Jan. 7, 1886.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



477 



hotels overlooking: the sea. I thought the river and surroundings 

 beautiful, but if there is any place where a 5 foot draft can lay and 

 not grouud at low tide, it must be a recent excavation. Yet, large 

 vessels have been built here, launched and sailed out on high tide. 

 At the wharf a half dozen sailboats, some Ashing boats and one 

 steamer were tied up. I counted a hundred small rowboats at the 

 floats for the use of hotel guests. At slack water many go out to row, 

 both ladies and gentlemen. I saw many ladies pulling single sculls, 

 and saw better rowing done by them than lever did by the sex any- 

 where. One lone canoeist paddled up and down in his birch bark, 

 Imeeling upon a buffalo robe, but he seemed not to attract attention, 

 for which he was evidently aching. The parties were evidently all 

 made up, and the girls preferred to paddle their own canoes. 



The rugged hills aud wild rocky ooast, the masses of parti-colored 

 herbage and extensive groves of evergreens; the grand out!ook sea- 

 ward from Cape Porpoise to Cape Neddick: the silvery river and 

 pretty houses all along its banks; the fish-curing houses and flag- 

 decked boats with their merry crews, united in making Kennebunk- 

 port one of the finest summer resorts upon the coast. There seemed 

 a hilarity, heartiness and vigor in the visitors greatly in contrast to 

 that of the other fashionable places, and one could not help but feel 

 that the guests of the hotels came here for health and frolic, found 

 the elements of both aud used them. This was not paid for by cour- 

 tesies shown. We paid cash for all we got; cooked our meals regu- 

 lary aboard the Pilgrim, diunvig the two days we were detained by the 

 storm ; answered all our visitors' questions courteously, and spent 

 the time exploring the river, sauntering about the hotels and shores, 

 visiting an Indian camp, and catching sea-perch, cod, hake and had- 

 dock. One old Indian upon the wharf had a special spite against 

 sculpins and speared a great many daily. The larger fish were taken 

 from trolls outside, and boats came in loaded every forenoon. They 

 •went out the second day of the N. E. gale and larbught in plenty of 

 flsh. I heard the following conversation on the wharf: 



"Bin out this morniu', Jim?" 



"Yer." 



"Did yer get a good catch ?" 



"Caught a few, lucky I saved my gear." 



"What was the matter?" 



"Matter? Bough out thar. Nobody but a fool 'd ever go out a 

 mornin' like this ere," 



The fellow had on oilskins and stood in his boat with a pitchfork, 

 jabbing it into the fish, which nearly reached the thwarts of the craft, 

 and pitching them into a tub upon tne wharf. From this tub two 

 men took them, cut off the heads, took out the insides, gave them a 

 quick wash in a tub and pitched them into another tub upon the 

 scales, where they Avere weighed. I was surprised to see many hooks 

 and pieces of line In the fish, and the cleaners had to be careful not 

 to get hooked. One told me the hooks cost so little they were not 

 worth the trouble of cutting out. The bulk of the flsh was haddock, 

 the remainder hake and codfish. The cod were carefully laid aside 

 for hotel use. 



The morning of Aug. 26 was clear and cold and the wind was strong 

 from the N.W. We put to sea about 10 o'clock, with many people 

 looking at us from the hills and piers, aud made a fine run under 

 jib and mainsail past Cape Porpoise and Wood Island, across Saco 

 Bay, in sight of Ferry, Old Orchard and Scarboro beaches, where the 

 wind came in stormy squalls and buried our rail many a time in the 

 sparkling, rushing waters, and we attracted the admiration of sev- 

 aral Gloucester fishermen that had all the wind they could stand up 

 under. 



_We passed Eichmond Island before sunset, hoping the wind would 

 die out after the sun went down ; but it increased more and more, 

 and hauled around N.N.W. just as old Sol sank and the lights of Cape 

 Elizabeth shone upon our beam. There we met a short, choppy, 

 ugly, English Channel sea that gave us trouble. We shoula have 

 reefed, but the little yacht was pitching her bowsprit under every 

 jump, the lee rail was awash all the time, and I was anxious to get 

 fairly pointed toward Portland Head Light and past several buoys 

 before darlcness came. 



The boys kept much below and seemed rather frightened, except 

 Bert, who lay to windward of the cockpit and hung on to its seat. 

