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COMMAND.

(c) Step mainmast.............

DUTIES.

The crew then take stations for stepping mainmast. Come up starboard foreshrouds and carry them to the center line. All hands pick up mainmast and place it ready for stepping with masthead to starboard of foremast. See all gear clear. Reeve and tend main shrouds; reeve and man main throat halyards; tend mainstay. .Forward detail pick up mast and place heel in step. Put in king pin. Tend shrouds and mainstay; hoist away on throat halyards; close main gate. When masts are stepped, all hands turn to in their own parts and rig the boat.

NOTES ON UNSTEPPING AND STEPPING MASTS.-The masts are unstepped in succession, mainmast first. The mainmast is lowered on the starboard side of foremast; this is why it is necessary to carry the mainstay and starboard fore shrouds inboard to the center line. The main is lowered by hauling on the mainstay and using the main throat halyards as an easing-down purchase. The lower block of the throat halyards is unhooked from the gaff and hooked into a bowline thrown in the end of the port stern fast. The throat halyards are then rounded in and a strain is kept on the hauling part. The mainmast is steadied while being lowered by means of the shrouds. In order to keep the main boom in the boat it is necessary to launch the boom forward while the mast is being lowered, sliding the mast rings along the mast toward the head. When unstepped, the mast is launched aft so that the head will be in the boat, and mast and boom are then placed outboard.

In lowering the foremast, the jib halyards are used as an easingdown purchase. The standing part of the jib halyards is hooked into the ring bolt in the bow and the hauling part is led through this ring bolt and belayed to the samson-post. While being lowered the foremast is steadied by means of the shrouds.

RUDIMENTS OF SAILING.

90. (1) Definitions:

Bear up.-Pull up (to windward) on tiller, thus heading boat farther away from the wind.

Beating to windward.-Proceed close-hauled, first on one tack and then on the other, thereby working gradually up in the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Belay. To make fast a rope or line by taking turns around a cleat, etc.

Boat.-A small craft propelled by sails, power, or oars, that can be hoisted aboard a large vessel. Never call a ship a boat; it is lubberly.

Cleat.-A wooden or metal device, generally having two arms, on which a line is belayed.

Close-hauled; by the wind or on the wind.-Sailing a boat as close to the direction from which the wind blows as possible.

Ease off.-To slack away a rope.

Free; sailing free; off the wind.-Sailing with the sheets eased, on the desired course, without being close-hauled.

Gybe. To turn boat's head away from the wind so that the wind gets on the opposite side of the sail, causing it to swing violently across the boat.

Lee side.-Side away from the wind.

Lee shore.-A shore on to which the wind is blowing. Dangerous. Leeward. In the direction of the side opposite to the direction from which the wind blows.

Leeway. The lateral movement of a ship to leeward of her course. Luff. The forward edge of a sail.

Luff her.-Bear down (to leeward) on tiller, causing boat's head to turn toward wind and luff of sail to shake.

Port side.-Left-hand side of a boat, when facing forward.

Port tack.-When sailing with the wind coming over the port side. Reef. To reduce area of sails when wind is too strong to carry whole sail.

Reeve.-A verb, meaning to lead a rope through the proper fairlead. Example, "Reeve off new boat falls"; "The halyards are rove through a sheave in the masthead, and lead down to a cleat on the mast.

Running rigging.-Those ropes which reeve or lead through blocks or fairleads, such as halyards, sheets, etc.

Sail.-A triangular or rectangular piece of canvas, duck, or similar material, stretched by means of masts and other spars, and used to propel a boat by means of the wind. Never called a sheet.

Sheet.-A piece of rope made fast at or near the clew of a sail, and used to control the angle the sail makes with the wind.

Slack. To lessen the tension on a rope by letting it run out. Standing rigging.-Those ropes which are stationary, and seldom require alteration, such as shrouds.

Starboard.-Right side of a boat when facing forward.

Starboard tack.-When sailing with the wind coming over the starboard side.

Sternboard. When a boat goes in the direction opposite to ahead, it is said to have sternboard.

Tack.-Forward lower corner of a sail.

Tack. To go about. Put tiller down (to leeward) so that a boat's head goes through the wind, and the sails fill on the opposite side. Wear. To put tiller up (to windward) so that boat's head goes away from wind, sails gybe, and the boat comes by the wind on the opposite tack. Opposite of "Tack," as in the case of wearing the boat's stern passes through the direction from which the wind comes, while in tacking the bow passes through the wind.

Weather.-Verb. Meaning to pass to windward of a vessel or object. Weather side.-The side toward the direction from which the wind is blowing.

