Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/945

 Popular Science Monthly

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��on the steering paddle which diminishes the headway. It is therefore good sea- manship to carry the sails "wing and wing" or with the main boom over one side and the dandy boom over the other. This allows both sails to draw to their full capacity and also reduces the drag from the steering paddle. In event of a tendency to gybe, keep the mainsail full and let the dandy do the gybing as its area is so small that it will not cause

��Wind

���Bow

���Bow/

��fig.17

��Turning meth- ods in a course

��Bow

any damage.

Often it will be possible to tack against or take as a beam wind one that is too heavy to run before wnth the full rig. When it be- comes necessary to run before it, round up, lower the main- sail and then scud before it under the dandy alone.

In very heavy weather, the canoe miay be turned stern first, the dandy sheet unrove from the deck ring and held in one's hand and the canoe sailed stern foreward under the dandy only. It is well to experiment with the canoe rigged thus, so that you may know just where to place the lee boards so that they will be correctly located for the dandy in this position.

When sailing with a passenger, both of the crew should face forward and the passenger given the management of the lee boards. It is better that the steers- man handle the main sheet as he can co-ordinate his actions with paddle and

��sheet better than two parties could possibly hope to do.

With an outfit aboard, it is best to have considerable weight up forward, if much tacking is to be done, as a canoe somewhat down by the head will make better windward work. The reverse will hold for a long run ahead of the wind in which case it is best to have more weight aft. A passenger, serving as live ballast, can prove quite useful in this respect.

In making a landing at a float or dock, always come up to the landing against the wind or tide, whichever may be the stronger, and when leaving the canoe temporarily tied to a landing, tie her on the side away from which the wind is blowing so that she may ride clear with- out bumping or scraping. Often, when a light breeze is blowing, the hoisted dandy with boom trimmed amidships will keep the canoe well off the landing against a tide which would tend to run her against the float or dock.

When landing on a beach, except on a falling tide, always pull the canoe well above high water mark, as you may be away from it longer than you had figured upon and a rising or shifting wind might pound her on the sand. When landing on a rocky shore, un- less you can be sure of enough sandy bottom to accommodate the canoe, step overboard and wade ashore before the canoe touches bottom, dragging the canoe until she grounds. Unload her before dragging her up on the beach and load her with only the bow grounded when you embark. Dragging a heavily loaded canoe ashore or dowm a beach will do her more injury than five seasons' legitimate usage.

One of the chief beauties of a canoe is her adaptability as a fishing craft. With her one may hoist sail, run out to the fishing ground and return under canvas while the other anglers are raising blisters on their hands.

For fishing, it is best to have the canoe anchored by the stern, as then the fisher- man will face the direction in which his line is pulled by the tide or his float is blown by the wind. After the mainsail is lov/ered, the boom may be removed from the mast and the forward end of the sail pushed up under the forward deck

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