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/78

 these waters; indeed, I saw several while I was clinging on to the boat. I therefore decided to remain with the boat, and taking advantage of a smooth, I succeeded in righting her, but I found that it would be impossible to bale her out, however smooth the sea; for, empty though she was, only her bow and stern rose above the water, her sides being immersed. After trying some experiments with her, I soon discovered that, though the boat was unfit to carry one through a rough sea, she was, in consequence of her breadth and her flat floor, a much better boat to cling on to when swamped and capsized than a far better sea-boat would have been in the same position. This is what I meant when I spoke of her seaworthy qualities. She was frequently rolled over by the waves, now floating keel upwards and now righting herself; but it was always possible for me to lie upon one side or the other without fatiguing myself to any great extent, though I was, of course, up to my shoulders in water, and the waves were constantly passing over my head. Then, holding on to the stern, I swam behind the boat, endeavouring thus to direct her shorewards, but with no appreciable result; and soon, seeing the fin of a shark not far off, I promptly resumed my former position on the boat, where my body was not so exposed to view. I thus drifted until the evening, when the wind freshened and the sea rose, so that the boat's capsizings became more frequent, and the waves dashed over my head more