294 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 6, 1886. 



CRUISE OF THE COOT. 



WITH the advent of the sun next morning:, the Coot was got 

 underway and proceeded to pick a course through the narrow 

 winding channel leading out of the lower entrance to Millford 

 Haven. By so doing a return over old ground and some seven miles 

 were saved, The Haven itself is broad with 10ft. of water, but 

 n earing the lower end, the bottom shoals to 1 and 2ft., a narrow 

 gutter like lead with fi to 10ft. carrying you out to sea through a 

 break in the beach. This is not staked nor defined and the charts 

 are on too small a scale to be of much assistance. A boat drawing 

 over 3ft. should take a local pilot. The Coot managed to shoot the 

 entrance after stirring up the sand in some places. At low water 

 the chart indicates only 3ft. on the bar which would make it 4 to 4}$ ft. 

 on the flood. To me there seemed to be rather more water. Once 

 across the bar the depth suddenly increases to 7. then to 10ft., which 

 mav be carried down the shore until the Wolf Trap Spit is reached. 

 This has several 5ft. spots half way between the light and the beach, 

 hence you must give the beach a good berth. Below the light house, 

 which is of the screw pile kind, you can sheer it again in trying for a 

 harbor. Horn Harbor can be entered with 4 to 5ft. and Is the proper 

 place to try for. unless willing to round New Point Comfort and sail 

 five miles tip Mob Jack Bay for East River, where twenty feet can be 

 found. 



I had been told that Deep Creek, just round the Point could shelter 

 the Coot, and so when the cold northerly wind failed, boxed about 

 in a calm and light airs from ahead all the afternoon seeking to get 

 in. In doing so a strong flood set into Horn Harbor was encount- 

 ered, obliging a long board out into the Chesapeake. After several 

 hours of tedious doldrums, the Coot was coaxed up to New Point 

 and made a close round accordinff to the chart. After crossing some 

 strongly marked tide rips, she suddenly struck where 7ft. was ex- 

 pected." This led to an investigation. I found a long bar of hard 

 sand extending out to the eastward between two lines of tide rips. 

 On the bar there was hardly 3ft. As 

 the soundings on the chart were 

 taken twenty-six years ago, this bar 

 mav have formed since. It also ex- 

 tended to the westward of the cape, 

 nearly out to the red can buoy, 

 although 14ft. should have been found 

 according to the chart. There were 

 manv verv shoal lumps, over which 

 the Coot could just pass. In mak- 

 ing Mob Jack Bay, the can buoy 

 should be hugged pretty close. 

 Around it the water quickly deepens 

 and the Coot went away with lifted 

 sheet tor her proposed harbor, the 

 sun already having sunk below the 

 trees in the west. 



Approaching the sandy cape the 

 hoat hook was kept going and soon 

 brought up -in 3ft., "whereupon the 

 yacht was rounded up andanchored 

 •while I pulled ahead in the skiff to 

 hunt for a channel. None could be 

 found, a flat of hard sand with 2ft. of 

 water extending all along and barring 

 retreat into the attractive little cove. 

 With darkness upon me and no in- 

 clination to sail five miles up into 

 East River and out again in themorn- 

 ing, I determined once more to trust 

 to luck lor the night and hold on 

 right there after close reefing the 

 sail. This was the third time the 

 desperate chance of escaping a lee 

 shore in a winter gale was taken 

 and for the third time good luck 

 stuck bv the boat, There was a 

 sweep of 10 to 25 miles for wind and 

 8ea according to the quarter from 

 which it might come, and the situa- 

 tion was not much relished. Later 

 on I learnt that some of the creeks 

 in the large bight to the northward 

 could shelter any draft less than 5ft. 

 but this 1 mention with reservation, 

 not knowing how trustworthy the 

 information. Large boats generally 

 make for the Poquosin River in this 

 neighborhood, but without wind that 

 was out of the question and a harbor 

 there would have taken me out ot my 

 course. Daylight is necessary to 

 make out the buoys marking the 

 narrow cut across lork Spit, the 

 water shoaling very abruptly on both 

 sides Plenty of water can be 

 carried across the Spit lower down 

 however, which will be in your course 

 if New Point has been kept close 

 aboard. 



The moon rose in all her silvery 

 splendor and the night remained 

 calm though very cold. Early next 

 morning a brisk icy wind struck in 

 from the northward. A haze about 

 the sun and mist rising in the south- 

 east betokened a change before the 

 day was over. This might bring wind 

 and sea ahead and leave the Coot in 

 sore straits, as the nearest practicable 

 harbor would be in Hampton Roads 

 around old Point Comfort, twenty- 

 four miles away. It was necessary, 

 however, to clear out from the meagre 

 protection afforded by New Point 

 and take chances on slipping into 

 Back River as a last resort. The 

 entrance is readily made in moderate 

 weather, but in an on shore wind, a 

 nasty sea tumbles up on the shoals 

 surrounding the tortuous channel, 

 and should you miss the latter, a 

 small boat like the Coot would find 

 herself on an ugly lee shore without 

 the power of beating off. The idea 

 of making Back River was soon 

 given up, as the wind veered into N. 

 E. and came down in hard squalls, 

 turning up a dangerous sea in which 

 I did not dare venture inshore. To 

 make the most way, whole sail was 

 got on and the boat went foaming 

 and boiling on her southerly travels, 

 burying lee waist and flying over the 

 sea as New Point's lofty white tower 

 was dropped in her wake. 



