FOREST AND STREAM. 



137 



many prizes ; have lain off Cape Cod and Block Island for weeks 

 at a time, long before such a thing as a harbor was known at the 

 latter place, and come the weather how it might, our little sloop 

 never failed us. 



If I were going to China, and meant to stay there, 1 should sail 

 in a keel-boat, simply beoauae loss skill is required in steering her, 

 and other things being equal, she can be built stronger ; but she 

 should have neither the cut I or rig nor model, for both are olumey, 

 while the latter is better suited for sub-marine work than for 

 riding the seas. To out the matter short, I will say that a deep 

 keel-boat is entirely nnsuited to the ordinary yachting of our 

 waterB, for the good reason that her needless depth prevents her 

 entering many of our most pleasant harbors and bays with any 

 kind of safety, while some of them she could not get into at all. 



A few years ago, we were one day running through Fisher's 

 Island Sound, when a yacht five times our size, attempted passing 

 us to windward. This we never permitted, so we luffed out, and 

 left her nicely by crossing a reef with about six feet of water over 

 it. She saw the point — but not the rocks — followed us, and of 

 course remained in that spot all day to give her owner time to 

 reflect on the folly of carrying a keel which he could not lilt. 



I would suggest to those who desire a steady boat in all weathers 

 a compromise between the two extremes of depth and shallowness 

 —say a slightly hollow deadrise, rocker keel of about If t. in depth, 

 with a centreboard ons-half the usual size, a little leas beam, and 

 a long side to sail on. T. 0. 



