The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-04-26 00:00:00

Eke 3tearbrilrge Observer.

SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 1870.

MARITIME RECREATIONS.

THAT Great Britain is an essentially maritime
nation is capable of proof not only by the fact
that her ships are found upon every sea, and
that her flag floats in every clime. She has
her men-of-war in -the Channel and in the
Mediterranean, in the Sea of Alarmora and
in the Persian Gulf, upon the coasts of Africa
and North America, in the China Sea, and
upon the bright blue waves of :the Indian
Ocean. Her commerce extends to the utter-
most ends of the earth ; an enormous trade
being carried on, at the same time, between
port and port at home. Nor are her people
too much absorbed in maritime business to
appreciate the pleasures associated with the
sea. For instance, the yatching season is
now close upon us; and, although but few-,
new vessels will this year take the water,
there is yet every reason to hope that the
season will be in no way inferior to those of
proceeding years. The returns for May
make an excellent show, and those for June
are still more promising. The yachting ports
are all alive, and the fitting yards are busy
with preparations Decks are being scraped,
spars refitted, balast readjusted, rigging and
canvas overhauled, and the hulks that for
months past have been lying idle on the
verge of high water mark, are now in active
preparation.'for the glorious months of early
summer. On the 17th May is the opening
cruise of the Royal London Yacht Club, and
from that day forth the fixtiires and entries
begin to multiply. There seems of late years
to have been a growing passion for cruising;
to judge from the number of steam yachts
continually being added to the interesting
little fleet already in existence. Indeed much
of the work now being done in the principal
yacht-building yards indicates that cruising
rather than racing will be the chief feature
of the forthcoming season. Cutters are be-
ing converted into yawls, or are having
their bcoms so shortened that it sweeps clear
of the rudder-post, and is carried clean
within deck. Schooners are having their
spars refitted, for it is well known that a
topsail schooner is not a fast vessel for rac-
ing purposes, although without doubt
wonderfully handy at sea. While, there-
fore, the love of yachting remains as keen as
ever, there is every reason to believe that
races will not be so warmly contested as in
years gone by, when money was plentiful
and yachting was an amusement the cost of
which was scarcely considered.
The coast regattas, so numerous in the
summer, tell unmistakably of the great in-
terest felt by a considerable porportion of
the people in yacht racing. Yet it must be
obvious that it is a most expensive recreation
for those who embark in it. A cutter or
schooner of any pretensions to size at all, say
over five-and-twenty tons, entering upon the
season with any chance of success, requires
spars and sails—a costly process; she will
need also a smart crew to handle her—an
item of expenditure which upon the face of
it can it be no inconsiderable one. At the
end of the season there is every probability
that she will be so strained and twisted by
the leverage of her enormous mass of gear
that she will need very substantial repairs
before she can again take the water. Un-
doubtedly there is no more beautiful sight
than a yacht race for those who understand
what is going on. The rapidity with which
advantage is taken of the slightest drift or
change in the wind ; the manner in which
an experienced officer, whose vessel is 'beat-
ing up, will regulate his tacks by what he
knows she is able to do, and will put about
when in the judgment of those who do not
understand her working he ought to have
held on ; and will hold on when outside critics
would have advised him to pat about—
all these are points which, if rightly under-
stood, make a yacht race one of the most in-
teresting spectacles furnished in the experi-
ence of an English summer. Each yacht
has her own peculiarities, requires a specific
handling, and sails best in certain winds.
These make yacht racing an expensive
luxury; but for those who plan a long sum-
mer cruise, no anxiety need present itself as
to fresh spars and canvas, or extra hands.
The cruiser is able to save life equably, and
whether his ran from the English to the
French coast takes two hours longer or
shorter than he had calculated, it does not
effect any important issue in which the
ownership of a gold or silver cup is at stake.
There can be no question that a long
cruise in a well-formed and well-fitted yacht
is one of the most pleasant modes of spending
an English summer season. Bat for those
who cannot commission a vessel of from forty
to sixty tons, there is yet enjoyment of the
most delightful kind to be had out of a little
coaster of from ten to fifteen tons. Say that
the fortunate owner of a little cutter starts
from Sheerness, and makes his way by easy
stages round the North Foreland, past Rams-
gate, Deal, and Dover, thence to Torbay,
Start Point, and the Lizard, doubling the
bands End, and running up before a brisk
Atlantic breeze to Lundy Island, Tenby and
Cardiff. What a store of health could be
laid in by such a trip as this! The life-giv-
ing breezes of the sea, and the full exercise
of his digestive powers will humanly speak-
ing, have added a substantial time to his ex-
istence. The cost of such an excursion is
not greater than that of lodgings 3,t a
fashionable wateting-place, or a Continental
tour. The truth is, that the beauties ol the
English coast are too little known, and the
invigoratinr, results of our own sea breezes
are too little appreciated. We can obtain
prolonged life and re-established health at
home without going so far as Naderia ; we
have waters washing our coasts as blue and
as beautiful as the waves of the Mediteranean
itself. But putting for the moment such re-
flections entirely aside, we may rest assured
that so long as the great body of the people
takes an abiding interest in maritime recreti-
tions, so long will there be no fear that
Great Britain will relux her dominion over
the sea.