Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/133

 Popular Science Monthly

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���For short trips and pleasure rides in protected waters the day cruiser is the most desirable of all boats, as it can be handled readily and will travel at a fair speed under favorable conditions

��hour is the safest and most satisfactory.

There are three ways of obtaining a motor-boat; the first is to have a boat designed to order by an experienced naval architect in which all of the whims and fancies of the owner may be incorporated. The second is to purchase what is termed a "stock model"; the third is to pick up a second-hand boat for a small sum and put it into condition. For the man who can afford the service of a naval architect, this article will be of little interest, but for the man who must select a stock model craft, or who is willing to experiment for two or three seasons with second-hand boats until he is sure of the exact kind of boat he desires, it will be help fid.

As quantity pro- duction greatly re- duces the cost of any class of goods, the cost of the stock model motor-boat is relatively low. This is due to the fact that a certain plan is used for a large number of boats which are all made up at the same time; so the cost of designing, patterns, labor and inci- dentals is not charged up

���Deck plan of the neat glass cabin cruiser shown in the photograph below

��against one particular boat but against a large number. A few years ago the num- ber of stock models which it was possible to obtain was limited, but on account of the great popularity of motor-boating recently there is now scarcely any model which can- not be termed "stock."

The "second-hand boat" method is the one which is undoubtedly the most satis- factory in the end. Some of these boats only need new hulls; the power plant is usually in good con- dition. At the pres- ent time boats rang- ing from twenty to twenty-six feet are the most popular. Real bargains in boats of this size are compar- atively scarce, but as we go into the class of the thirty- five and forty- footers, the bar- gains are more frequent.

The most vital point of a motor- boat is always the hull, below the water line and near the keel. The condition of the timber may. be readily determined by jabbing the

���A glass cabin cruiser affords plenty of head room and is adapted for rivers

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