Our correspondent has done the admirers of the centre-board 

 sloop a real service in thus placing before the public his prac- 

 tical experience in a yacht of the usual American typo, and if 

 we cannot go to the same length in our enthusiasm over the 

 dish-model, his efforts to establish her reputation as a sea boat 

 are in the right direction. But we submit that his experience 

 has been almost one-sided, for it is hardly enough ground to 

 condemn the cutler on, when he cites the opinion of some 

 hands before the mast. Nor does he touch upon the meet im- 

 portant points in favor of the cutter, her absolute safety in ail 

 weathers and seas, her small area of canvas and its consequent 

 superior handiness. That a sloop may occasionally ride out a 

 gale is true enough, but when the centre-boarder has all it can 

 do to hold her own and keep from capsizing, or drifting on a 

 lee shore the heavier cutter would be making easy weather 

 and good time of it. The smaller the craft the more do these 

 remarks apply, for iu them tho proportionate increase in dis- 

 placement and weight is greater than in larger yachts. How- 

 ever, it is not at all to be disputed but that the centre-board 

 sloop is good enough, in fact, just the thing for Sound sailing, 

 with an occasional run at sea in fair weather ; and since a large 

 share of yachting in America will always continue to bo done 

 under these circumstances we never look for, nor do we ad- 

 vocate, the entire extinction of the sloop yacht, but on the 

 contrary consider her a most effective type of vessel for 

 short home cruising. But when it comes to knocking about 

 the coast as a matter of business all through the season, any- 

 where and in any kind of weather, a more powerful yacht is 

 needed, as experience teaches. To be so, calls for greater 

 displacement or weight. This, in connection with speed, can 

 only be obtained by a deep and narrow body, for a deep and 

 wide craft will make a lighter, very uneasy at sea, and not a 

 yacht. Glance at any craft, especially fitted for sea work, al- 

 together apart from yachts as a class, and note theirnatural 

 tendency to the cutter form. Our pilot boats are deep 

 keel craft with more ballast than a yacht. Nova Scotia 

 fisherman, who know not what a yacht is, use long deep 

 open boats, and drier, better sea boats cannot be found. The 

 smacks along the Scottish, Norwegian and French coasts are 

 all very deep. These and similar craft are the result of ex- 

 perience and experiment lasting over many years. But wo 

 need only to look nearer home. In a six or seven-knot breeze, 

 which has been blowing some time and raised a sea, such 

 yachts as Vision and others like her are utterly helpless and 

 could no more beat to windward than fly. For such work 

 we need abler boats and for such work the cutter is eminently 

 fitted. We need not go to the extremes that have lately come 

 into vogue in England owing to the pinching tendencies of 

 the measurement rules of the Y. R. A., but from four to four 

 and a half beams for length will produce fine, powerful and 

 easy seaboats that can cruise on any ground. As for shallow 

 harbors, we have not yet seen the port worth making but 

 what you could carry all the way from 6 to 10ft., with room 

 to work ship in. That there is a tendency among cruisers to 

 adopt the cutter, and that iu seeking a new model they were 

 not satisfied with the sloop, is evideat from the number of 

 deep craft among us increasing from year to year and the tes- 

 timony we are receiving in their favor. In so far as we arc 

 concerned our only object is the furtherance of a spirit of gen- 

 uine seamanship and yachtsmanBhip, things of which most of 

 our amateurs have as yet very slight conception. If the 

 healthy and instructive sport of sailing and not mere jockey- 

 ing in a race is to be promoted as well in the sloop as in the 

 sea-going cutter we are ready to countenance one typo quite 

 aa much as another. Our object is the advancement of the 

 spirit of nautical adventure with its concurrent attainments in 

 seamanship and navigation, and our thanks are due to our cor- 

 respondent for placing the possibilities of their acquisition in 

 the centreboard sloop in a strong light before his more lan- 

 guid brethren who handle the tiller. 



stocks, and presented a most strange appearance, as she was un- 

 like anything I had ever seen. Homely beyond anything I had 

 ever seen, as she is devoid of the graceful lines and proportions 

 •hich have always been accepted as the standard of beauty in 

 naval architecture, It is impossible to describe her model without 

 a diagram, aa she is so unlike anything I have ever seen aa to be 

 beyond description by mere words, as will be seen by the following 



general outline will conform more to what we are aacustomed 

 to. In principles the Gloucester boat does not differ materi- 

 ally from the British cutter, however much she may do so in 

 mere outline. 



THE FOSTER YACHT MODEL. 



Boston, Mass., Sept. 10, 1878. 



EDITOR FOREST AND STREAM: 



Having made two trips to East Gloucester to see the new yacht 

 of a curious model, I feel confident aa to my ability to give your 

 loaders a description of her. At my first visit ah* was still on the 



Fig. 1 represents her as ahe appeared to me broadside, when on 

 the stoeke ; and Fig. 2 a cross-section amidehips. There is not a 

 straight line about her, although she ia a craft of 23 tons burthen. 

 Her timbers are all crooked, aa may be seen by a reference to Fig. 

 2, making a narrow deck and bottom, and widening out between 

 like the bulge of a barrel. 



She has no keel, her timbers coming together bolow 

 the apace being rilled with iron as ballast, thus making 

 a solid mass of timber and iron to a depth of something 

 like three feet, in place of the usual keel. This, as may readily be 

 seen, gives her great holding qualities, a point which, with her 

 other peculiarities in her model, makes it evident that she cannot 

 be easily capsized, as her inventor, owner and builder, Mr. John 

 C. Foster, claims that she may be heeled over to her aouppers 

 without displacing more water than if she were upright. 



The overhanging stern shown in the diagram, extends back 13ft. 

 from her atern-poat, and aa ahe now lies in the harbor, it cannot 

 be distinguished from other portions of her hull having greater 

 draught. Mr. Foster claims that her carrying capacity ia fnlly 

 double that of any other model of the same tonnage, owing to her 

 bulging sides. She is the result of many years of study and ex- 

 periment, his object having been to devise a model that would 

 enter and leave the water with the least resistance. 



She is 57ft. over all, lift, beam, with 9ft. depth of hold. She 

 is schooner rigged, with a jibstay from the foremast to the taight- 

 heada, and if more oanvasbe desired, a jibboom can be rigged out 

 instead of a bowsprit. 



To aecure himself he haa filed a oavect. and will very soon take 

 out a patent to protect him from infringements. Last spring Mr. 

 Fester oompleted the model from which hia yacht ia built, and 

 though only 3ft. 6in. long, ahe sailed 450 feet in lm. by actual 

 meaaurement. This made him very sanguine of succeaa, and now 

 aince the yacht ia complete, nautical men look forward to her trial 

 with considerable interest ; for. although the weather has been 

 such as to preclude anything like a fan: teat, yachtsmen and 

 builders think Bhe will develop some remarkable sailing qualities. 

 In talking with those about Gloucester, I found quite a diversity 

 of opinion, aa is usual in such caseB, one old sailor expreasing 

 himself to the effect that he should uot like to trust himaelf far 

 out in a heavy sea, as the water would pound bet atern all to 

 piecea. Thia, indeed, seems to be a general impression among 

 yachtsmen, and in reality seems to be founded on obvious reasons. 

