116 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[March 6, 1834. 



A FINE PIECE OF WORK. 



Forest and Stream. 



I have noticed that in one or two of your published accounts of the 



cutter "No. Twelve'"! building at South Brooklyn, you have con- 

 nected Mr. Lennox's name with her. Sir. Lennox' has nothing to do 

 with her building-, and as she is the best yet turned out in this vicinii v 

 so far. I think the credit should be Riven to whom it belongs. She i's 

 being built by Daniel 0. Bernard in his own shop and yard, and for 

 liist-elass material and fine workmanship she is war ahead of the 

 ordinary yacht building in these parts. F. B. 



[We can indorse the foregoing. The workmanship about the Merlin 

 is almost carried to the pitch of a fine art. She is the best job turned 

 out in these parts, and promises likewise to be a brilliant success in 

 respect to her planning and design. 1 



A YACHT OF OREAT 1NTER.E3T.-Mr. E. G. Weld's new yacht 

 now building by Smith, of South Boston, will afford some very in- 

 structive comparisons when sailed against the Hera, belonging to the 

 same owner. The new yacht is of the same length about, hit nar- 

 rower, deeper, and of larger displacement. Hera is 35ft . leadline. 

 KSJoft. beam, and 7ft. fin. draft. The new boat is 36ft. loadli ie. lift. 

 llin. extreme beam and 8ft. draft, with no less than 7 tons lead on 

 ner keel. She will have a flush deck, and is built, we believe, mainly 

 with a view to accurately test large displacement on less beam for 

 racing: under length measurement. The frame, according to the 

 Boston Herald, is steam bent, moulded 3J$n. at heel, and 3}g at head, 

 spaced 15in.. and sided 2V£. She will be through copper fastened with 

 l^in. planking. Incidentally, it may be remarked, that the draft of 

 the new Hera on 86ft. length is as great as that of the English cutter 

 Maggie ou 45ft. loadline, and Hin. greater than that of the "Scotch cut- 

 ter Madge of 88ft. loadline. In the East, the bugbear of draft has 

 been dissipated, and the length rule boats already draw more than 

 and displace as much as cutters of same loadline. The displacement, 

 of the new Hera is about 14 tous on 36ft.. and that of the cutter Madge 

 is 16$4 tons on 38ft. 



STEERING VERT WIDE.-Thc Herald put a green hand at the 

 bellows last Friday, and sent him on a cruise to Bay Ridge, that holy 

 of holies, the last spot where the sloop still doth flourish, though even 

 there in a modified form. Dr. Barron is graciously patted on the 

 back for his lynx-like discernment in building a centerboard, which, 

 considering that Dr. Barron was within a fewTiuudred dollars of buy- 

 ing the cutter Wenonah. and that his new sloop is described as 8ft 

 ueep in place of the oj^ft. which was the regulation allowance of ye 

 ohleu time trap, mrst be very amusing to Dr. Barron. Then we ate 

 told the Oriva is 51ft. instead of 50, to mislead the public in possible 

 future races between the two boats, and to cap the Climax, the fine 

 little cutter illustrated in our issue this week, is described as a center- 

 board of Block Island model, with a long overhang; Somebody has 

 been making a fearful guy of the Herald, but we suppose that sort of 

 stuff is just the kind of stuff expected from such a source. Are we 

 never going to have any one on the daily press who can tell one end 

 of a boat from the other? 



SEAWAXHAKA CORINTHIAN Y. C— The club book to appear 

 May 1 will show a fleet of over 100 vessels and a large increase of 

 membership. The club has the finest fleet of cutters in America. 

 From one or two straggling yachts of that sort they have increased 

 and multiplied into a squadron in less than four years, and more are 

 being added rignt alonv . Affairs were never in a more flourishing 

 condition, and the S.C.Y.C. is now the most sporting organization in 

 New York, a combination of the leading and most progressive 

 spirits in the amateur sailing world. It is said with truth that the 

 club contains more gentlemen capable of designing and building as 

 well as sailing their yachts and deserving to rank as experts than 

 any other club in America or abroad. It is a yachtsmen's club and 

 not merely a collection of yacht owners. 



