Page:Small-boat sailing; an explanation of the management of small yachts, half-decked and open sailing-boats of various rigs; sailing on sea and on river; cruising, etc (IA smallboatsailing01knig).pdf/125

 deck-beams, and having cross pieces attached to them with racks for belaying-pins.

In larger vessels purchases are fitted to the standing parts of throat, peak, jib, and other halyards in order to obtain greater power. The purchase consists of two blocks, of which one is sometimes a double block; the lower block of the purchase is hooked on to an eyebolt on the deck near the foot of the mast. When a vessel is under way it is far easier to get the sails taut by swinging on the purchases than by hauling on the halyards. Purchases are not required for small craft except for racing purposes. The less gear the better on the miniature yacht, and if you have too many halyards, purchases, and what not dangling along your mast, your amateur crew are likely to get very confused and to be ever hauling at or letting go the wrong rope. A friend of mine, who had never been at sea before, but who volunteered to join me on a cruise round the world on my thirty-ton yawl the Falcon, exclaimed in dismay when he first beheld her, 'Oh, what a lot of strings there are about this boat! I shall never know the use of them all.' And he never did master the ropes, though he was a volunteer hand on board for several months and sailed over many thousands of miles of ocean. The small sailing-boat needs but few 'strings,' but too often her owner over 'strings' her and over blocks her, under the impression that she thus has a more imposing and yachtlike appearance.

The peak halyards, by which the peak of the