Feb. 22, 1888. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



77 



So die I" 



BOATS. 



THE average yacht's boat is a cranky consumptive affair, distin- 

 guished l'or lacking' in the very qualities most to be expected, 

 and not entitled to admiral ion unless in the light of a poor copy of a 

 Whitehall wager boat. The tenders and gigs slung to spiderweb da- 

 vits aboard most our yachts provoke a smile and compassion when 

 trying to reconcile their gaudy race boat build and the hard service 

 a yacht's boat is condntraTlv undergoing. As in the vessels to v,-hich 

 they belong, speed, and speed only, has'been aimed at by the talent 

 in the river front shop, and this with a coat of bright paint, some 

 fancy fixings thrown in hen- and there andaname displayed in huge 

 letters on the sternboard, constitutes the standard universally ac- 

 cepted. Real worth, adapta bilily to purpose, the yacht's boat of the 

 present has next to none at all. She is narrow, high-bilged with 

 much dead rise, great sheer, low waist and small carrying capacity. 

 She pulls easy and fast, but neither is wanted and should be kept 

 secondary in scheming out her form. As a consequence our tenders 

 are dangerously tippy, easily swamped, can stow very little, and as 

 lifeboats to escape from the yacht, to effect a rescue or to assist 

 some cue in distress they are beneath contempt. . 



The first thing an ideal yawl boat or tender should possess is stiff- 

 ness and dryness. To this end she must be wide, have long, ilai 

 floor, small draft and little weight, and above all be high in side, 

 amidships quite as well as in the ends. She must be. well put to- 

 gether of light stuff accurately fitted, clinch-fastened with copper 

 throughout. Her stern must be kept broad to carry the be 

 well aft. She must be fuller in form than usual. Finally, if possi- 

 ble, air chambers and various minor provisions of a lifeboat should 

 be engrafted in her construction. The next thing to In on itti > 

 carrying eapaei! y. A tender is used for the conveyance back and forth 

 of skipper and guests, often also for carrying tee and stores and water, 

 sails and gear, and room and buoyancy are therefore more essential 

 than a fancy moid for speed. In short! service and not speed should 

 be the dominating consideration. In large yachts swinging a mim 



ber of boats one devoted to 

 permitted, though even thei 

 aster is seriously diminish. ■- 

 hardly be depended upon 

 A small iron eenterboard i- ; 

 well forward partly undel o 

 and often contribute to bo: 

 anchored a distance off. 



show and speed as a fancy gig, 

 the number available in case o'f dis- 

 for the average schooner's gig could 

 u ugly weather or in a line of breakers, 

 lways a useful appendage, and if placed 

 te of the thwarts, will not be in the way 

 ing about harbors, or save labor when 



n additional feature must receive attention. 

 . — jous and damaging to property. Hence a 

 form must be adopted which can readily be stowed on deck without 

 sacrificing stiffness and good service. This is no easy thing. Asa 

 solution we offer this week some general cuts of a peculiar boat 

 building by Stephens lor the lour ton Aueto. This plan is across 

 between the canoe and "sneak box,'' the object being to obtain some- 

 thing narrow enough to fit into the yacht's gangway, ready for use 



a all i may end 1 i a -ad , I i , _ ,, , , , | ,, , 



"shovel nose" to facilitate towing when preferred, rather small 

 beam, well held fore and aft. long flat floor, quick bilge and high 

 side with a light deck and coaming canoe fashion. The shape of 

 the molds at three cross sections are shown by the dotted lines. 



.nd the difficulty of stowing 

 in the whole, she is much nearer 

 crazy imitations of the Whlte- 



erable. Few of thei 



She is 8ft. long. SJ^ft. wide, 1ft. deep in center with a sheer of 2in., 

 and supplied ■ ' , :,-. , ,, ..-ao-d and triangular sail 7ft. on 

 foot, head and leach. The board is of ^bi. boiler iron with 1ft. ver- 

 tical drop. The sail is set upon a short stump pole after the plan of 

 the Lord Ross lateen for canoes. 



A boat of the ordinary style, but extremely serviceable, we also 

 illustrate with two diagrams. From these it wdll be seen she pos- 

 sesses great width, with long, flat floor and high sides, tumbling 

 home at the stern and along the side. This tender belongs to 

 the three-ton cutter Teal, and is remarkable for the load she 

 carries and for her stiffness, which makes her a more reliable and 

 useful adjunct than many dingeys twice the length. She is only 

 6ft. (iin. long over all, with an extreme beam of aft. Uilin. Her fault 

 is tow ing heavily when sailing fast, - ' 

 deck on account of her width. But. o 

 what a tender ought to be than the 

 hall boat. 



Collapsable or folding boats there a 

 can he recommended as they are crank and complicated. The ob- 

 jection to their use lies in the fact that when wanted in a hurry tl.ey 

 have to be expanded at a loss of time which may be veiy precious in 

 serious cases. The best style of folding boat, occupying the least 

 room when stowed and the simplest and quickest to put into shape, 

 is probably the new model now being pj elected by the Osgood 

 Manufacturing Company of Battle Creek, Mich., which we hope to 

 speak of more in detail at an early day. That such a boat is wanted 

 by the owners of small yachts Ave know from the number of inquiries 

 reaching us, and we believe the new Osgood will supply the long- 

 felt want. 



