THE JUDICIOUS yachtsman will
personally superintend the laying up of his craft. If
he has that inestimable blessing, a good skipper, he
should not discharge him at the close of his summer
season. If he does he will bitterly regret it. A yacht
requires as much watchful care as a baby, and this is
especially true during the trying winter season. So
wise yacht-owners who have in their employ faithful
captains should hold on to them like grim death to a
deceased army mule. Good men are not too plentiful
these times.
A few practical suggestions as to preparing the
vessel for the winter are here appended. In the first
place, sails should be well dried before being unbent,
and then should be carefully stopped and labeled, and
the same remark applies also to the running gear. By
all means secure storage ashore for sails, gear, cabin
fitments and furniture, carpets, upholstery and
bedding, otherwise you may have cause to regret it in
the spring. In most of the buildings devoted to the
storage of yacht gear proper platforms or stages are
provided, so that a free current of air may circulate,
and thus prevent damp, mildew and decay. The lower
tier on the platform should consist of the warps and
running gear, on top of which the sails should be
snugly coiled. Above these the furniture, bedding and
upholstery should go. All can be covered over with an
old light sail to protect them from dust. This can be
removed as often as necessary for airing purposes.
On the other side of the Atlantic judicious owners
of storage warehouses make their platforms rat-proof,
following out the same idea as the farmer does with
his wheat stacks. Each support to the stage is capped
with a metal cone, which effectually stops the upward
progress of the sail-devouring vermin. Well conducted
warehouses are well ventilated, and the temperature is
kept tolerably even by heat.
Of course, all articles of value, such as plate and
nautical instruments, should find repository in their
owner's dwelling.
All light spars should be sent ashore and lashed up
under the beams of the warehouse. The same with the
rowboats, but with attention to the fact that they
should be so supported as to have their weight evenly
distributed, and thus prevent them from being pulled
out of shape.
Many expensive boats are hopelessly ruined by
neglect of this precaution. This is the proper method
of supporting a rowboat so that straining her is
impossible. Six eyebolts should be screwed into the
under side of the beams of the warehouse at proper
intervals to take the weight of the boat amidships and
at the third of her length forward and aft. From these
eyebolts ropes of sufficient length should depend, to
which, in the bight, a handspike is passed, on which,
bottom upward, the boat is hung.
A yacht laid up without the greatest care
deteriorates in value to an enormous extent. The first
process after dismantling is to clean the vessel
thoroughly inside and out, just as carefully as if she
was about to be continued in commission. After getting
her as bright as a new pin, all the hardwood -- that
which is varnished or gilded -- should be covered up
with canvas
After the yacht has been thoroughly skinned, as far
as her internal arrangements are concerned, the last
process preliminary to paying her out of commission,
is to give her decks a coat or two of bright varnish
-- shunning that mixture known in the trade as pure
oil, as deleterious to all decks.
It is cheaper in the long run to provide a yacht
with properly fitted winter hatches which entirely
cover the hardwood deck fittings and secure thorough
ventilation, as then the regular skylights can be left
open.
In small craft the sailing master will be
sufficient to keep the boat in first class condition.
On larger vessels, according to size, he should have
competent assistance.
Whether a yacht is moored alongside a quay or
another vessel, winter storms cause her to do a little
rolling, which invariably induces chafing. Unless a
vessel is properly protected by fenders, her
planksheer and bulwarks are sure to be seriously
injured, and to repair this part of a ship is costly
in the extreme; especially in regard to the
planksheer. Should the planksheer be "shoved up" by
contact with the dock or the ship to which she is
moored alongside, the damage done could only be
properly repaired by the removal of both bulwark and
rail. To guard against severe injuries of this kind
unceasing vigilance is necessary. If you can induce
your skipper to live on board, all the better. In such
a case your yacht will be kept in as dainty condition
as your wife's boudoir. Snow is very penetrating. It
will find its way even through rubber boots. A little
leak may at first have no significance. But the leak
increases and rot follows, fastenings are corroded and
paintwork discolored.
