104 WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



It would be well for any one who intended to build a new yacht to determine at the 

 outset for what special purpose he wanted her, for a boat only drawing a few inches of water 

 and adapted for creek work alone would be at a sad discount outside Woosung, or in a blow 

 off the Kiutoan or Tungsha lightships, 20 and 30 knots distant from Woosung. Each type of 

 boat, then, has its special advantages. The shallow draft can cruise through endless 

 creeks, and can find an ideal cruising ground in the Si Tai lake, or even "the great lake" 

 the Tai Hu. And if she happened to run aground it would not be a very serious matter, as 

 she would sit on the mud without heeling over, and so be all the easier to get off. The Tai Hu 

 swarms with wildfowl in winter time, and now that the railway gives you the opportunity 

 of joining your ship at Soochow, which is practically on the lake, it also affords the 

 opportunity of a quick return to Shanghai, and consequently of a longer outing. The 

 deeper draft boat will naturally appeal more to the yachtsman being more of a "ship." If 

 she is of the right type it will not be found to be necessary to luff-up to every little puff 

 or be ever standing by the mainsheet, and she will not suddenly take charge and luff into a 

 junk on her weather bow, as the shallow boat would very possibly do. 



For the yachtsman who has a fast and seaworthy boat of from 40 to 50 feet on deck, 

 and drawing anything from 4 to 6 feet of water an almost endless cruising field is at his 

 disposal. He can sail up and down the Whangpoo river from Woosung to Bingoo and 

 back. He can take her to Woosung on the Friday evening, rejoin her on Saturday by train, 

 and spend the interval until Monday outside where he will get as much fresh air into his 

 lungs as he wants, ozone of that invigorating nature which one never gets in the Whangpoo, 

 while he may even reach the sea and blue water, and enjoy the more stately heave of Old 

 Ocean lifting his little craft. 



A grand sail on a bright moonlight night is from the Tungsha lightship to Woosung, 

 or vice versa, when the wind is N. E. and blowing off the Tungsha banks and islands. If the 

 wind remain steady the run to the Lightship and back can be made without a tack. 



House Island opposite the Kiutoan affords good anchorage, especially during N. E. 

 breezes. There is a narrow but very deep channel that skirts the N. and N. E. of the island, 

 and on the N. of the island is a swamp which swarms with geese, swan, ducks and teal in 

 winter. Care must be taken to avoid the creeks and soft patches of this swamp, as they 

 are very treacherous and are veritable quicksands. A good anchorage in N. winds is the 

 War Junk anchorage off the Block House Island Beacon. This anchorage, however, is 

 exposed to the N. W. W. or S. W. winds also S. and S. S. E. winds, but with a northerly or 

 easterly wind the anchorage is perfect. House Island is about 20 miles from Woosung, but 

 the direct channel to it is rather complicated, especially since the buoys have been removed. 

 The course from Woosung and the Lismore Light is to steer first for the Block House Island 

 Gas Buoy, distant about 5 miles : then for the Block House shoal buoy, about ll miles from 

 Woosung then lay a course S. E. by E. till the House Island Beacon is abeam. Do not 

 attempt to steer for the N. end of the island, or you will very soon run aground. 



In winter when going down the South Channel always keep your eye open for a 

 N. W. blow which is the only wind one need worry about inside the Tungsha banks, as with 

 any other wind one gets either smooth water or a fair breeze to Woosung. These North 

 Westerly gales rise up very suddenly and blow with great force, sometimes for 3 days on 

 end, and the sea under such conditions in the South Channel is very high and steep, 



