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/207

 *possible to carry a wooden dinghy on the deck of a small yacht; as a rule, therefore, the boat has to be towed astern, retarding the vessel's speed considerably, and becoming a source of danger in rough water. If too long a tow-line is given to a dinghy when running before a heavy sea she will steer wildly, alternately leaping her whole painter's length down upon the vessel, and drifting astern again till the tautening line brings her up with another jerk. She is very likely in these circumstances either to stave herself in or to drive a hole in the vessel's stern, and she is all the more likely to come to grief if the yacht has a long counter. The best plan in heavy weather is to tow the dinghy with two very short tow-lines, one fastened to each of the vessel's quarters; this will prevent her from sheering about, and, even if she does strike the vessel occasionally, she will do so with no great force. If a weight is put in her stern, she will steer better still. I towed a wooden dinghy from the Thames to Sweden and back again behind my three-ton ketch (which I have described in a former chapter), frequently encountering bad weather on both the North Sea and the Baltic, without the boat's suffering any injury. But the ketch, it must be remembered, was an old P. and O. lifeboat and had a pointed stern, so that if the dinghy's bow struck her it glided off instead of delivering a heavy blow, as would have been the case had the vessel had a square stern or a counter. Moreover,