Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/145

 passes on ahead and the sail is hoisted so as to accelerate our speed, and following close on the back of the spent sea, we run away from the succeeding wave. Meanwhile fish liver is being crushed in the oost-room and thrown on the troubled waters.

Sailing in a heavy sea, with the wind on the beam, the steersman has full control. He holds helm and sheet. This is also dangerous sailing, and requires expert management. The state of the sea along our path, both ahead and to windward, is carefully watched, and the boat is zig-zagged so that, if possible, breaking seas may be shunned; but it often happens that an angry “lump” will toss itself in close proximity to our frail craft, so near that it may break aboard. But the man at the helm measures the wave with his eye, and if it threatens to strike the boat before the mast, the helm is put down and the sheet run off. The boat's head is thus brought towards the wave, which it vaults with the