Los Angeles herald., 1910-06-14

way and her skipper and crew waited
for the wind that never came.
The day grew into the afternoon
with the yacht still in the "harbor," "
as 1t Is known on the chart. The 9TH
er yachts had secured enough wind to
slip out of sight and the schooner, not
getting the breeze, lay and wallowed
in the heavy sea. The hours appeared
to be weeks as the afternoon grew late.
Trying to make the best of 1t, the
crew of the Sweetheart faced the de-
lightful possibility of remaining on
the MINDLESS, wallowing sea for an
other day.
when we arrived here" said Fritz
Whitney, lingering the stubble which
had grown on his chin, II was a mere
youth. Now am an old man."
Hazard, the commodore, "Bilr
Jordan and the others joked forlornly.
1t was wearisome and sickening. Sea-
man King had turned yellow and when
asked his opinion of sailing he said he
dared not express it. AS night came
on the heat grew less and afforded a
little relief. The current commenced
to carry the schooner away from the
shore, and, dividing watches, a number
of the yachtsmen turned in, not to
sleep but to lie awake and wonder
how long the rigging on the boat
WOulu SldIlu lu0 SlTdlIl VI DSdIiilB "
and fro in the trough of the heavy, oily
sea.
During the night Fritz was at the
helm, and he gradually worked the boat
out of the rocky and barren bay. Bren-
nick took the wheel at o'clock in the
morning and managed to secure enough
wind to tage the boat little farther
westerly along the outer coast of Cata-
lima. After rolling for thirty hours in
s,, IA los, s,f1. 10
Sweetheart finally got away from the
place, and everybody on board swore
they would know every rock on the
bluff if they were to return in twenty
years
Toward daylight the end Of the island
was reached in very light wind, the
yacht barely having steerage way. BY
noon Church rock was reached at the
extreme western end of Catalina is
land. and then a fine westerly breeze
commenced just about 12 o'clock on
Monday, after thirty-six hours of Vacu-
ity. Everybody hoped for hurricane
anything but another calm. All sail
was packed on and the schooner fairly
sizzled through the water The log
was thrown overheard, and for the first
half hour she reeled off speed at the
rate of nine Knots an hour. The wind
then settled down to a steady blow,
San Pedro, with Whitney smiling at
the helm and everybody happy.
Half way to San Pedro the launch
Orient, with the rescue party aboard,
met the schooner and hailed her. Find
ing that all was well, the launch turned
and raced the schooner, finally drawing
ahead. In five minutes less than three
hours the Sweetheart slipped into her
moorings off the South Coast Yacht
club, dropping her hook about $3.50
o'clock.
One thing is certain in this island
race, and that is that every time the
race has been held there has been no
wind on the lee side of the island. 1t
has been a drifting match, where the
lightest boats slip away from the big
gest The doldrums appear to be there
perpetually, and the trip around the
island is no real test of speed. 1t is
pure luck because no matter how fast
a yacht gets to the south side of the
island, the smaller boats always catch
up to her and stand the best chance of
drifting home in the light winds.