This is a short chapter on a short subject, but one that is of interest
to the green hand. Men often ask when it is time to reef? It is always
time to reef when you think it is. The moment you would feel easier
and your boat handle better by having less sail spread, is the time to
shorten down. Never mind what anybody else is doing or what anybody
else tells you. It is your boat, not some other boat that is worrying,
and yourself, and not some other person, who is in charge. Never
carry sail for the sake of carrying it; the ignorant may praise your
recklessness and pluck, but the experienced man will call you either a
lubber or a fool.
Never let the action of another guide you in this particular, unless
the action agrees with your own judgment. It is very common for
young sailors to reef or not reef as they see some other man, and
consequently to carry sail much to the risk of their vessel and lives.
You must remember that these remarks of mine have nothing to do with
racing. In racing, a man cannot reef when he wants to, but when he can;
therefore, he frequently carries sail when he would give a good slice
of his daily income to have it off, and often keeps in his reefs when
he would like to shake them out, but does not for the same reason.
Then, again, in racing, boats are always in company, and if an accident
happens someone is close aboard to give assistance; but in cruising
this is not so, and many a life has been lost for want of a reef in
time.
When I was young and fresh I had an idea that if anyone could carry
sail on a boat I could do the same. One day I had a lesson that made
me think, and partially cured me of the habit. I went with a clever
old boatman across the Sound to bring home a new cat. We each took a
crew, and, to return, he sailed the new boat, and I the one we had
come over in. Halfway across it came on to blow very hard, and it was
all I could do to keep my boat on her feet. My crew wanted me to stop
and reef, but as the new boat kept on, I insisted upon following her,
being afraid that the old man would laugh at me. In plain talk, I was
afraid of being thought a coward, and for this I jeopardized my own
and the lives of the other boys. When at last, after a struggle and
half full of water, we reached port, the old man met me with a torrent
of invectives, calling me a fool and several other hard names for not
reefing.
"But you didn't reef," I protested. "Reef!" he exclaimed. "No, for
I couldn't; but I'd given fourteen dollars if I could have got that
sail down. Do you think I was carrying whole sail for fun?" It seems
the halliards, being new, had jammed, and they could not get the sail
down, so had to lug it. This taught me a lesson, one that I have never
forgotten; and oftentimes when I see a man struggling along under too
much sail, I wonder if he, like the old boatman, wouldn't give fourteen
dollars if he could get that sail down.
The first thing when you get a crew is to break them in to a method
of reefing. Give each man a place and teach him to keep it; this is
the secret of rapid and efficient work. Let us suppose that you are in
command of a small sloop, with a total crew of four. It comes on to
blow, and you decide to reef. There is a bit of lee under the shore,
and you go in for it. Now you have decided to reef without anchoring,
and when close enough luff up and prepare to lower the mainsail. Your
mate, your best hand, and the man in his watch go to the halliards, you
stay at the helm and your watch-mate takes the sheet.
Now, if you lower the mainsail all the way down, you will have to take
in your headsail and drift; this will soon take you out of your kindly
lee, but if you can keep some after-sail up, with the jib on an easy
sheet, you can jolly her up to windward a bit and keep close inshore.
Having decided on this you order the sail lowered down to the reef.
The getting down of the sail quickly depends on your cleverness at
the helm; you must spill just at the right moment. As the sail comes
down your two men handle and lay the sail along the boom, the mate
tending the halliards. When the tack cringle is low enough he belays
the halliards and ties down the tack. By this time you have the pendant
ready, and when the mate shouts "All fast," you haul out, one man
helping you and the others shaking and lighting out the canvas. When
this is handed out and made fast, the hands begin to tie the points,
beginning in the middle and working forward and aft.
Your business is to look after the dog-ear, to tie in the outboard
points, and pass a lashing round the clew, wrapping it round the boom.
The points are passed between the foot of the sail and the lacing,
not between the lacing and the boom, a common error with green hands.
Tie your points with a square bow knot; don't tie them too tight; try
and put the same strain on all. Don't haul out your clew too hard,
especially if it is raining or the water is flying. The pendant will
shrink one way, the sail the other, and in consequence the canvas be
pulled out of life. As soon as all the points are tied, look them over
carefully to see that they belong to the proper reef, and are not tied
cross-faced, and, if correct, hoist away.
Lazy-jacks on a boom are of great assistance in taking a sail in, but
they are in the way when reefing. Quarter-lifts as substitutes are
better for small craft. The reef points should be made of different
kinds of stuff, or else be dyed different colors, so as to be easily
distinguishable. I prefer different kinds of stuff, as they can be told
by the feel at night. The first reef being cotton line, the second
manila, and the third cotton.
If you are going to tie in more than one reef, it is best to tie in the
first, then the next over it, and so on. This also makes a much neater
looking job. Teach your men to roll the sail up tightly before tying
in; nothing looks so bad as a reef made up of a series of bags.
[Illustration: THE PROPER WAY TO TIE REEF-POINTS]
If you are caught out in the open, and have to reef, it is best to
lower all down and reef running off; by getting the boom firmly lashed
amidships you can handle the sail, whereas if you lay-to the sea will
make trouble. In running off carefully tend your helm, and keep the
vessel moving, or you may get pooped. If anywhere near shore it is best
to go in, anchor and reef in quiet, and at your leisure. The methods of
reefing a sloop are the same for reefing a cat, but if you have a yawl,
ketch or schooner, the work is much more simple and easy.
Always, when anchored in an open roadstead, or in any place where you
may have to get out in a hurry, reef your large sails before turning
in. Then, if it comes on to blow in the night, you are ready for it.
If you expect a squall to hit you, in a place where you cannot anchor,
reef down, and do so in plenty of time. Before leaving harbor, if
there is any question of weather outside, reef and carry them out with
you, until you get the heft of the breeze; if it is lighter than you
expected, it is a simple job to shake out.
Reefed jibs are not much use; they seldom work well, and it is far
better to shift headsails than to reef them. The jibs should be
snap-hooked on the stay; in this way they can be quickly shifted.
Reefing on a bowsprit in a seaway is a difficult and dangerous job. I
shall speak further of this matter of head-sails in another chapter.
_ON ANCHORS AND ANCHORING_
_"Let's forge a goodly anchor--a bower thick and broad;
For a heart of oak is hanging on every blow I bode;
And I see a good ship riding all in a perilous road--
The low reef roaring on her lee; the roll of ocean poured
From stem to stern, sea after sea; the mainmast by the board;"
The bulwarks down; the rudder gone; the boats stove at the chains;
But courage still, brave mariners--the bower yet remains!
And not an inch to flinch he deigns--save when ye pitch sky high;
Then moves his head, as though he said, "Fear nothing--here am I."_
--FERGUSON