 However, her trial trip will bo made in a few days under the 

 direction of several prominent yachtamen, when her powers will 

 be fully tested. DbL. 



The new yacht which our correspondent has described above 

 is creating a good deal of speculation among our Eastern 

 friends. As far as we are enabled to judge from the accouuts 

 of her to hand she embodies certain principles which we have 

 all along strenuously advocated. The particular shape of the 

 lines of this new craft have little to do with the underlying 

 elements of design, for the latter might be embodied in agreat 

 variety of form. The Gloucester yacht combines a long easy 

 form with a low centre of gravity and may therefore be ac- 

 cepted as a fine sea boat without further question. As to her 

 overhanging counter whether it will "hammer" in a sea way 

 depends upon tho form given it. In this respect she resembles 

 the famous English yawl Jullanar. By keeping the stern- 

 post well forward and the forefoot rounded off she will be 

 remarkably handy and if too much dead wood has not been 

 sacrificed to obtain this point she should also be weatherly 

 in smooth water or in a tumble outside. So far as the 

 " tumble home" of her topsides is concerned we cannot give 

 to this measure our approval. It will serve to keep her easy 

 in a seaway by preserving a low meta-centric height at mod- 

 erate inclinations, but it is a question whether her designer 

 has not gone a little too far in this respect and sacrificed more 

 statical stability than was necessary in view of her low centre 

 of gravity and easy form, which would of themselves have 

 secured ease of motion among waves. In rig she seems to 

 approach the cutter, for what our correspondent terms a jib- 

 boom is nothing else than a running bowsprit. With some 

 of the statements made to him by her builder we cannot coin- 

 cide, as for example, where Mi'. Foster implies that she will 

 not displace more when heeled than when upright. This no 

 yacht does anyway, for if the lee shoulder be greater than the 

 wedge lifted out to windward every yacht will rise bodily un. 

 til her displacement when heeled will equal it when at the 

 vertical, for the simple reason that displacement is dependent 

 upon weight and not upon form. Nor is Mr. Foster correct 

 in saying that her capacity is larger than that of any other 

 yacht of same tonnage, both being identical in meaning. On 

 the whole we see no reason why the new craft should not be 

 a success in every particular so far as we are able to judge 

 from the information to hand. From this it does not follow 

 that the principles embodied in his novel craft by Mr. Foster 

 cannot equally aa well be engrafted upon a design which in 



around the break- 

 s I headed her at the 

 i to the Narrows, had 



CANOEING IN HOME WATERS. 



Brooklyn, N. Y., Sept. 9, 1878. 

 Editor Forest and Stream : 



Among your readers are doubtless some brethren of the paddla 

 who have been unable this year to spare the fortnight or more of 

 time requisite for a canoe cruise up the Sound or on the rivers, 

 and to them, as well as to others, a short acoount of a four days' 

 cruise, which I made last month entirely within the limits of our 

 own bay, may, it strikos mo, prove interesting. And if any reader 

 should feel tempted to follow my example, ho may rest assured 

 that hia fancied familiarity with the shores, though gained by 

 months or yeara of gazing from a ateamer's deck, will, when he Ib 

 once in his canoe, most entirely and satisfactorily vanish from his 

 mind. 



A stiff southweat breeze was driviug the white-caps up the bay 

 as the Rosalind (Nautilus) poked her sharp n 

 water at Gowanus in the early morning, and 

 seas, and noticed that a yacht, beating dow 

 double-reefed her mainsail, and taken the bonnet off ler jib, I 

 congratulated myBelf that masts, sails, and everything that could 

 poasibly catch the wind had been snugly stowed below. The spray 

 slapped my face aa the waves now and then broke over the bows, 

 but the little boat topped most of them neatly, and after two 

 houra' good, hard work with the paddle, we rounded the point of 

 Staten Island, and glided into the smooth water of the Killa — & 

 little wet, but otherwise very comfortable. 



Here, however, we met the ebb tide running down from Newark 

 Bay like a mill-race, and whon at laat we reached the float at the 

 Shore House, on Bergen .Point, I was decidedly tired and hungry. 

 A aeries of violent rain squalls detained us here until after two 

 o'clock, when, the rain ceasing, the boat was sponged out and our 

 way resumed. 