COUNTERFEITS.— When a person cannot command his own Eng 

 lish. but steals whole sentences from others, he is at once convicted 

 of being a plagiarist, having no brains of his own. We do not object 

 to the frightful rubbish printed in an alleged newspaper over the 

 grandiloquent signature of 'America." The illogical stuff carries its 

 own answer. But we do dislike to see such an incapable pretender 

 draw sustenance by appropriating our language, which has a 

 strength of its own easily recognized in the worst bodge podge. But, 

 we suppose, such is fame. You have to furnish the enemy with 

 powder to shoot, or there would be no enemy to knock over when 

 occasion arrives for giving him the dignity of that much recogni- 

 tion. 



PLAY SOLDIERS.— We learn from (he Sun that the S. S. Utowana 

 belongs to Captain Connor and the S S. Promise to Captain Cordova. 

 Do these gentlemen, guilelessly innocent of everything appertaining 

 to a captain, dress up in tin swords, pasteboard chapeaux and paper 

 cockades, that the Swn should confound a' stock broker with a ''cap- 

 ting?" It is time the newspapers stopped such sickly slobber. Neither 

 Mr. Connor nor Mr. Cordova are "eaptings." They are yacht 

 owners. 



BEVERLY Y. C— The fixtures of the club will be found at the 

 head of these columns. The club has adopted the one gun start for 

 all but the open match in August. 



T /dtiomi$. 



FIXTURES. 



Winter Camp-fire.— Wednesday, March 12, 8 P. M., No. 23 East Four- 

 teenth street, Kit Kat Club Room. Subject— Tents and Camp 



Outfits. 



Secretaries of canoe clubs are requested to send to Forest and 

 Stream their addresses, with name, membership, signals, etc., of 

 their clubs, and also notices in advance of meetings and races, and 

 reports of the same. Canoeists and all interested in canoeing are 

 requested to forward to Forest and Stream their addresses, with 

 logs of cruises, maps and information concerning their local waters, 

 drawings or descriptions of boats and fittings, and all items relating 

 to the sport. i 



CANOE VS. SNEAKBOX. 



Ed ii or forest and Stream: 



I am decidedly of opinion that a well-constructed sneakboxwill 

 drown out anv canoe that ever floated. This is based on several 

 years' experience with both. The sneakbox possesses the further 

 advantage of permitting you to take one or more friends with you. 

 The handsomest and lightest sneak-boxes are probably made by Rush- 

 Ion. They are likewise the most expensive. For a heavier, rougher 

 built and much cheaper box of better model, communicate with J. F. 

 Kilpatrick, Barnegat, N. J. Four years ago he built one for me, 16x5, 

 and the following year one. for a friend 18x5!^. Both have given ex- 

 eellent satisfaction'. These boats are wonderfully able, it beingalmost 

 impossible to upset them unless the sheet fouls in a hard blow or 

 squall, lor speed my box will hold its own with the average cat boat 

 of same length sailing on the wind. Before the wind the catboat 

 will beat it. I carry a fair amount of sail (balance lug) as seen in 

 accompanying photos. Have never reefed but twice, and then 

 because the crew were ladies. I usually spend three mouths each 

 year at the waterside, and would lie pleased to have Mr. Neide visit 

 the Sound, Connecticut shore, with his Pearl during a stiff south- 

 easter The sneakbox is pre-eminently the boat for boys m which to 

 gain their first experience. Good also for inland lakes where winds 

 are ftawv. and the balance lug the best. rig. Bo.tum. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



The one objection I've always entertained to canoe meets in gen- 

 eral u that so much of th eir programme is devoted to racing. I am 

 only a solitary cruising canoeist, and as such must stick to my prin- 

 ciples and decline Dr. Neidc's friendly challenge to match thesneak- 

 boxagainst a canoe, i stick to my opinion, however, that the sneak- 

 box is far more seaworthy in wide waters than the canoe. If my de- 

 clension to race looks like, inability to prove what I asscrt,so be it. 

 km not on the race. SENECA. 



Washington, March 3, 1HS4. 



I The present owner of "Bojum's" old canoe, after more than 'J. 000 

 miles crui-ing in her, has tins' season taken to the sneak box for one 

 of the reasons given by ''Bojum," that a large boat will hold more 

 than a small one. but after thoroughly testing the box, he declares 

 for the canoe as a cruising boat. Of course, a boat of 18x5J£ft. is 

 larger and should carry more, sail faster and be stiffer than one of 

 14x">4ft but to compare the models, boats of about the same size 

 should be taki n. It is but fair to the canoe in question to mention 

 that her reputation for stability has greatly improved since the 

 change ot owners. If ••Seneca" will visit any of the canoe meets he 

 will find that the racing is confined almost exclusively to well-known 

 cruising canoeists, and to canoes that have cruising records of hun- 

 dreds of miles. < )f course, the only test of the merits of the boats is 

 by racing or cruising together, and a little wind and water wiD settle 

 "ie questiou much more conclusively than ink and paper.J 



tij. 



