The Yale expositor., 1912-07-04

denomination to the utmost from the very start
as well as your power of observation. And it will
call for the exercise OF more discretion than any
other sport in a world that is full of sports No
body can teach you but yourself and you can
teach yourself only by degrees
There is only school for the beginner who
would really become OF the electric small
boat. You must become waterman before you
tackle anything else A man who can sail a
canoe, and sail her properly In any sort OF wind
or weather. is past master OF his art. and
be safely trusted with any sort of craft anywhere.
Remember that. But begin with small open
boat-the smaller the better-and spend at least
"A season poking about in harbors and rivers, or
any kind of inland water, sailing her when you
can, and rowing when you must.
Never take anybody with you, and never call
on any one to help you. If you take an amateur
with you he will probaly get frightened and fus-
ter you; and If you take hired man he will try
to teach you, and will surely teach you wrong,
besides doing things for you that You ought to
do yourself. At the end Of a season OF that sort
of thing you will have found out for yourself
whole crowd OF things that will be Of inestimable
service to you later on, when you have passed
through your novitiate; your hands will be hard
and horny; your muscles will feel firm and COM
Portable underneath your coat; and your health
will amaze you nearly much your appetite.
Almost the first thing you will discover will be
that your principal requirement as single-hander
is nerve-a that is alive but panic-proor
If YOU have that combined with real love OF adj
venture and the spirit of Independence; and ii
you start with the determination to do everything
for yourself and do 1t properly after finding out
for yourself which is the proper way; If you en-
10y real hard work in the open air for your own
amusement, you are in fair way to become
singlehander even before you start. But however
good your nerve may be, 1t will need that pre-
Iimnary small-boat training before you can trust
yourself safely on the open sea.
Once you are sure of yourself. and have mas
1t,o MI NJ aIy no
fcult art in the whole world. that of small boat
sailing, the whole world of adventure will be
at YOUR feet the Seven Seas and all the navigabie
rivers are yours to explore, and you can put out
on the only remaining trail where nothing is stale
and monotonous and where every wave and hol-
low. every creek and inlet. though old the
everlasting ages is TO each sea-borne adventurer
UNEMPLOYED, alluring, and absolutely new. Moth
ing ever happens twice in the same way at sea,
or ever looks quite the same twice running.
There are no beaten tracks to follow, for the sea
obliterates them 1t is all new always-yours to
nlov I'D and explore to your hearts content.
But steady! That il what is ahead of you.
You are no singe-hander yet! And If you leave
your small boat in the harbor and go sailing on
some one else's yacht or buy q yacht OF your
own that is too big for you to handle by your
self YOU will never be one The worst thing you
can do Is to get into the grip Of the hired man.
The next worst thing is to make one OF n yachting
party. In either case you will learn to believe
that it takes three four men to reef mainsail,
and at least two men to get up anchor; that var
nlshed decks are things TO be desired; that you
should run for shelter when 1t comes to blow
a gale of wind and other hereses of that sort.
Stick to your own opinions that you have be-
gun to form already the result of your first
seasons experience. stick to your original inten-
ton of becoming singlo-hander. and, above all
things, stick for the present to your small boat.
put out to sea. Practice on the sea what you
have already learned to dc IN the harbor and on