sometimes almost impossible if too long delayed.
Reefing saves one from much anxiety. The boat that with her whole sail
would be cranky and dangerous plunges along buoyantly through the summer
gale when her sails are properly reefed.
With a thorough knowledge of the sheet and rudder, and how to reef a
sail, there ought to be no accidents, even in very small boats; but the
trouble is, that too many tyros are allowed to invite unsuspecting
ladies and young girls into their boats, they not understanding the
first rudiments of a real nautical knowledge, of how to manage a craft
in times of danger.
A boat is like a good horse,--it will always do the best it can. It will
not capsize if it can help it; but, if mismanaged in time of emergency,
it is a dangerous plaything. Properly handled, it is amazing, almost
incredible, what can be done with a small open boat, with a common
lug-sail, and what weather it will live through.
But without knowledge, and knowing just what to do in dangerous times,
this pleasant summer sail is a treacherous pastime.