At Elizabethport the flood tide making its way into Newark Bay 

 from the Sound, was mot ; but by keeping close in to the winding 

 shore, I waa enabled to take advantage of numberless eddies, 

 which materially leasened the labor of paddling ; and a few pleas- 

 ant hours having passed, a dozen ready hands lifted the boat upon 

 tho dock at Boasvitle, and stowed her safely in the porch of the 

 hotel, when I made my very simple toilet, and Boated myaelf to a 

 well-earned supper. 



A long night's rest refreshed me immensely, but I waa in no 

 hurry to leave the pretty little village, and the day had well begun 

 before the canoe waa launched. A leisurely paddle of about an 

 hour brought me abreast of Tottenville, whore I ran ashore 

 beneath the bluff, and proceeded to fill my canteen with fresh 

 well- water, and to overhaul my running rigging. This done, 1 

 pushed off, and passing Perth Aciboy, the mouth of tho Baritan 

 Biver, and South Amboy, laid a straight course for Keyport. 

 The bay waa smooth as a lake, and a alight mist hid the more 

 distant objects from view ; but I found plenty of amusement in 

 overhauling tho numerous fishing smacks which were drifting 

 down with the tide, and which, being under paddle, I quickly 

 caught and dropped, arriving finally, about half-past eleven, at the 

 aleepy little town, with its wharf and myriad oyster shells baking 

 under the Auguat aun. 



Here I disposed of a luncheon of oysters and bottled stout— 

 which latter, by the way, the barbarians iced— and then paddled 

 out of the cove, exchanging greetings with the oyatermen handling 

 their long rakeB, and the fishermen hauling in their nets. To each 

 of these I put the same question, a simple formula, which, during 

 the paat aummer, haa procured for me a vast deal of information 

 and amusement, and which I can recommend to all would-ba 

 cruisers as the open sesame to the fisherman's heart. It conveys 

 at once a delicate compliment to his supposed rank, and an appeal 

 to his superior intelligence, and is invariably answered with alac- 

 rity and cordiality. It moreover involves no waste of breath upon 

 the part of the canoeist . I said : 



" Cap' how far iB it to the Highlands ?" 

 For eo simple a question it drew answers strikingly varied. 

 Said Number One : " Twelve miles. " 

 Then followed a digression upon the subjeot of canoes, 

 Number Two replied readily : " Fifteen mile or so," and followed 

 with a few remarks conoerning floating coffins. 



Nvfmber Three put the distance at eighteen miles, and discoursed 

 upon tho double paddle. 



Number Four promised me a paddle of twenty miles, as did 

 Number Five ; while Number Six fell back upon eighteen milea, 

 and then fixed his attention upon my nine-foot mainmast, whioh I 

 obligingly allowed him to watch as I paddled away. 



And now for four long houra I struggled againBt a head tide and 

 rising wind, hugging the ahore where practicable, but frequently 

 obliged to make long detours to avoid the lines of nets ; and man- 

 tally anathematizing the estimable gentlemen who first gave to 

 the Nautilus canoe thai frightful sheer which makes her in a head 

 wind the slowest boat afloat. At length, however, tho low trees 

 and sand of the Hook became visible over tho port bow, and enter- 

 ing the Horse-shoe, we crept along under the wooded Highlands. 

 Then I felt in my tired arms that the tide sotting up tho Shrews- 

 bury had reached ns, and we presently hurried at racing speed 

 past hills and flats, cottages and restaurants, shot under the 

 bridge, and ran up to the wharf. 



Alter a quiet evening and uight'a rest at one of the hotels, and 

 a climb up the hill to the lighthouse, from whioh point the view is 

 superb, I breakfasted ; then took the canoe from her hiding-plaoa 

 behind a shed, launched her, and paddled down the stream, amid 

 considerable chaff from the boatmen, who evidently put not their 

 faith in paddles. 



The morning was beautiful, still and hazy, and through the clear 

 water I could see the bottom of the river, and the marine plants 

 and long graBB reaohing nearly to the surface. Tho work was 

 easy, the boat moving rapidly, and as we slipped past the Bandy 

 beach of the Hook, I felt remarkably oontented and happy. Near 

 the steamboat dock I fired my formula at a lone fisherman in a 

 small-boat, and learned that I was about two miles from the point 

 of the hook ; then I landed to seek a Beoond breakfast (not having 

 tasted food for all of three hours), and was informed that tha dis-. 