Wind, direction of.-The direction of wind is that from which it blows; a south wind blows from the south.

(2) It is easy enough to see how a boat sails before the wind; that is, with the wind astern. The wind simply pushes on the sail, driving the boat before it. How a boat is sailed against the wind is best shown by the following sketch. Of course, a boat can not be sailed directly into the wind, but it can be sailed at an angle of about 45° to the wind, so that by bringing the wind first on one side and then on the other, a zigzag course is steered, the resultant of which is directly to windward. This is called "beating to windward," and each leg of the course is called a "tack." To make each of these "tacks" the boat must be sailed "close-hauled," or as near the wind as possible, still making headway. Let us see how this is done.

The wind, blowing as shown by arrows at an angle to the keel line of the boat, strikes the sail and glances off. The force exerted on the sail is resolved into two forces, (a) in the direction of the keel

line of the boat, which is the direction of least resistance, and (b) at right angles to the keel line, which force tends to blow the sail over, causing the boat to heel over, and also tends to push the boat bodily to leeward. This is resisted by the keel or centerboard, so that the main result is to drive the boat ahead, though she makes more or less leeway, depending on the depth of keel. As the angle of the wind with the sail gets less, the force exerted decreases until it becomes zero, and the sail simply shakes in the wind, like a flag.

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Every boat has a critical angle between wind and sail which, if lessened, will cause the boat to lose headway. Thus, some boats are said to "point" higher than others (to sail nearer the wind). Some yachts will head within three and one-half points (about 40°) of the wind, while other boats will not sail closer to the wind than six points (67.5°). Navy boats, not being designed for sailing alone, are not like yachts, so do not expect them to point too high.

(3) From the foregoing we have seen the use of the sail, the angle of which with the wind must not be too small. The "sheet" regulates the angle which the sail makes with the keel line of the boat. (See figure.) When sailing "by the wind" ("close-hauled') the sheets are hauled well aft, while they are eased well off when sailing with the wind aft. Remember that when sailing on the wind sheets may be trimmed in more in smooth water than in rough. Rough seas cut down the speed of a boat, so it becomes necessary to sacrifice high pointing for speed in order to reach your destination. Remember also the universal rule in boat sailing-Never belay a sheet. Why is this? The great danger in sailing is that of being capsized by sudden squals or puffs of wind. There are two ways of preventing this; one is to ease the sheet (let it go in extreme cases), and the other is to luff her. Both of these measures cause

reduction of pressure on the sails. If sheets are belayed they can not be eased quickly.

(4) If struct by a squall when on the wind, the first thing to do is to luff without spilling the wind entirely out of the sails, thereby keeping the boat with enough headway to maintain control. Keep the sheets in hand and ease them if necessary. In an emergency let them go. Struck by a squall while running free, you must luff her (put tiller down) and ease the sheet at the same time, as the wind can not be spilled out of the sail by luffing alone.

(5) We will now consider the rudder. Without a rudder the pressure of the wind on the sail of a properly trimmed boat should cause the bow of the boat to come up into the wind (luff). This is counteracted by turning the tiller slightly to windward, and the boat is then said to carry "weather tiller." Every boat should carry a little weather tiller, so that if you let go the tiller she will luff. This tends to safety in a squall, as she will automatically luff and spill the wind out of the sail. Remember you move the tiller in the direction opposite to that in which you wish to go, a very hard thing to learn at first.

(6) Every craft under sail needs weight of some sort, "ballast," to give her sufficient stability to enable her to carry sail. The more you heel over when sailing, the less driving force you get out of the sail, hence we generally move the live ballast (men) over on the weather side of the boat to keep the boat from heeling too much.

(7) We speak of the "trim" of the boat, meaning generally the difference between the draft, forward and aft. If the draft is greater forward, we say the boat is "down by the head." Conversely, if she is deeper aft, we say the boat is "down by the stern." The trim depends on the disposition of the ballast. If the preponderance of weight is forward the boat is down by the head, and therefore there is greater lateral resistance forward than aft, causing the stern to be blown to leeward and the boat's head to come up into the wind. Weather tiller is necessary to counteract this. If she is down by the stern, the bow will be blown to leeward, and lee tiller will be necessary. Never let a boat carry lee tiller. In sailing a boat, especially a cutter, great care must be exercised to see that she is properly trimmed. When your principal ballast is the crew, it is very easy to trim the boat properly. Get her on the wind, sails well set, sheets aft (not too flat); then move the crew forward or aft, until with the rudder free (hands off the tiller) she tends to slowly come up into the wind. Then she will carry a slight

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