convenience of stowage. Attached to this is a strong sack or bag, say 3ft. deep. A bridle of rope is fastened to opposite sides of the ring midway between the joints (which should only be capable of folding backwards on to the bag). To this bridle the cable, or rope, by which you will ride will be attached. One side

of the ring should be heavily weighted, and to the other a buoy or the cork fenders should be attached by a rope 8ft. or 10ft. long.

When this floating anchor is thrown overboard it floats upright, and resists being dragged through the water; or a board loaded at the lower end may be used.

If there is nothing else on board the sails and spars may be lashed into a bundle and used as an extempore floating anchor. She will drift very little with the wind, but of course the tide will carry her with it.

A capital floating anchor for a small yacht or boat may be extemporised by attaching the bucket, which should form part of her inventory, to the cable, buoying the bucket, if it is of metal, with the fenders or a cork footstool (a useful thing to have on board), or any other floating body which may be handy.

Running before a heavy sea is a very dangerous performance, on account of the liability to broach to. Shallow short boats, particularly centre-board boats, are the most addicted to this suicidal tendency. If you have a choice, therefore, do not run before a sea; but if there is no choice, as when you are running in for shelter, a good plan is to tow a rope behind, with something at the end of it to act as a drag. This will prevent the boat's stern being slewed round when she is on the top of a wave, or when a wave overtakes her.

It must never be forgotten that a small boat not decked is a undesirable sort of craft to be among the waves in. The

very

motion of the waves will add greatly to the upsetting power of the wind, as it will frequently place the boat at such an angle that a gust of wind would upset her then, which would not do so if she were on level water. Directly the gunwale reaches the water the latter will flow in, and this is an element of danger, which is greatly lessened by a half deck and waterways. If water should come on board lose no time in baling or pumping it out, for two or three gallons of water rushing about in a boat make her very dangerous. As the boat heels over all the water rushes to leeward, and the weight of it there is a powerful inducement to a boat to upset.

The following observations are particularly applicable to open sailing boats:

1. Do not sit on the weather gunwale to keep her up. If a lull comes, or while you are in the hollow of a wave, she may surprise you by turning turtle to windward. The weather seat is quite far enough to windward, and the lower your weight is in the boat the better.

2. Never belay the mainsheet; one or two turns round the cleat, which can be cast off instantly, are all that can be allowed.

3. If anything gets foul aloft, be very cautious how you go up the mast to clear it. If you can do so easily, unstep the mast in preference to climbing it, especially when amongst waves, as the leverage of your weight aloft is very likely to upset the boat.

4. In passing under the lee of anything, such as a ship or clump of trees or building, remember that your way will be lessened, and that when you emerge from the shelter the force of the wind will have greater effect upon the sail. The sudden puff you will experience may capsize you if you are not ready for it with an easy sheet.

5. The same caution must be observed when there is a sudden

lull in the wind, for it will come again with a sudden puff when you are becalmed.

6. Do not carry much canvas when the wind is irregular, light airs and strong puffs at intervals, nor when it is boxing all round the compass.

7. Have life belts on board, or let each man have a swimming collar, or one of those inflating vests, or a cork belt, or some such device, which may be donned in cases of emergency, or rather when the weather is such that the emergencies may arise. This is a rule persistently neglected, and the neglect of which has cost many lives. A very simple life-belt may be made as follows: Keep all the beer and other corks which may be drawn in the house, and get a friend or two to do the same, until you have a sufficient number, then thread them lengthwise on stout spun yarn, and weave an oblong mat with them, taking care that the intersections of the yarn come between the corks. A double web of this, with strings at the ends to tie, or straps to buckle would do capitally. To make it look neater it might be covered with canvas and painted.

NAVIGATION

CHAPTER XVII.

SEAMANSHIP. THE COMPASS LOG LINE-LEAD LINE-TIDES-FORCES OF WIND.

FOR coasting purposes, such as small yachts are used for, the finer art of navigation as displayed in guiding a ship on her course when out of sight of land is unnecessary, but the compass, the lead line, and the log line, with the use of charts, must be well understood. It will not be amiss to point out what the art of navigation comprises, and how it may be learned, as the yachtsman should progress in his acquirements in comparison with his requirements, and if some day he should be able to take longer cruises, and in larger boats it will be a great thing for him if he has learned the theoretical part of navigation.

The Board of Trade grant yachting certificates of competency as masters of pleasure yachts to those yacht owners who care to undergo an examination. The examination is purely voluntary, and is confined to persons who command their own pleasure yachts, and the certificate will not entitle the holder to command any vessel except the pleasure yacht of which he is owner.

The qualifications required to pass this examination will indicate to the reader what the study of navigation comprises. In Navigation he must understand the first five rules of arithmetic and the use of logarithms. He must be able to work a day's work complete, including the bearings and distance from one port to another, by Mercator's method; to correct the sun's

declination for longitude, and find his latitude by meridian altitude of the sun. He must be able to observe and calculate the amplitude of the sun, and deduce the variation of the compass therefrom. He must know how to lay off the place of the ship on the chart both by bearings of known objects, and by latitude and longitude. He must be able to determine the error of a sextant, and to adjust it; also to find the time of high water from the known time at full and change. He must be able to observe azimuths and compute the variation; to compare chronometers and keep their rates, and find the longitude by them from an observation of the sun; to work the latitude by single altitude of the sun off the meridian; and be able to use and adjust the sextant by the sun. He must be able to find the latitude by a star, &c. He will be required to answer, in writing, certain questions as to the nature of the attraction of the ship's iron upon the compass, and as to the method of determining any error arising therefrom. He will be examined in so much of the laws of the tides as is necessary to enable him to shape a course, and to compare his soundings with the depths marked on the charts.

He must possess a sufficient knowledge of what he is required to do by the Merchant Shipping Acts, and possess a knowledge of the measures for preventing and checking the outbreak of scurvy on board ship. He must be acquainted with the leading lights of the channel he has been accustomed to navigate, or which he is going to use.

In Seamanship he must understand the measurement of the log line, glass, and lead line, and pass a satisfactory examination in the green covered pamphlet issued by the Board of Trade on the rule of the road, as regards both steamers and sailing vessels, and the lights and fog signals carried by them; and will also be examined as to his acquaintance with