The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-09-26
THE YACHT CLUB CRUISE.
Two Days Upon the Briny Deep-A Fleet
Run ON Cold Water Princip1es--No
Whaling on the Sabbath.
At Anchor Of HaskeWs Island, !


SUNDAY EvEN'G, 10 p. M, Sept. oath.
Mr.. Editor:
1t being our watch below, as promised, we
Portland Yacht Club.
Friday afternoon at o'clock upon firing the
signal from the Commodore's yacht, there
promptly filed off before the light breeze the
following vessels of the Cub-Princess, Com
modore John P. Thomas; Viva, Vice Commo-
dore Paul; Sparkle, Capt. NJ. Goddard; Twi-
light Capt Taylor; Vii, Capt. G. NJ Thomas;
Ray, Ex-Commodore Smith. A short distance
down the bay we were joined by tie Oracle,
Capt. Merrill, and the Laurel, Capt. G. w.
Goddard. Several gentlemen upon the steam
yacht Tourist, accompanied us till off Little
Chebeague, where she left to return to the
city, receiving general salute from the fleet
in response to the whistle of the little steamer
and the bon yogage of friends on board. A fair
wind and tide brought us by 7o'clock p. M,
en- nadsse to our first anchorage at South Free
port. The usual quietness of this pretty village
was broken by the firing of the guns as each
yacht came into line, and general assembly
of the citizens was noticed upon the pier out of
curiosity to see the boats in the harbor. The
usual exchange of courtesies among the yachts
caused the evening to quickly pass, and at an
early hour all had retired.
Saturday morning opened clear and pleasant;
all hands were promptly on deck; another ex-
change of courtesies; breakfast served; and 8
o'clock found us underway for our second days
cruise with the addition of the Casco, Capt.
Soule. A favorable tide and boat practice soon
brought US out into the bay. A dead "beat to
the windward" till Mark Island was reached,
shew the fine sailing qualities and manage
ment of the feet From Mark Island to New
Meadows River we had a touch of old ocean,
hour of some of the boys. A beautiful sail up
the New Meadows River brought us to our des-
tnation, "rhe Three Islands," about six
O'Clock p. m.
The great value of the salt sea and fresh air
as an invigorator to health, was now showing
itself in the improved appetites of all, and the
ready response to the stewards welcome cry of
'supper's ready" This evening was also spent
by an exchange of courtesies.
The high moral standing Of the Portland
Yacht Club is known to all. The absence of
AutOAtCdtluS liuuOES 10 d uUtlCOdUiC ltdtuIo VI
its excursions, attributable to the fact that men
we'll fed desire very little stimulant. 1t was
equally noticeable that all were great eaters.
1t is true one morning the writer was asked by
one of the most courteous of our captains to a
cider cocktail incidentally we thought it would
be acceptable) but not being familiar with
cider cocktails, ventured to ask the polite cap
tain the kind of bitters he used. eve are out
ofISLoughton and Boxer" was the reply "but
are using Worcestershire sause at present"
Hastily we remarked, "Thank you. thank you
that will help it some, but we will take ours
straight this morning. Pardon this depression.
Our log shew that we had lost three vessels and
gained one. The Ray, Laurel and Oracle had
returned to the city, and the Nellie, Capt.
Bradford, had met us about IL m,
This morning we were apparently upon an
open sea out of sight of land. 10 an impene-
trable fog, the three islands and adjacent shores
had disappeared. Orders came to run down
the river to Cundy's Harbor, which was reach
ed about II NJ, the fog disappearing during the
forenoon. From this point the yachts took va
rious routes among the islands on their home
ward course. During the whole of this day
most novel and interesting contest has been
prevailing with the different yachts. Small
boats are lowered, line is passed from the
bowsprt of each yacht to the stern of the boats,
picked crew is selected who are to row suffi.
GENTLY fast to keep the line straight. When
the well known sailing qualities With all can
vas spread, of these fast yachts are considered,
It becomes remarkable incident to record that
lad hv Co.
whole day ia the advance. Such endurance
and skill as oarsmen. is another proof of the
value of yachting i'll the development of phys-
cal strength worthy of record.
With the best of intention to spin our yarn
Short" or in other words of newspaper Ian
guage, not to encroach upon your valued space,
permit us to add an incident of this days sail.
As the Viva was working her way on the out
side course to the entrance of the sound near
Eagle Island, we were consulting the chart for
the location of various lodges around US, when,
to our surprise, there appeared long black
ledge within short distance of our boat. Has
tily consulting the chart we could not find any
mention of rocks at this point Still more to
our establishment the ledge began to move,
when we became aware that we were within a
few feet of immense whale, estimated to be at
least APO feet long. The writer, with what was
intended to be commendable zeal and great
presence of mind, seized shot gun and was
about to slay this mighty monster of the deep,
when he was arrested in the act of firing by
the stern words of the Vice Commodore, in
club never to allow sporting on Sunday, and
that the firing of guns was strictly prohibited.
We begged pardon, with the excuse .that this
was our first cruise and we were not familiar
with the rules, and asked if we might not troll
astern fish line that fortunately was in our
pocket. 1t was no use. They might blow up
He'll Gate Sunday, but capturing whales was
prohibited. "Douse that glim." "Aye, aye,
sir; all night in."
"NO stir in the air. no stir in the sea,
The ship was still as ship might be;
Her sails from heaven received no motion,
Her keel was steady in the ocean,"
Such was our experience up to clock Mon
day morning, when '.All hands on deck" re-
suited in furling the anchor, that had accident
ally been left overheard all night. Nine o'clock
and the last gun, loaded to the muzzle with the
last of the ammunition, in its ringing report
denoted that the fall cruise of the club was az
an end.
We will leave the poetical and sentimental
for the imagination of those who love the sea
by reading poetry and books, instead of avail
ing themselves of such rare privilege as Of
fered by the courtesy of the gentlemanly own
ers of the yacht fleet Gladly would we refer
to many pleasing incidents of the cruise, but
personalities are Objectionable with gentlemen
of so much modesty. Hereafter we shall
class ourself as an able seaman (if not the best
of reporters.)
P. S. About that whale. The sea-serpent is
| at present visiting the Centennial. Arrange
| ments have been made with Capt. Willard to
charter the Laurel and capture the whale. The
| advantage of the Laurel in this important af-
fair will be easily recognized. Probably on
being struck the whale will start off shore with
the Laurel in tow, and although no vital part
may be reached, yet he will soon die Of exhaus.
| ton in such an unequal contest. OLIN,
ROUGH PASSAGE. -Barkentine Fannie H.
Loring of Portland, Capt. Humphrey, arrived
at this port yesterday from Calais, France, af
ter passage of 81 days, part of which was