LUGS AIL BOAT. 257 



the mast-head, and rests on a shoulder cut for it, the other 

 receives the double block. In nautical language this particular 

 tackle (vulgo tayckle) is termed a tail- jigger, on account of the 

 rope or tail by which the double block is attached to the mast- 

 head. The lower block has either a hook, or is connected by 

 a strap with a ring or traveller, having a loop of rope termed a 

 * snotter ' or ' snorter,' which receives the end or heel of the 

 sprit after the point has been introduced into the eye formed 

 in the bolt-rope at the peak of the sail. By aid of these tackles 

 the spritsails may be flattened out more than almost any other 

 kind of sail, and the sprits are secured in their places by 

 belaying the tackle- fall to a pin in each thwart. Great care 

 must be taken that the snotters are of good sound rope, for if 

 carried away, the sudden descent of the sprit might knock a 

 hole through the boat's bottom. With ordinary care, however, 

 there is no cause for apprehension, and a new snotter occasion- 

 ally will obviate all risks. In large boats the downward pressure 

 of the sprit is very great. This, and the superior handiness of, 

 the gaff, has caused the latter to be adopted as the boats 

 increase in size. 



I had once a good-sized boat rigged with a large sprit-sail 

 as the mainsail, like the illustration p. 254 ; but not in those 

 my early days of aquatics being up to the mystery of a * tail- 

 jigger,' my sprit was always slipping down, no matter how much 

 I wetted the mast to keep it in its place. The fact is, any sprit- 

 sail larger than a moderate-sized mizen should be fitted as a 

 matter of course with a tackle, having one, two, or a double and 

 single block, according to its size. 



Lugsail Boat (fig. 81). This is also a very handy rig, and 

 extensively used on the coast. It is the working lugsail pre- 

 viously referred to, and does not require to be lowered in going 

 about. 



A boat of thirteen feet six inches in length over all is quite 

 large enough for one man to handle in average weather when 

 there is no harbour, and in calms can be pulled at a tolerable 

 rate ; it affords room for two or three people to fish at the same 

 time without incommoding -each other, and with anything like 

 careful management will go through a heavy sea. 



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