6 THE LOG OF THE 



and everyone had just begun to think of washing, as the sun was 

 warm, when suddenly the breeze came fresh from the NW. We 

 crossed the bay to Cape Breton Island with all the wind we wanted. 

 We even straightened out a pair of "sister-hooks" which held the 

 tackle of the topmast runner and therefore had to take in the stay- 

 sail. We logged as much as 9^ knots for over an hour in spite of 

 the fact that it soon became rough. The tongue of the screw even 

 set the motor spinning and the fly-wheel had to be lashed. The 

 breeze pleased everyone and we all sat on deck greeting each puff 

 with cheers. 



We ran close to the outside shore of Cape Breton all afternoon and 

 by evening were off Louisberg. At nine o'clock I calculated the day's 

 run which was 142 miles, the best so far. Soon after we had taken 

 our departure from Scatari Light the wind dropped entirely and 

 there followed a really bad period of slatting. The "victims" were 

 remarkably few, just the tackle which was attempting to hold the 

 main boom steady. The rope parted like a piece of cord. At four we 

 stopped the motor and slid along wing and wing still in very lumpy 

 water. Oily and I had a very active time during the morning watch. 

 We had to jibe all of a sudden. The runner was up and both booms 

 had tackles out. As the decks were slippery it was very difficult to 

 get footing to haul anything tight. In fact we were rolling so badly 

 it was difficult to stand up. 



Position Crossing Cabot Sound 

 Friday, July gth <( Weather Calm 



Wind Lumpy sea with light westerly 



WE certainly have had bad luck with Cabot Strait. When I 

 say the sea was lumpy the water would be smooth com- 

 pared with what we had all day. The swells came from every direc- 

 tion and frequently a wave seemed to change its direction. The wind 