ROCHESTER (N. Y.) CANOE CLUB. 



I> OCHESTER. N. Y.-Organized Sept. 22. 1882. George H. Harris, 

 t Commodore: F. W. Storms, Vice-Commodore. Matt Angle, 

 Purser. Fifteen-members. Signal, pointed burgee, composed of four 

 triangles; the two at base blue, center white, apex red. 



AMATEUR CANOE BUILDING. 

 Ninth Paper. 



ItUILDING-^CONTINUED. 



BEFOEE removing the staff from the moulds, the position 

 of Pitch mould must be marked on it, as the breadths 

 will be laid off afterward at each mould. 



A board is now selected free from knots, sap or checks 

 for the garboard. If it can be had planed to the thickness, 

 ^in.. much trouble will be avoided, but where this is not 

 possible, a board J or lin. thick is planed smooth on both 

 sides, the staff is taken carefully from the moulds, laid on 

 it and held by a few tacks, then with the compasses still set 

 to the same distance, the measurements are reversed, placing 

 a point of the compasses on the marks on the staff, and 

 measuring out on the board. This operation, if accurately 

 performed, will give the exact shape of the lower edge of 

 the garboard. 



The sirmaik is now transferred to the board, and also the 

 position of the moulds, after which the staff is removed and 

 a batten is run through the spots, the curves on the ends 

 being drawn in with the rabbet moulds. To lay off the 

 upper edge, the breadths on the stem, stern and each mould, 

 as previously marked off, are taken and transferred to the 

 respective points on the board, an extra width of fin. being 

 added for the lap, and a line drawn through them with a 

 batten. 



Some woods, cedar and oak especially, will spring or 

 change their shape when a strip is sawed off one edge, and 

 if tins happens, the shape may be so altered that it" will be 

 very difficult to make the plank fit. If a straight line is 

 drawn down the center of the board before sawing, and 

 then tested, after one edge is sawn to shape, it will show 

 whether the plank has sprung at all, and if it has, a strip 

 should be sawn off the other edge, leaving the board still a 

 little wider than the finished strake will be, and then the 

 board should be laid off anew from the staff, as in the first 

 instance, after which the edges may be planed, up, with little 

 danger of further springing. 



If the board is thick enough to make two strakes, gauge 

 lines are now run around the edges ^in. from each side, the 

 piece is laid on the saw benches, one end wedged fast be- 

 tween the two upright pieces previously mentioned, and it is 

 sawn through, using the rip saw held nearly vertical, a few 

 inches being sawn from one edge, then the piece being turned 

 over and sawn for a short distance from the other edge, this 

 process being repeated until the sawdng is finished, as the 

 saw will certainly run if used entirely from one side. 



When the board is sawn in two, the pieces are each planed 

 to thickness on the inside, after which the edges must be 

 beveled to fit the rabbet. The best bevel for this purpose is 

 made of two pieces of wood fin. wide and l^in. long-, one 

 piece, Jin. thick, having a saw cut in one end, in which the 

 other piece, vVh- thick, is slipped. The bevel is applied to 

 different points of the rabbet about 6iu. apart iu succession, 

 and the angles transferred to the respective points on the 

 strake, after which the entire edge is planed to correspond to 

 these spots. 



The second or broad strake will, of course, lap over the 

 first, but at the ends the laps must diminish until the surface 

 of both planks is flush with the stem at the rabbet. To 

 secure this the adjoining surfaces of both are beveled off, 

 beginning about 18in. from each end and increasing in depth 

 until about half is taken from, each piece at the rabbet of 

 stem and stern. This may be done with a rabbet plane or 

 sharp chisel. The lower edge of the broad strake is left 

 n,in. thick, a rabbet being cut in the garboard to receive it, 

 but the upper edge of "the garboard is simply planed to a 

 feather edge. Before cutting this rabbet the width of the 

 lap, fin., should be marked with a scratch gauge on the 

 outside of the garboard as a guide for setting the next plank. 