 Prank had yachted as far as Portland before, and was my stand- ov 

 this perilous night, but even he seemed a little doubtful of our abil- 

 ity to get onward, and suggested we should run back under Rich- 

 mond Island. I reflected that we did not know the anchorage or 



shelter there, could not reach there before dark, would probably roll 

 and tumble without a warm supper all night, and might get blown 

 out to sea; and then I shut my teeth hard, clutched the tiller firmer, 

 said, "No, she shall go into Portland to-nif>ht or go to the bottom 1 

 We are all right as long as nothing breaks," and kept heron her 

 course. Prank stiffened up as soon as I had decided, ond took a 

 position forward of the mast to clear the jib sheets, which sometimes 

 caught in the cleats, and kept a good lookout. The little yacht 

 pitched and plunged, dashed the seas aside, and dipped under them 

 and darted over them, firmly eating her wav to windward, appar- 

 ently making no leeway, and not a rope yarn or bolt gave way. In 

 the very worst seas one slopped up the windward side and over the 

 house, rolling her deeply to leeward, and washed overboard thirty 

 fathoms of spare riding rope that was in a Flemish coil and unlashed, 

 at the same time wetting us pretty thoroughly, especially Bert, who 

 remarked, "There's lots of fun yachting on the coast of Maine." 



Frank hauled in the snarl with diificulty and lashed it upon the 

 house, and we kept on, gradually working away from CapeEHzabeth 

 on a N. E. course— for the wind had hauled to the north— past Trtindy 

 Reef and Witch Rock buoys until we passed, tacked and stood di- 

 rectly for Portland Head Light. As we got away from the land the 

 sea was not so heavy, and we began to breathe easier and believe we 

 might get inside. The lights were there to guide and cheer us, sev- 

 eral vessels' lights and sails could be seen near Bangs' Island, and 

 the boys came up and took more interest in things. We did wisely in 

 standing ofl; shore, as the wind drew along the land and the tide was 

 flood against it, and we would have had rougher work closer in. Old 

 sailors say "Cape Elizabeth is a nasty place to get past, and it is 

 better to stand well out when one has a head wind." 



The wind howled as we worked into the channel inside Portland 

 Head, and we had sharp work in stays and to make out when we 

 were gettmg near shore. The little cutter plunged into the seas and 

 threw spray over us, and now and then buried herself a foot deep 

 forward ot the house, causing Prank to cling to the mast; but the 

 water went right over the low rail, and wo were only sprinkled in the 

 cockpit. We heard the bell buoy of Bangs' Island tolling above the 

 tumult just in time to go about, and then a smart httle schooner 

 passed us and led us up the channel. By watching her movements 

 and tacking as nearly as possible in her wake, we were able to keep 

 off the rocks; though when 1 looked at the chart afterward, and re- 

 membered how near the shore we often went, it seemed a miracle we 

 had not knocked a hole in our pretty craft. 



A vessel ahead as a guide is a very good thing, but one must re- 

 member that fishermen know every "rock and every gap in a reef, and 

 often run close to one and through the other, when a stranger in at- 

 tempting to follow might be wrecked. 



Our little craft went in stays and around like the crack of a whip, 

 and I hardly had the helm alee before I was obliged to haul jib and 

 trim down. She never missed stays, and I never saw a craft go 

 around so quickly and reach so much. She turned no corners, but 

 made a biij curve as quick as a Hash, alt the time going to windward. 

 It was comforting to see how she gained upon the lights of Port- 

 land, how little weather helm she took, and how nobly she battled 

 with the sea and wind. (5rit and Providence were on our side, and 

 our spirits rose when we found the little boat was as good as a big 

 one, and we passed some three-masted schooners bound in. All in 

 the darkness, and hissing wind, and obstinate sea, without .vade-lights, 

 in fear of being rim down by outward bound craft, keeping a sharp 

 lookout upon sails and seas and dark shadowy shores, we worked 

 that twenty-five foot boat steadily and safely to windward, romided 

 the light upon the breakwater, and dropped our anchor in smooth 

 water opposite the Portland Yacht Club house, at just 9 P. M. 



Weren't we happy? Any one who has stormed a fort without a 

 scratch, or been victorious in a college rush, knows how we felt. 

 Then we found out something that made the shivers run down our 

 backs. The little hatch on the port side forward was gone. There 

 were two J^in. broken eyebolts and the lashings all right, but the 

 hatch was not to be found, and Frank, who had been dancing around 

 it did not know when it had disappeared. The water had been com- 

 ing into the cook's quarters freely, but we supposed it was from a 

 leak around the bitts; yet some must have gone down the hatchway. 

 The hatch had probably been torn olT by one of the ugly seas off Cape 

 Elizabeth, and after that none had come in sufficient quantity and in 

 just the right way to pour down the hole and drown us. That its 

 loss was not discovered sooner shows what an earnest fight we had 

 with the elements to get into port. Had we known of its loss, we 



should have turned back to Richmond Island— anywhere out of the 



nasty sea. 



