The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-02-17


iuae a Idle Hour IN = seaway vii
% more damage to the sails thar
- gales. They fresh and slaI
ahout something terrible for their
int . breath Of ar to STEADY
thom.
Before leaving New York City
I spent an evening with . friend
q mine to brush up On my naviga'
ton. some of my acquaintance
thought this rather strange aftel
! had successfully sailed over 49,.
600 miles IA Idle Hour.
But had never had any train
NJ 1t navigation school and knew
enly Z very simple formula Of
finding local time 1t sea via Mar
tolli's Method. It's called the I'm
proved method" but ! often found
uyuo6 several miles off On my
lnndfalls. ons reason I was anx-
ious 70 improve my navigating
W. that Bermuda 10 the most DIFF
licult landfall IN all the north At
nntic to make :. . group OF small
inlands all alone, only . couple
hundred fest above sea level.
Failings Studied
Unfortunately. ! had only spent
I couple Of hours with my friend
a Dreisonstok Ho. 20o, the new
system / wished to use. So when
rot to - I found many little
hinge that were not too clear IN
my mind. While We were becalm-
"a, therefore, / studied navigation.
I decided to run the engine
straight to where I figured Ber-
mada should be by the Nartelli
method. which I had used around
he world. After 20 hours Of this
" should have seen Bermuda !
scaled to the masthead but
no Bermuda Remembering how !
had almost missed Malta. IN the
Nediterranan, and had bean sever
q miles off on my landfall at
Madeira, I hoped We would find
land before shutdown.
But my hopes were dashed. Next
Gay, still no land and We were
practically becalmed. Max tried TO
eonsols me by telling me Of the
sailing orders which had been CIV
IN Scottish sea captains century
aGo. He said their home office
would tell them to look around for
Bermuda NO longer than two
weeks. and II they didn't find the
island In that time to proceed on
70 the American coast.
Another day passed and. becalm-
ed.and hot, I sweat blood trying to
solve my new system Of naviga-
ton which was supposed to Be
much more accurate. / understood
the fundamentals but / was maxi
ng mistakes IN the use Of logari-
thms. which. Of course. threw me
III. First I would find myself in
the gulf Of Mexico and then among
~ Cape Verde islandA Finally I
rot my new system to put us
within 100 miles Of Bermuda % !
1T . course IN that direction.
Threat Of IL Sea
A fair wind came up next day
and We were making for Bermuda,
! hoped. BY my new Dreisonstok
nothod. Astern / suddenly Aw
what appeared to be = ship burn
ing On the horizon. It seemed ~
X smoke was pouring out Of .
ahip's hull. II rapidly mounted
higher and higher. Soon Il was out
ef al proportion for . ship fire
= II lowered slyward.
II was the beginning Of water
epout.
Il was sweeping our way and
cut Of . low black cloud immed-
iately over the raging tempest Of
churnmg 80 . curl of water came
1oWn to meet IT,
Hnirbreadth Escaps
mus the spout had been COM
pIetsd and It was sweeping down.
wind toward the Idle Hour. I
started the engine and ran at right
angles to It's course n II would
havs been foolish to try 70 run di-
rsctlv away from it It scanned to
b sweeping down on NJ at the
rte of about 20 miles an hour.
Not many people have lived to
tel of being overrun by a water
spout IN . small boat. We were
1or1unats TO have q good auxiliary
engine or ! might not be writing
about this.
~ keeping our course perpen-
6teular to that Of the spout We
dodged disaster as it passed Us
some distance away. But the Idle
Hour seemed engulfed In . cloud
burst and all hands had q fresh
water bath, which was indeed
delicious luxury on a small craft
where that kind Of water IL con-
nsryed solely for drinking.