Charlevoix county herald., 1912-07-27

can't pass on when you have done with 1t; some
thing that will be exclusively and peculiarly your
own; and in the process you will learn to know
yourself. You will find that you are worth
knowing.
At this stage OF the game 1t will pay you well
to cultivate the society OF fshermen-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 good-natured breed.
and what many OF them know about knots and
spllces and the OF the marlinspike would Ali
volumes. II you are intelligent you will 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 patronzed their hearts will
go out to you-bg, strong. sea-salted hearts; you
will find that they have a brand OF humor sx
clusively their own, and an insight that you
never dreamed Of Their company is good.
But beware of their ideas on seamanship!
They will voice the USUAL belief that single
handlers are mad and that any port In a storm
Is better than no port; both of which beliefs are
rank heresy! But listen to them when they
talk of using the lead for the soundng-lead Is to
seaman what his nose Is to hound, and more.
They will probably tell you that forty-pound an.
Choir is heavy enough for any one man to handle
In tideway, but the size of the yacht yon
intend to handle later on must depend on the size
of the anchor you can manage without assistance,
and on nothing else, you will do we'll to remem-
Der that there is veteran who has been sailing
singlehanded around the English Coast for some
thing like 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 II
in ude-rip when the glass Is falling and he Is
in hurry to be off. He gets 1t up and inboard.
and cats I down on deck sailor wise before he
starts. Things like that depend on seamanshlp;
and seamanship can be learned only on the high
seas from personal experience. Spend most of
your time. then. on the high seas In your little
the ways of fishermen.
The basis or your future independence will be
your sea-anchor; and you must never under any
circumstances. for any reason whatever put
TO sea without one II is nothing but a canvas
bag. distended an iron ring and dashed on to
the end OF rope or warp. Without it you
at the mercy of the wind and waves. but with II,
IL yog 1t properly, you ara absolutely SAFE
And its use is OF the simplest things con
nectod with boat.
Most accidents at sea occur when running for
shelter before storm. or from running before
the wind until II Is too late to heave to without
swapping the boat. Get into your head that the
safest place in storm Is the open sea. and the
most dangerous place Ia the entrance 10 harbor
With your anchor out in front OF you at the
end of good stout warp to keep your boats nose
into the wind. you will be safe In any storm
that blcJfj provided that with seamanlke 'dscre
ton yc.5 2ave fured your sails and made every
thing 1 J In lime. And. provided that your boat
is OF SAe rlsht Sort you will be warm and dry
So get in the way OF using your sea anchor, even
when there is necessity. and learn to place i'm
plict confidence In Il.
The next most important thing to your an.
Choir Is the lead you absolutely must learn to
take soundings. You will discover that there are
easier things to do than to handle small boat
and take soundlngs at the time, in
shallow water; but IL you try hard enough and
often enough you will find out how to do IT. and
gradually you will realize bow 1t is that captains