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/79

 often than before. I had little hope now, and thought it almost certain that, tired out, I should be washed off the boat before the morning. But I contrived to hold on all night, and found myself at dawn not much exhausted. I was now apparently about three miles from the coast, which was evidently unpopulated. The sea was so much smoother that I found it possible to sit in the bottom of the water-logged boat, and, by paddling first on one side and then on the other with the one oar that remained to me (I had lashed it to the thwarts immediately after my capsize), I endeavoured to direct her towards the shore. But it was hopeless work; after I had been thus toiling for hours, the palm-clad hills and yellow sands appeared as far away as ever. While doing this I contrived to balance the boat pretty well; it was only occasionally that she capsized, threw me out, and had to be once more righted. To get into her again when this occurred was no easy matter; for the sea was still choppy, and the boat was apt to roll over with me again before I could get my balance properly. But I was now pretty well accustomed to her ways, and was able to do with her what I certainly could not have done with the ordinary, deeper, and better sea-boat. When swamped she certainly displayed a remarkable seaworthiness; that may be the wrong term to apply to this quality of hers, but whatever it was it saved my life. Had she been provided with water-tight compartments in her bow and stern,