FROM YACHTS AND LARGE FISHING BOATS 271 



linoleum, to protect the portion of the deck where the fish are 

 being hauled on board. 



Mr. Basil Field tells me that on a yacht from which he 

 did a good deal of sea fishing, a means was devised of slightly 

 mitigating the mess, and, in the case of hand lines, preventing 

 injury to the rail of the vessel. The lines were hauled over a 

 bracket-shaped ledge, on which the head of conger or other 

 fish could be rested for a moment while the happy despatch 

 was administered. It received the first of the mess. The 

 size and exact shape of this arrangement are very much a 

 matter of taste, but 

 if fitted with a roller 

 as in the illustra- 

 tionsto reduce the 

 friction of the line, so 

 much the better. It 

 is best made of oak 

 or other hard wood 

 at least an inch thick, 

 and is hung on to the 

 rail just as a kettle- 

 stand is hooked on 



to the fire-bars. In London I have noticed servants sitting" on 

 brackets so fixed for the purpose of cleaning the outsides of 

 windows. For one man to work a line over it, the protector 

 should be about three feet long and a foot or a little more 

 wide. I have often thought that sheaves for lines to work on 

 might be fixed on the rails of fishing boats with advantage. 

 They would lessen the labour by decreasing friction, and save 

 wear to both vessel and line. 



I have no doubt that many yachtsmen and yachtswomen, 

 particularly the latter, object to sea fishing because of the 

 weight of the leads ordinarily used, and the handling of the wet 



YACHT RAH, PROTECTOR (SECTIONAL 

 DRAWING) 