All being ready, the garboard is now held in place, with 

 the help of an assistant, each part ol it being tried iu the 

 rabbet, to test the accuracy of the bevels. In doing this, 

 the plank is not put in place for its entire length at once, but 

 one end is tried, then the middle, and finally the other end. 



The fitting being complete, the stop waters in, and the 

 hole bored for the centerboard bolt, if any; the garboard is 

 fitted in place on the fore end, adjusted by the sirmark, the 

 after part being held well up by an assistant, and one or 

 more clamps are put on to hold it, then holes are bored and 

 countersunk for the screws, which will be |iu. No. 5 brass, 

 and the garboard is screwed fast as far as it lies in place. 



In fastening such light plank, great car.- is needed to avoid 

 splitting it; the pieces must be in contact before the screw 

 or nail is put in, otherwise, if it is attempted to draw them 

 together with the screws, the plank will usually split. Screws 

 are only used at the extreme ends, where nails cannot be 

 driven through and riveted, but along the keel the latter are 

 put in. After the fore end is fastened, the plank is laid iu 

 place along the middle of the boat and nailed, every other 

 nail being omitted to be put in after the timbers are in place, 

 after which the stern is screwed fast. 



If the operations described have been carried out correctly, 

 the garboard should fit exactly without any further cutting, 

 and the greatest care should betaken to do so, as if the strake 

 does not fit at first, it is very difficult to make it do so by 

 cutting it afterward. When both garboarcls are on, a spiling 

 is taken for the broad strake; it is got out and put on in a 

 similar manner, the staff, however, in this case being iu one 

 length. After the strake is in place and screwed at the 

 fore end, it is fastened with clamps, and the positions of the 

 nails, omitting all that will pass through the timbers, are 

 marked off, using a thin batten bent around the boat, from 



the marks on the keel to those on the ribband, to insure 

 the rows of nails being straight. 



The nails for this work are of copper, f or lin. long. As 

 the holes for them are bored, they may sometimes refuse to 

 hold at first, in which case a block of soft wood, 1m. square, 

 is held inside the seam and the nail driven into it, the block 

 being removed before riveting. It may sometimes be neces- 

 sary to drive a nail through the plank into it mould, using 

 a hutchock to hold the plank down, but this should be 

 avoided if possible, as the hole will have to be plugged after- 

 ward. 



To recapitulate, the process of preparing and placing a 

 plank is as follows: First, to set the staff, mark it and take 

 the spiliug with the compasses, mark positions of moulds, 

 plane both sides of board, remove staff, place it on board, 

 nail it, spile off on the board, mark position of moulds on 

 latter, remove staff, mark line of lower edge through the 

 spots, lay off breadths at each mould on plank, leaving- g 

 extra for lap, line upper edge through these spots, saw out, 

 plane up edges (if a thick plank, gauge edges, slit and plane 

 insides), bevel edges, gauge upper edge on outside for lap, 

 cut rabbets at each end for next plank (on the bilge it will be 

 necessary to bevel the upper edge of plank on outside for its 

 entire length), put in place, clamp, screw fore end in rabbet, 

 nail along lap, and cut and screw after end. 



Where there is a quick turn to the bilge, it is best to use 

 |in. stuff for each plank, hollowing the inside with a plane, 

 and rounding the outside to fit the curve of the moulds. At 

 the ends, where the laps are thinned down, tacks, J and tin. 

 long, are used instead of nails. 



The planking being completed, the canoe, if built with 

 the keel up, is turned over oh the stocks and shored in posi r 

 tion, the keel being blocked to the proper rocker, then the 

 ribs or timbers are sawed out of a piece of stave timber, 

 fxiin.j the upper corners are rounded off, and if not flexible 

 enough to bend easily, they are put in the steam box or laid 

 in boiling water. 



The holes for the nails are now marked off by means of a 

 wide, tbin batten, which is bent into the bottom of the boat 

 and adjusted to the mark on keel, and also so that it stands 

 upright; then a mark is made where it crosses each lap, and 

 a hole bored in the middle of the lap with a ^-iu. German 

 bit. When all the holes are bored, the ribs are taken one 

 by one, bent over the knee and pressed down into the bot- 

 tom of the boat; then the nails, which have previously been 

 driven lightly into the holes, are driven up through the tim- 

 ber, using a set to hold on the top of latter alongside of the 

 nail as it comes through. The lowest nail must always be 

 driven first, then the others in succession from keel to gun- 

 wale. 



