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/192

 water. You have to use all your skill and judgment to avoid collision, and must ever be ready for any unexpected or irrational manœuvre on their part. I remember once turning to windward up the river at about the same rate that a rowing-boat was progressing in the same direction, so that at each tack I crossed her bow or stern; her boisterous crew of lads and damsels, to whom tacking was a mystery, took it into their heads that I did this purposely to alarm or annoy them, and objurgated me in emphatic terms because I did not 'sail straight, instead of zigzagging in that silly drunken fashion from one side of the river to the other.' After all, it is the holiday of those who can go but seldom on the river, and you should leave it to them if you can sail on other days. If you study the happiness of the greatest number, remember that the sailing-boat is a decided nuisance to the majority of pleasure-seekers on the river on such an occasion.