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/226

 flood and ebb. In the first place, in the open sea, the tide rises from low to high water in about six hours and twelve minutes, and falls from high to low water in the same time. Near the land various conditions affect the tide, and on tidal rivers the further one is above the mouth the shorter is the duration of the flood. Thus on the Thames at Kew the tide flows for about, three hours only, while the current is running down for about nine hours.

The tide rises fastest at half-flood and is at its slowest during the first and last hours of the flood. On the average, if x represent the rise of the tide in feet during the first hour of the flood 3x will be the rise in the second hour, 4x in the third hour, 4x in the fourth hour, 3x in the fifth hour, and x in the last hour. The rate of the ebb is in the reverse order.

THE BAROMETER

Of all the articles that are required for the equipment of the small cruising vessel none is more indispensable than the aneroid barometer. The little cutter or yawl of five tons is not intended to contend with strong gales at sea. In the course of a long coasting voyage, such as to the Baltic, one is sure to encounter rough weather occasionally; but it is almost certain to be through one's own fault if one is caught out at sea in a dangerous storm. For him who can read his barometer