As many ribs as possible should be put in before the 

 moulds are removed, those alongside of the bulkheads, how* 

 ever, being omitted entirely. A nail must be put through 

 the middle of the garboard and broad into each timber. 

 After all are in, the boat is kept from spreading by means 

 of cross spalls, pieces holding the gunwales together, and 

 the moulds are removed; the blocks are then pulled oil' the 

 ends of the nails, and the riveting up begins. 



A copper burr or washer is slipped over a nail and driven 

 home with a burr starter, an attendant outside holding the 

 set on the head of the nail. When the burr is on, the end 

 of the nail is cut off close to it, and the projecting part 

 (about -, J gin.) is headed with a few blows from a light rivet- 

 ing hammer, the tacks at the ends merely having their ends 

 turned down. After the riveting is completed the gun- 

 wales are put on. 



These were formerly put inside the boat, being jogged 

 over the heads of the timbers, but a stronger and neater plan 

 is to put them outside, making them of a hard wood, pref- 

 erably mahogany. The deck is screwed to them, and they 

 serve also as chafing battens, protecting the sides. They 

 should be about lfin. wide at middle, 1|- at fore and 1£ at 

 after ends, and fin. thick. A rivet is put through the stem 

 and both fore ends, and another through the stern, thus 

 strengthening what was formerly one of the weakest points 

 of a canoe, Nails are also driven through them and the 

 upper streak and the head of each timber anil riveted, 

 making a much stiffer side than the old method. After the 

 gunwales are in, the cross spalls may be shifted if necessary 

 until the curves of both sides of the boat are perfectly fair 

 and symmetrical. 



The bulkhead timbers will be sawed from hackmatack 

 knees fin. deep and lin. wide. They must be fitted accur- 

 ately to place in order to make a water-tight joint, to do 

 which, a piece of thin board is cut to fit closely, the timbers 

 being marked from it. After the timbers are fitted as tightly 

 as possible by this means, a little dark paint is laid on where 

 the timber wUl come, the latter is put in place and pressed 

 down, with a slight fore and aft movement, and on remov- 

 ing it, the points where it touches will be marked with paint. 



These are cutaway slightly, the piece replaced, and the 

 operation repeated until the paint shows on the entire sur- 

 face of the timber; it is then painted with thick white lead, 

 pressed into place, and fastened by . screws or nails through 

 the planks at each lap and also in the middle of each strake, 

 or if a wide strake, with two nails. 



The bulkheads will be of white pine, fin. thick; they are 

 placed on that side of the timbers nearest the end of the 

 boat, and are riveted to them. A door is sometimes cut 

 in the bulkhead to give access to the compartment in place of 

 a deck hatch. These latter are to be avoided if possible, as 

 they are never to be relied on as water-tight, and being ex- 

 posed to rain and waves, are apt to wet all below, while a 

 door in the bulkhead, even if not light, is only exposed to 

 water in case of a complete capsize. 



THE GALLEY FIRE. 



CANOE AND CAMP COOKERY. 



]V"0 canoe trip can be thoroughly enjoyed unless the canoeist is 

 1A able to cook a square meal. A friend lately said to me: "I 

 like to paddle around the harbor of an afternoon after office hours, 

 hut how a sane man can make a cruise of a week or more and live 

 on crackers and condensed milk, surpasses my understanding. I 

 tried it once and lost five pounds in four days, then I quit." 



"Bur, Aleck, why didn't you cook up three good meals a day* 

 Didn't you have vour cooking outfit along?" 



"Yes; but. Seneca, I never learned how to cook even a pot of 

 coffee. I hung around the kitchen before I started and asked Bt idget 

 so manv questions that she gave a week's warning. Besides, a man 

 can't carry a kitchen range along in a canoe." 



"Certainty not: but a canoeist, if he has the proper oil 

 bake, boil, fry, broil and stew without a range at all." 

 Do you mean to say a rran can bake without an oven?" 



'He can certainly bake with no more of an oven than he | a 

 himself with a few minutes' labor." 



■'I should like to know how." 



"Well, I will give you a few poiuters from my own experience, and 

 trust you will give them a trial on a long cruise next summer. First. 

 suppose you've caught a tbree-pound bass and want to bake him. 

 Don't scale him, but just remove his 'in'erds.' and wipe bun dry 

 inside. Then dig a hole in the ground about ties deeji 



