The Republican journal., 1910-02-10
Down East on a Schooner.
BY PALMER H. LANGDON.
SATURDAY, AUGUST %, 1909.

,rooner Northland as the tug ahead was
-aunding Scotland lightship off Sandy
Hook and preparing to cast the schooner
drift and let the wind blow her where it
allied. From the time that the North
Ind had left her dock at Black Tom
Communipaw) and passed by the Bay
qlige grounds of the Crescent Athletic
gt at I. 30 a. M. then out through the
Zarrows, the crew had been busy getting
~, sail, and as this job on a modern
s-haaner is mechanical one, it is of in
crest to cite how easily the work is done.
The first signs of canvas raising We're
rHen the captain remarked that the en-
-reer was anxious to hoist sail. And
Tie next minute as if by magic one of the
.-.ter sails began to rise with not man
. The crew pulling a rope. The first and
rd mates, with whistles in their
,hs were watching the rising sail at
stations each side of the mast,
scattered about the deck We're the
.0rs, two tending turns at the re-
r- ends of the steam hosting winch,
others al the bits waiting TO be-
haliards as the mates piped the
that the canvas was up.
.t one mast to another the crew,
ne USE u a
med q messenger. simply caught
oat and peak halliards around the
.nds that projected from each side
forward house and the vessels
wings We're run up with no hand
more than the fastening of the
.-s The iibs were hoisted two at
the topsails We're set and the sheets
. sails We're trimmed by steam
.aer. The only bit of old fashioned
hauling that was needed at all was
aying down lne of the topsail ropes
rack), and in hosting the fifth
-srl jib, which work was too light to
...are the power of the engine. During
d. the sail hosting the captain paced
.et.v the quarter deck, watching keen
The actions of the crew, but without
sora Or sign of command save motion
SET the last jib.
mpare this sail raising on modern
homer with the old time tales of set
7g sail on square rigger, when yards
not booms were the order of the day,
and when captain. mates and boatswains
oarsd out their orders and stood ready
force them with Delaying pins. And
WHEN there was general scurrying and
a.s1.iug about the decks and rigging to
AIRY out the many commands which
are from the poop.
When all sail had been set on the
Nothland she was close hauled into the
agtT southerly wind that she might
--a by Fire Island and then stand east
ward in her trip to Stockton, Maine.
The Noythland is fourmasted vessel of
0-- tons register, 300 fit. long, At it.
beam, about the same size as the famous
square rugged ships of the sos, and, as
n, aptain put it, she was quite
n.7f a schooner. " To drive this great
r. If oak and pine, with an estimated
.-5-at Of 1000 tons when light, and
... Ions when loaded, the vessel car
e 1000 square feet of canvas, divided
ar lower sails, four top sails and
0- .us A undertaking power suffi-
To give any engineering mind ac-
-.r figuring out the driving force of
..- is according to the different wind
and the actual force obtained
-e,. sented in the speed of the vessel.
this tremendous wind power the
N- md was equipped with 500-horse
gasolene engine, which would
E- ueu in calm weather at the rate of
-.g 0-s an hour. Under sails alone
3d make as nigh as fourteen knots
Htovn on the first day Of this trip
spa nal passed Fire Island and as the
showed her head above the waters
P" teeZe had freshened sufficiently
the souIhN est to promise fair run
night
5tude 10 deg. 25 min. north; longi-
deg. 50 min. west.
SUNDAY, AUGUST Doth.
weather promise of last night was
I'd, Cor the southwest air current
Wen the schooner along until this
z she was off Block Island, on the
Island coast, and the breeze was
eVeloping into smoking south
N- with more or less rain. The pros
were SO good Of passing the dan
..- Vineyard Shoals by daylight that
naln put on the auxiliary power to
sure. In the afternoon the schoon-
reached Vineyard Sound with a
mile wind coming over the quar-
direction of the sailors delight.
aehts that were beating to the
eastward were under reefed mainsails,
10. The Northland, this twenty mile
''aa II Boreas was nothing more than
a>-rmer zephyr. Enough to move the
schooner along on a trot. On sped the
81 and the skipper stood by the wheel
change of course every few
ail'es IN order to dodge the shoals that
sGo-05o4 on either side of the narrow
,-ar d way. The sailing so closely the |
SSo--- Of Martha's Vineyard and the
Aas-acausetts coast made the scene
lo a-tractive, and just before sun
-oRf Tie vessel was abreast Pollock Rip
ship off the southern end of Cape /
and the captain prepared to wear
l.t md mead from the east to the north.
-a. vancouver of wearing or jibing a
'.-fn schooner in twenty-mile breeze
| 'Sa-a emphasized the ease with which |
ing fore and alters are handled. |
frst act was to clew up the topsails, |
' gather them into ball of can
~. which was accomplished with the
~ hauling down on the clew lines. |
'r tepsails were taken in that they
s'.1 not catch on the mast head stays |
tr gattS swung over. The next move |
as to nook the engine onto the spanker
vJA sheet and haul the sail to wind |
"@fa and then slack off the spanker
'11- EackIe as the wind caught the sail |
NE other side. The center sails We're
'a OF less blanketed by the spanker as
W vessel veered around from the thrust |
.he helm, and the rest of the sails
Swung across the deck them
| with no power necessary to pull
ami slack off, or was there any
I9. ing of booms as the sails filled and |
o- taut the sheets. Everything
.-sI right under the guidance of the