Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1912-06-28

can't pass ON when you have done with it; some
thing that win be exclusively and peculiarly your
own; and in the process you Will learn to know
yourself You win find that you are worth
knowing
At this stage Of the game 1t win pay you well
to cultivate the society OF hshermen-not on
their smacks. but ashore when their work is done.
Like all men who have been picked and sailed
down by the sea- they are q good-natured breed,
and what many OF them know about knots and
spices and the use OF the marlinspike would MI
volumes. II you are intelligent you win find that
they like teaching you almost as much as they
like whisky and tobacco-even your whisky and
tobacco; when they find that you don't patronize
them and won't be patronized. their hearts VIII
go out to you-big strong sea-salted hearts; you
viii find that they have brand of humor ex-
clusively their own, and an insight that you
never dreamed of. Their company Is good.
But beware Of their ideas on seamanshipI
They will voice the usual belief that single
handlers are mad. and that any port In storm
is better than port; both Of which beliefs are
rank heresy. But listen to them when they
talk of using the lead for the soundinglead is to
seaman what his nose is to hound. and more.
They viii probably tell you that forty-pound
Choir is heavy enough for any one man to handle
In tideway. but as the size of the yacht yon
Intend to handle later must depend on the size
of the anchor you can manage without assistance
and on nothing else you will do well to remem-
Der that there is e veteran who has been sailing
single-handed around the English Coast for some
thing IKE forty years. who uses an anchor weigh
ing hundred and twenty pounds. for yacht of
some thirty tons register
And he does not buoy his anchor and leave Il
In tide-rip when the glass is falling and he is
In hurry to be of. He gets it up and inboard
and cats 1t down on deck saior-wise before he
starts. Things like that depend on seamanship;
and searnanship can be learned only on the high
seas from personal experience. Spend most of
your time. then. on the high seas In your little
open sailing-boat and in your spare time study
the ways of fishermen.
The basis of your future Independence VIII be
your searanchor; and you must never under any
circumstances. or for any reason whatever put
to sea without one 1t is nothing but a canvas
bag, distended on an iron ring and dashed on to
the end Of rope warp. Without II you are
at the mercy OF the wind and waves but with It
II you use It properly, you are absolutely safe
And its use is one Of the simplest things con-
nected with boat
Most accidents at sea occur when running for
shelter before storm. or from running before
the wind until It is TOO late to heave to without
swamping the boat Get into your head that the
safest place in a storm Is the open sea- and the
most dangerous place is the entrance to harbor
With your sea anchor out In front of you at the
end OF good stout warp to keep your boats nose
into the wind. You viii be safe in any storm
that blows. provided that with seamanlike discre
ton you have furled your sails and made every
thing fast in time And. provided that your boat
Is Of the right sort, you will be warm and dry
So get in the way of using your sea anchor. even
when there is no necessity. and learn to place i'm
plicit confidence in It.
The next most important thing TO your an
Choir Is the lead; you absolutely must learn to
take soundings- You win discover that there are
easier things to do than to handle small boat
and take soundings at the same time, even in
shallow water; but II you try hard enough and
often enough you win ind out how to do II; and
gradually you win realize how 1t is that captains