Page:Handbook for Boys.djvu/198

Rh is difficult and apt to strain a canoe, and getting lengthwise between the waves is dangerous. Always have more weight aft than in the bow; but, when there is only one person in the canoe, it may be convenient to place a weight forward as a balance; but it should always be lighter than the weight aft.

A skillful canoeman will paddle a light canoe even in a strong wind by kneeling at a point one third of the length from the stern

For the purpose of sailing in a canoe the Lateen rig is the safest, most easily handled, and the best all round sailing outfit.For a seventeen-foot canoe a sail having forty square feet of surface is to be recommended, and, in all except very high winds, this can be handled by one man.

The Lateen sail is made in the form of an equilateral triangle,

and two sides are fastened to spars which are connected at one end by a hinge or jaw. The mast — which should be set wellforward — should be so long that, when the sail is spread and the slanting upper is swung from the top of the mast, thelower spar will swing level about six to eight inches above the gunwale and hang clear above all parts of the boat in going about. The fail is hoisted by a halyard attached at,or a little above, the centre of the upper spar, then drawn through a block attached to the brace which holds the mast in position,