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/199

 show a light over the stern to an overtaking vessel, and so comply with Article 10. The bull's-eye should be hung up within easy reach of the helmsman; thus it can be hooked into a socket just inside the cabin door, if the boat has a well. Paraffin should be burned in these lamps, but colza is to be preferred for the binnacle lamp. It is advisable to procure lights somewhat larger than those generally supplied to small yachts, for diminutive lamps rarely burn well. A fog-horn—one of the ordinary horns sounded with the mouth satisfies the new Board of Trade rules for yachts under twenty tons—and a bell must be carried, with which to signal in thick weather. The rules for employing them will be set forth in another chapter.

A good is of course indispensable. On a small cruising yacht it should be secured on the fore-side of the well on a level with the deck, or in some other position where it can be plainly seen by the helmsman, and it should be as far removed as possible from the local attraction of ballast, large bolts, or other iron. The Mariner's Compass is too well known to need minute description here. The compass-card, divided into the thirty-two points of the compass, turns freely on a pivot fixed in the centre of the compass-bowl, the bowl being hung on double gimbals in the binnacle, so that it remains horizontal though the vessel rolls and pitches. On the side of the binnacle is a small oil lamp which lights the compass-card by night. When the steer