FIRST IN IOWA. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



We organized a canoe club in July, 1882, for which we claim the 

 first honors for Iowa; aud we are now organizing the Iowa Canoe 

 Club as a State association, of which you will receive notice in due 

 time. The club formed last year we call the Pofowonok Canoe Club, 

 of which the following are the officers: Commodore. Dr. John Rix; 

 Vice-Commodore, Mel. O. Warner: Treasurer, Chas. II. Peters; Sec- 

 retary, AVill H. Atlee. W. H. A. 



Fort Mapison, Iowa. 



[The future of canoeing in America is assured. The sport appeals 

 to every one within a stone's throw of any kind of water. Few there 

 are in America -oho cannot reach a streamlet, rives:, lake or the sea 

 within a short walk. The Iowa clubs will be welcomed as additional 

 members in the great family, and to their enthusiasm in a good 

 cause we look for many now swingers of the biades, won over from 

 people who now fight shy of the water like old hens.) 



NEW YAWL.- Commodore Wynn, Jersey City Y. C, has a very 

 handsome model, made bv Sneligrove, for a yawl 30ft. on deck, 

 20ft. leadline, 10ft. beam and u >t 1 . u from which he intend* to 

 build in time for the season. The boat is a keel, will have outside 

 weight and yawl rig. 



A SPORTSMAN'S VIEWS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It would hardly occur to you that an old still-hunter and canoeist 

 would be the man to follow most closely the controversy between 

 catboat and culler, shoal water and "omside" cruising. But no man 

 has more closely followed your articles, diagrams aud arguments, 

 than the present waiter. As regards the deepi, narrow cutter, you 



:,1 e well right. \ nil licit ' i : : S 1. o h e - i i , • 0. . , . , .1 , ■-. I i. ■ j , | , , ,, 



cutter like the Neva— well handled — ought to be able to double 

 Cape Horn. 



And you discount the eat'ooat too heavily. She is the result of our 

 peculiar waters. "Take your eye and throw it along" our coast 

 line from Maine to Florida: tell me just how many 'thousands of 

 miles you count up ol sounds, hays, inlets, etc., etc., all sal'u inland 

 cruising, so to speak, and all most delighlful pastime tor the outer, 

 who doesn't care to risk gales, cyclones and other manly and ener- 

 gizing chances that are quite likely to drown him. The catboat— the 

 "skiuinrng dish' '--is just the boat for these pleasant inland waters. 

 She is not a deep sea cruiser : she is the natural result of a natural 

 demand, and of course the thing is overdone. She is not a deep sea 

 cruiser: she is always over-sparred and overslaughed villi canvas; 

 sins is backed up for outside cruising by her admirers, and she does 

 better there ihau an old sailor would expect. But her place is sounds, 

 bays, quiet waterH. There she has no superior — even in a race. 

 But don't take her to sea, unless you are insured for more than you 

 are worth. And yet, knowing these points years ago, I wais within 

 an ace of starling fur the Amazon River, in June, 1K70, ill a Penny 

 Bridge catboat. I think, cutting her rig down more than half, I 

 should have made it. Even now I am sorry 1 did not try it. On the 

 Amazon she would have been a model cruiser; and i 'should have 

 tried it, only "bully I 'barley Coleman." one of the original crew of 

 the America, backed out at the last moment. 



He said: "We can get through easy enough, but look at the com- 

 fort of the thing, cooking, eating, sleeping- and forty- days of it at 

 that." 



I went down to the Amazon in the Ed. Burnett. Coleman sailed 

 as male of the llersb Banker. "I think yet he would have done as 

 well to stick by me. I have not seen him since I only w ash 1 had a 

 tithe of the money ihat some fortunate fool spends yearly on wine, 

 woman end horse I would take a cutter of the. Neva type from New 

 York Bay to the Yninzon, make a two years' cruise on 'that river and 

 its tributaries, come home, and make a book. 



(It would really entitle a man to that much, i 



But brains go one way, money another. 



I suppose I "must content myself with a cruise in a ten and a halt 

 pound canoe next, summer, which is quite as risky as a cruise in a 

 cutter on the outside passage to South America in May or June, h:,i 

 lias.mil t, on a cruise of that kind 1 would reduce the sail to jib, main- 

 sail aud driver, area of sji.il entire, .itiui't. I'.allasi, all comprised ill 

 lead keel, -i.OUl) lbs. Selling aside cyclones, pomperos, etc., such a 

 yacht, -well-handled, would live longer than an ocean steamer of the 

 narrow Clyde type. 



And, my dear old boy, wouldn't there be something grand and 

 gaurey in such a cruises' 



Ah! I have the pluck— the ability. I can navigate, can handle 

 tacks and sheets, can write up the log, but lack the money. 



