Page:Yachting wrinkles; a practical and historical handbook of valuable information for the racing and cruising yachtsman (IA yachtingwrinkles00keneiala).pdf/184

 The selection of a crew, especially for a deep-water cruise likely to be of long duration, is an important piece of business. The skilled skipper, from long experience, possesses the instinctive faculty of picking out the right men from a small army of applicants. This, too, without any unnecessary delay. A short talk, a glance at papers, and the trick is done. A sea-lawyer has no chance of being shipped. The skipper detects him at once. He knows that breed. The inexperienced yacht-owner cannot appreciate what troubles he is saved from by the wise selection of his ship's company. One sea lawyer with the pestilent gift of the gab will infect a whole forecastle full of honest and well-meaning men, just as one sheep with the rot will taint a sound and healthy flock. The incessant wagging of his jaw, his perpetual growlings like a bear with a sore head, are as likely as not to breed a mutiny, or, at any rate, to make a floating hell of that part of the vessel that is forward of the foremast. Such a man will grumble even if he gets roast beef and plum duff three times a day and a "nobbler" of rum every hour of the twenty-four.

It is well, therefore, to exercise due care in shipping your crew if bound on a globe-circling expedition. Some owners insist that candidates for berths aboard their ships shall undergo a medical examination, in order to make sure that they are physically fit for a long