The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-08-15
THE WANDERING COL. LEGE QUISTETTE.
YACHT "QuIMP err OFF rIpprropp

e,s~NJ 81 NGhhhttteS hRo pONh ~
exhilarating and delightful in its pro-
gress thus far, that perhaps few notes
from their log-book may prove of in
terest to your readers.
We came on board the "Quimper" at
er mooriDgs in East Boston, July 20.
/, ne Quimper Is a sloop yacht, twenty
10 lot feet long, with q cabin which
yives comfortable sleeping room for
tx, n snug cook-room forward, and
,very thing trim and i'm tip-top repair.
She is full rugged, carrying an immense
main sail, and all the regular light sails,
mas deep keel, and is very fast sail
err, having been a frequent winner in
Yacht races. She is owned and COM
by Capt. Harry Wheeler, who
is her skipper on the present trip. The
members of the Quintette form the rest
of the working crew, and are now quite
and efficient seamen, being
able to haul ropes and sling nautical
terms and phrases with considerable
precision. Capt. Wheeler is charac-
ter we'll worthy of study as typical
son of Neptune, whose characteristics
have been shaded by circumstances
and influences which form a strong
contrast to the environment one finds
among the quiet hills of Vermont. In
person he is small, hardly more than
i've feet, gray-headcd and bronzed in
complexion by exposure, 1.-THE and agile
as q cat, and in spite of his more than
sixty years can climb the bare mast to
the main cross-tree as nimbly as any
tar who sails the water. In tempera-
ment he is nervous and irascible, yet
gentle and kind-heartcd. He has a
high ideal of honor and integrity, his
onlyivice being the almost inevitable one
to maritime life, that of profanity
when under excitement. Under such
circumstances we certainly could not
say Of our captain that ole hardly ever
swears big, big d."
Perhaps the boisterous influences of
the wind and waves and breakers tend
to develop taste for strong language,
or mayhap like Corporal Foss when the
heart is full sort of safety-valve has to
be opened, and when an oath pops out
the mariner is relieved. With such a
captain our voyage has not lacked live
ly incidents. The Quimper is the dar.
ling of his heart, and every rope and
spar must be properly coilcd C'kiled''
he pronounces iO, trimmed down or
set right, and woe to the slack or clum.
sy lubber who "fouls" or misplaces any
of these things. One day the captain
went aloft to clear away something
about the rigging, and when ready TO
descend took hold of a rope which he
supposed was held below, but which
had been cast of by mistake, and the
little fellow fell the whole distance to
the deck, about twenty-eight feet,
breaking his fall against the head OF our
first boss. lie was on his feet at once
and we expected little delugc of big
words, but were much amused when
he said "D-n it! its no use to swear"
and turned away, giving up the case as
beyond his power to do justice to. The
club has given concerts at Swampscott,
Magnolia, Pigeon Cove, Hampton, Isle
of Shoals, Newcastle, York, Kenne-
bunk, and to night is to sing in the hall
of the Yates House. In some of these
places we have sung two nights, SO that
this will be our eleventh concert. 1t is
not for us to speak Of our success more
than to say that the performances have
been generally received with favor,
and have kept the treasury in graft
fying condition, Our audiences have
often contained professional musicians
and talented amateurs from Boston and
elsewhere, and their approval has been
very encouraging. Our trip has includ-
ed the whole coast from Boston to Port
land (where we spent last Sunday and
thus we have had opportunities to OBJ
serve the most famous beaches and sea-
side resorts In New England; to enjoy
their attractions, and to form some con-
ceptions of the vast numbers of our
people who flock to these places in pur-
suit of rest and recreation during the
summer months. at each of the places
mentioned above, and as many more on
this same coast, are two, three or more
hotels, accommodating from one hun
dred to three hundred guests each, and
we have found them all full to overflow
ing. The principal, almost the only at
fractions which these places have to Of
fer are the invigorating air .and the
surf bath. The charms of each of these
are doubtless familiar to many of your
readers, and have been 100 often de-
scribed to need any further attempt on
my part. We have reyeled in both
these pleasures during our cruise, and
have added TO them that of sailing 'the
ocean blue" After few initiatory
qualms we all settled down as hardy
mariners who are "never, never sick at
sea-" and the intense delight of rushing
thro' the waves, flying before the wind
under full sail, or beating against it
with double reef and the Quimper up
"on her ear" have been new and never
to-be-forgotten enjoyments to us who
are inland born and bred. Among the
treasured incidents connected with this
experience is one which occurred one
day when one of our party, whose hair
ia thinnest on the top of his head,
thought to take nap in the shade. He
got down into the lee scappers, where
the main sail kept off the sun, and with
his head OH a pillow was snoozing away
in great contentment when a sudden
blast struck the boat with more than
usual force; the skipper, with an eye to
joke, kept we'll of the wind and the
water came in over the rail, splashing
up on deck and carrying overheard sew
eral articles of clothing which had been
spread out to dry, furnishing several
members of the crew with wet feet,
while the startled sleeper in tho Ice
scupper climbed to the "standing-
ROOM" shaking two or three barrels OF
salt water out of his trowsers, with
an expression of sorrow and surprise
which was greeted with shouts of APP
plause by The whole party. Another
scene which will hold firm place in
our memory is certain afternoon when
our first tenor had been laboring for
several hours in brewing kettle of
bean soup, and after long expectation
and eager longing 1t was at last an
nounced as "done," when q sudden
lurch to leeward, as the vessel went
"hard-a-lee," overturned the whole pot
and flooded the cabin floor with the sa-
worry fluid.
But these little ups and downs only
added zest to the general hilarity of a
jolly crowd who are roughing 1t and
find humorous side to every trouble.
The Quimper has now turned her prov
towards BOSTON. md We shall nrohahly