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/19



CHAPTER I

THE SELECTION OF A BOAT

How to survey a vessel—Galvanic action—Age of a vessel.

This work is intended for the use of the tyro who has little or no experience of sailing—not for the owner of the luxurious floating palace, but for the young Englishman who has a true love of the sea, and who, though unable to undertake long cruises on a smart schooner, or to race his cutter against the crack ships of the season, is yet ambitious to own and to sail single-handed his small craft, ready to rough it in the pursuit of his favourite pastime. Without doubt he who sails his own little vessel appreciates best all pleasures of yachting. 'The smaller the vessel, the better the sport,' has long been a maxim of mine. I have sailed my own vessels, from the tiniest craft up to seventy-tonners, upon many seas; but I think that in this particular sport I have got the most unadulterated delight out of the open boats of my boyhood, and out of my first five-tonner, a little yawl with which I