Every vessel afloat suffers more or less from
"sweating," caused by the difference between the
temperature of the air outside and inside the ship. To
obviate this a fire should be kept going; not a
furious furnace that would involve a great expenditure
of coal, but simply some heating device that gives a
moderate amount of warmth all through the ship. Thus,
when the owner returns to his yacht in the spring, he
will find her sweet and clean and will never regret
the few paltry dollars it has cost him to keep his
floating summer home in seagoing condition. The
careful skipper will see that his extra help is kept
busy, so that not only a casual visitor must
compliment her owner on her spick and span condition,
but a naval architect or a Lloyd's surveyor can find
no flaw or fault to peck at. For, down to her deadwood
and timbers, by the application of soap, hot water and
plenty of elbow-grease, she is made fit for repainting
right down to her keel.
By conservative and preservative methods such as
these a yacht's life is prolonged, and she will always
fetch her value in the market, the noisome odor of
bilge water being unknown.
The foregoing remarks are applicable to pleasure
craft that are kept afloat during the winter. It is
needless to expatiate on the benefit of hauling out
yachts of any size or construction, whether of wood,
composite, iron, steel or Tobin bronze or aluminum.
The expense of hauling large boats out is
considerable, for obvious reasons, and thus it is that
yacht owners do not care to incur the cost. This
objection does not apply to small craft, which should
invariably be landed for the winter and efficiently
protected by canvas, or other covering, from the
destructive influence of snow and rain. All that has
been said above in relation to the storage of sails
and gear applies as much to a one-tonner as to the
largest pleasure craft afloat.
When we go into the question of steam yachts, no
better advice can be given than that contained above,
so far as hull and equipment are concerned. It is
different when the proper care of machinery is
considered. There it is where the services of a loyal
and skillful engineer come into full play. Unless
sufficient attention is paid to a vessel's boilers and
engines during the critical time when she reposes in
dock, disastrous results, entailing vast expenditure,
are sure to follow. The complicated and ingenious
mechanism which propels the modern steam yacht
requires devoted regard. Very expensive when new,
repairs during their second season, if in any way
neglected in the winter, call for the resources of the
purse of a Croesus. In matters of this kind the old
adage which relates to a stitch in time should be
noted by the prudent yacht owner. Thus it is that an
engineer and a sufficient staff should be kept on the
pay roll in the winter for economic reasons alone. By
this means extravagant bills for unnecessary repairs
will be avoided. The engineer will take pride in his
work and do justice to a liberal employer.
It is well known that engineers can only become
acquainted with the true capacity of machinery by long
and careful study. Statistics have proved that marine
engines in the navy under the direction of good men
have been run with less coal, less oil and greater
working power year by year when the same man has had
control of the engine room. All of which means less
strain on the owner's bank account
Lincoln's famous aphorism about the unwisdom of
swapping horses when crossing a stream applies with
great precision to skippers and engineers. It takes
time for the most masterly and adroit captain to
become acquainted with the peculiar idiosyncrasies of
a vessel, for it is true that each one has her own
individuality, and it takes time to comprehend her. In
this they much resemble the fair sex. It is a case of
whip and spur on one hand, and saddle and bridle on
the other. Which is to wield the whip or wear the
saddle is a question between captain and ship. The
struggle is sometimes a long one, but in the end mind
conquers matter.
The captain, as in the case of Gen. Paine and the
Mayflower, eventually gets the hang of her,
brings her into a state of submission, and compels her
to become a cup winner. The engineer in his own sphere
accomplishes similar results. His machinery runs with
the regularity of a chronometer. His owner's bills for
coal and oil are confined within reasonable limits.
There are no breakdowns. His firemen implicitly obey
his orders, and all goes well in engine-room and
stoke-hold.
If these few practical suggestions and hints prove
of any service to yachtsmen, captains and engineers,
the writer will feel happy. He has simply touched on
the limits of a wide and fertile subject that might be
expatiated upon at a large expense of paper and
printer's ink.