Wo made things snug, dined sumptuously olT of hot canned tur- 

 key and tomatoes, fresh bread, and peaches, with the usual coffee, 

 talked over our cigars awhile, hung up the anchor light upon the 

 clew jig, and then slept the sweet sleep of tired yachtmen. 



WINTER CRUISING ABROAD.-The following English yachf? are 

 at the present time cruising in foreign waters:— Fortuna, schooner, 

 360 tons, Mr. Adrian Hope; Au.stralia, schooner, 212 tons, Hon.B.Dng- 

 more; Diana, schooner, 77 tons. Captain Lyons; Marchesa, s.s., .377 

 tons, the Countess of Dudley; Rosalind, schooner, 98 tons, Hon. E. 

 Dugmore; Maia. schooner, 118 tons. Captain J. Wilmore Smith; Mir- 

 age, schooner. 198 tons, Mr. A. H. Longman; Cambria, schooner, 193 

 tons, Mr. P. A. Ralli; Sans Peur, s.s., 395 tons, the Duke of Sutherland; 



Cushie Doo, S.S., 858 tons, Mr. VV. H. S. Osmond. Among the yachts 

 flitting out and under orders for Southern voyages are the Elmina, 

 schooner -344 tons, Sir Richard Sutton; Ariadne, schooner {nee Boad- 

 icea), 380 tons, Mrs. Meynell Ingram ; lanira, schooner, 202 tons. Cap- 

 tain T. Hargreaves; Otterhound, yawl, 70 tons. The Ptarmigan, 

 schooner, 176 tons, Mr. S. Gardner, has put back to repair damages 

 sustained in a gale in the Bay, and the Maia, schooner. Captain Wil- 

 more Smith, and Cushie Doo s.s. , Mr. W. H. S. Osmond, have been 

 spoken, homeward bound.— Laiirf and Water. 



THE BALL OF THE OSWEGO Y C— The social event of the win- 

 ter in Oswego was the Yacht Club ball, held at the Armory, on Dec. 

 29. The bare and empty hall had been especially ntted up until its 

 entire appearance was changed. The floor was covered with a danc- 

 ing cloth, the ceiling was draped with red cloth, and the room was 

 fuUy furnished. Near the door was the boat from the Lifesaving 

 Station, from the roof were hung pennants and ensigns, while on 

 each side of the entrance to the supper room, curtained off by flags, 

 were the bright yacht guns. The attendance was very large and the 

 entertainment was in every way a great success. The Committee 

 were Messrs. R. 8. Sloan, C. 0. Norton, W. Gordon, J. F Herrick, W. 

 P. Judson and G. T. Clark. The Reception Committee were Com- 

 modore and Mrs. Phelps. Mr. and Mrs. Swits Conde, Mr. and Mrs. 

 C. W. Pardee, and Mr. and Mrs. Sloan, 



THE NEW BOSTON SLOOP.— Commodore Forbes denies the re- 

 port circulated lately by a daily paper, that he intended to take Pur- 

 itan abroad this year to race for the Brenton's Reef Cup. He will'use 

 her for racing and crusing this season. The contract for Gen. Paine 's 

 new sloop nas been signed by Lawlpy and Son, and work wifl com- 

 mence at once. The boat wfll be similar to Puritan, but 85ft. long 

 with no more beam. The length over all will be 98ft., on waterline 85 

 ft., beam 22ft. 4in., depth of hold 9ft.; ard draft 8ft., 4ia. She will 

 have the same amount of lead on keel as the Puritan, about 27 tons. 



ANOTHER FLORIDA CRUISE.-On Dec. 22, the catboat Bonita, 25 

 ft. 6in. long, left Newport, R. I. with Captain Ned Long and a friend 

 on board, bound for Florida. A third member of the crew is a black 

 cocker. Black Bess. We hope to hear further from the cruisers as 

 they work their way after the Caot. 



GITANA — Thi^ schooner is still at Piste's Wharf, Boston, pre- 

 paring for sea, and will sail about Jan. 15. for the West Indies. 



YACHT STOVES.-Wfll "Piscator" send us a rough sketch of his 

 stove as described in the Forest and Stream of Dec. 17? 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Two Johns.— Please send address to this office, 

 wish^ ' Y.— We wfll endeavor to obtain the lines you 



qiiery ■ ^- J--See note in Trap which answers your 



D. New York.— Would advise you to get a pureiy-bred mastiff in- 

 stead of a cross between a masiift' and St. Bernard ' 



J. S. Kingston.— You can put 1,000 or 1,200 pounds on keel with 

 advantage You w-iU find the question of rig discussed in our files 

 for the past year. In some waters the jib is better, in others the two 

 neadsails. You do not state where the boat is to be used. 



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