riLKFISHING IN FIFTY FATHOMS 



441 



the previous afternoon. Scarcely had 

 the men begun to take it in when the 

 wind freshened, and as the morning ad- 

 vanced the big ocean swells changed into 

 whitecaps. Captain Hahn became less 

 talkative. ^Yith one eye he watched 

 the sails, with the other the eggshell of a 

 dory, which appeared for a moment on 

 the crest of a wave and then was lost to 

 sight in the trough of the sea. We were 

 now treated to a bit of good seaman- 

 ship. As Captain Hahn saw the last of 

 the line taken into the dory, he headed the 

 "Grampus" directly for the little boat. 

 It seemed to us that he would surely run 

 it down, but so well did he know his 

 vessel that with a turn of the wheel he 

 brought the "Grampus" up into the 

 wind; the two fishermen scrambled over 

 the side and in a twinkling the dory was 

 swung on deck. Without a minute's 

 delay the "Grampus" was headed for 

 home. 



It was now about ele\'en o'clock, the 

 wind had risen to the proportions of a 

 gale and a drizzling rain set in. On ac- 

 count of the overcast sky of the preced- 

 ing day, the captain had not been able to 

 take an observation and he therefore 

 laid his course for home by dead reckon- 

 ing. He knew that we were some 

 seventy miles off Gay Head. He made 

 his calculation, set the log, and squared 

 away for the fairway buoy which marks 

 the entrance to Vineyard Sound. The 

 course was almost due north, and the 

 wind was southeast. The "Grampus" 

 had on her summer set of sails, includ- 

 ing a great balloon jib, which stretched 

 from the peak of the topmast to the 

 tip of the jib l)oom. With the wind on 

 the starboard quarter the sails pulled 

 to the utmost, and the "Grampus" 

 careened with her scuppers under. It 

 was an experience long to be remem- 

 bered. The vessel woidd rise on the 

 crest of a wave and would then shoot 

 down with a mountain of water behind 



her. Every now and then her bow 

 would be buried in a wave and as she 

 rose, water would sweep back to the 

 after deck house. Clad in oilskins but 

 bareheaded, I clung to the rigging of the 

 mainmast and watched the scene. The 

 weather became thicker and thicker, and 

 the wind continued to rise. The cap- 

 tain, grave but watchful, let nothing 

 escape his eye. It was now getting dark. 

 The reading of the log showed that he 

 had run his distance. In the last hour 

 we had traveled twelve knots. If he 

 did not pick up the fairway buoy in the 

 next five minutes, he would turn about 

 and put to sea, for he dared not run in 

 closer to land in this thick weather. 

 Suddenly, the lookout shouted "Buoy 

 dead ahead, Sir, just off the weather 

 bow." Captain Hahn eased her off and 

 the fairway buoy swirled by us in a 

 boiling mass of foam. Then came the 

 climax of the day. Just as the buoy 

 dropped astern, there was a crash like a 

 thunder clap close at hand, and the 

 great balloon jib was rent from mast 

 peak to boom and blown into many 

 shreds. The captain brought the 

 " Grampus " up into the wind : his orders 

 were sharp and clear. The mate and 

 crew leaped forward to take in the torn 

 sail. They had it almost aboard when 

 the ship buried her nose in a sea and the 

 crest of a wave filled a bag of the sail. 

 The canvas was snatched from the 

 sailor's hand and in another instant had 

 jerked the mate astride the rail. An- 

 other inch and he must surely ha^•e gone 

 overboard. Again the captain shot the 

 vessel into the wind anfl this time the 

 tattered jib was made secure. 



The excitement was over. Within 

 half an hour the "Grampus" was in 

 behind Gay Head. A thick fog had 

 come in and we anchored for the night. 

 The next morning, under a gentle wind, 

 we made Woods Hole, with our cargo 

 of fifteen hvmdred pounds of tilefish. 