...to
Plywood Boats or to The
Cheap Page or to The
Odd Sails
There
are, however, a number of old salts who condemn this
theory as rank heresy, and go in for deadeyes and
lanyards of the old-fashioned kind, and the greater
the stretch between the upper and the lower deadeyes
the better are they pleased. There is no doubt that
turnbuckles look neater than deadeyes, and they are
probably well suited for small craft. The Herreshoffs
have long used them for setting up the rigging of the
sloops and yawls of moderate size which they used to
turn out in such numbers, and which first laid the
foundation of their fame. The boat owner can please
himself as to which method he may choose, and he can
rely that with either his mast will be perfectly
secure. Both methods are shown in the accompanying
cuts.
TOPMAST
RIGGING.
Then
rouse the bowsprit in by the shroud tackles to the
second or third fid holes, as desired; ship the fid
and set up the gear, beginning with the bobstay, the
weather shroud next and the lee shroud last, at the
same time taking in the slack of the topmast stay. Now
to set the jib. First hook on the sheets and take a
turn with the lee one; next hook on the tack to the
traveler and the halyards to the head. Man the outhaul
and bowse the tack out to the bowsprit end. Hoist up
on the halyards and sweat up with the purchase. Trim
the sheet, let draw the fore sheet, ease off the
mainsheet and sail her along again. If these
instructions are carried out a storm jib may be set on
a reefed bowsprit without parting a rope yam.
Fig.
X represents the shape of the mast hoops, to each of
which two iron hooks are fastened. The hoops are of
the ordinary size, but about one-quarter of their
length is sawn out and to the ends the iron hooks are
riveted. Fig. E shows how the thimble toggles are
seized to the luff of the sail at regular intervals.
When it is necessary to set the trysail, adjust the
jaws of the gaff to the mast, make fast the parrel,
hook on the throat and peak halyard blocks and mouse
them. Hoist up slowly, slipping the thimbles over the
hooks on the ends of the hoops as the sail goes up.
The sheet must be hauled aft before the sail is
hoisted, and should be slacked off handsomely to allow
the sail to be properly set. Then all hands should
clap on it and flatten it in. If your boat is rigged
as a cutter or yawl the foresail may have the tack
made fast to the eyebolt to which the stay is set up.
The luff of the sail is seized to galvanized iron
hanks that run up and down on the stay. If the
foresail has a reef band in 
it
(as it should) a lacing is used between the reef and
tack cringles. Don't bowse up the halyards too taut
the first time you set the sail, and don't break your
back flattening in the sheet. Give it a chance to
stretch fairly. The same remark also applies to the
jib, whether set on a stay or flying on its own luff,
as it must necessarily do if your craft is equipped
with a running bowsprit. For the sake of lightness,
blocks are frequently made too small. Manila rope, of
which both sheets and halyards should be made, has a
habit of swelling when wet. It is generally rove on a
dry day, and renders through blocks quite easily when
in this condition. A rain squall will swell this rope
to such an extent, and halyards will jam so hard, that
sails will not come down when wanted, and disasters
happen. The work of setting and taking in sail is made
very laborious through small blocks and large sized
halyards. It should be home in mind that halyards
ought to run through blocks as freely when wet as dry.
Blocks should always be fitted with patent
sheaves.
When
for any purpose it becomes necessary or desirable to
anchor a small boat on ground known, or suspected, to
be foul, it is advisable to scow the anchor. Unbend
the cable from the ring; make the end fast round the
crown shank and flukes with a clove hitch a,
and bring the end a back to s, and stop it
round the cable with a piece of spunyarn; take the
cable back to the shackle and stop it as at b.
When the cable is hauled upon by the part O,
the stop at b will part and the fluke of the
anchor can be easily broken out and lifted. For larger
vessels a trip-line is sometimes bent to the crown and
buoyed instead of scowing the anchor.