For a while everything went well, 

 though the hardening of the blow 

 into a gale forced me to round up 

 and haul out second cringle while 

 the sea assumed a threatening as- 

 pect. To the southward it looked 

 decidedly dirty and had a harbor 

 been within reach, the Coot would 

 have run lor it might and main. 

 There was no choice but to keep at 

 it, after getting on to York Spit. 

 Here the shoaling of the water 

 caused the longer seas so far met, to 

 mount into towering, curling masses, 

 steep and hollow, which piled after 

 the little Coot with a roar. To look 

 hack as the foam-crested billows 

 threw the skiff from side to side, 

 talniost tossing her bodily aboard, 

 then letting her drop out of sight 

 into the succeeding hollows with a 

 fierce snap on the doubled painter, 

 was enough to make one's head turn 

 dizzv. I did try to bear away for 

 Poquosin, but found it impossibleto 

 keep the boat off, let alone running 

 dead before the sea without jibing 

 and wrecking the whole rig. At 

 each high roller, the Coot would 

 round up till the wind was brought 

 abeam in spite of helm, and tending 

 sheet and board. Barely was I able 

 to miss ramming the lighthouse on 

 he Spit. But the boat was making 

 wonderful speed all the same and 



when the Spit had been crossed a perceptible smoothing in the 

 sea set in. The involuntary luffing had also lifted the boat so far 

 to the eastward as to clear the shoal water about Back River. For 

 half an hour things took a favorable turn, though the sun had 

 become obscured in portentous steam and the wind kept veering 

 more to the eastward. 



When it settled N.E.. it came out with reneAved vigor, this time a 

 full gale in its force, lifting the caps off the seas and driving them 

 along in a heavy shower of spray. The Coot's sail threatened to go 

 out of the bolt ropes. Steering had been a great labor and the air 

 was wintry enough to stiffen me from head to foot. Along we flew, 

 the minutes seemed to grow into hours, and one narrow escape from 

 broaching to followed another so quickly, that I began to grow used 

 to the trouble, though wishing myself well through with the job 

 The worst was yet to come. Back River Light had been made and 

 passed. Fifteen miles had been reeled off and seven remained to 

 Old Point. It looked as though we should pull through, if the rig 

 would hold out. The skiff I expected to lose, but strange to say, 

 though indulging in the most frightful antics, sheering square 

 across the stern like a shot out of a gun, spinning along on her side, 

 gunwale to, and turning up the seething waters like a plow does 

 the sod, she escaped all damage and did not ship more than a bucket 

 full the whole trip. I had given her an extra length of painter and 

 doubled the parts and lashed the oars to the thwart. 



The gale outside had been nearly S. E., and when the capes of the 

 Chesapeake were opened, the full effect of the ocean swell made 

 itself felt in a way which boded literally the engulfing of the Coot. 

 Huge rollers poured In and grew steeper and steeper, their heavy 

 masses breaking in seas of boiling foam as they tumbled in upon the 

 Horseshoe shoal, which the Coot had reached. It would have been 

 too far out of the course, and more than boat and myself could 

 stand to trim in sheet and head up to round the tail of the Shoe, bo 

 we were obliged to cut across inside the Thimbles light. This drove 

 us over some 8 and 9ft, spots and into 14ft. generally. 



For six miles the Atlantic rollers were breaking in an endless boll 



of foam. They would rise so steep and thin as to hecome a trans- 

 parent ?reen. Then with a crash, after a moment's poise, the tops 

 would tumble and sween along with hurling force and rapidity 

 impetuous streams of hissing froth. These would lift the Coot 

 under her haunches, propellingher along on the wave front as thoiurh 

 she were a feather. They would force her nose down and under, 

 till she burled stem, mast and even up to the cabin house She 

 would then screw out with iresistible force and broach to. rollinir to 

 windward into the next hollow with such a swing that a capsize to 

 windward impended. The boom would be whipped half way up the 

 mast and drop with a thud that was like the report of a gun and 

 send my heart into my mouth for some immediate disaster on the 

 canvas and sheet. 



I certainly was frightened, but not fright in the ordinary sense 

 Reason told me that such a state of affairs could not last. The mar- 

 gin of escape was too narrow not to bo crossed sooner or later 

 Time and again I managed to get the boat off in the last second ami 

 prevent the next huge Bea from tumbling bodily aboard. Had such 

 a thing happened, the cabin and decks would have been stove 

 to atoms, the boat filled and sunk in an instant. The tiller and 

 sheet were the tools with which disaster had to be resisted. The 

 tiller bent like a reed, the tenon in the rudder's head was on the 

 point of giving way. The sheet and boom might have gone any 

 moment, for the boom dipped half its length in the lee rolls and fell 

 many feet nfter the roll to windward. The sheet would bring up on 

 the blocks with a check they could not long withstand. Three 

 times I was thrown into the lee scuppers of the cockpit and had to 

 scramble back to the helm to keep the boat away. Seas broke 

 aboard, but the violent tossing served to keep her pretty clear. She 

 did not get much down below. 



I was well nigh exhausted and frozen. The welcome pier of the 

 Hygeia Hotel had been opened, vessels could be descried riding 

 comfortably at anchorage in comparative shelter and the haven for 

 the Coot was not far away. I looked astern and saw a green mon- 

 ster, bigger than any yet encountered, rushing toward the f oot 

 with implacable fury. On it tore with tumult and confusion at its 

 head. This was a critical one and no mistake. 1 grasped the tiller 

 tightly, braced with a fresh brace, kept one eye on the ruffian follow- 

 ing me up and met him with helm beforehand. Something lifted 

 the Coot high into the air. A momentary sharp tug at the helm, 

 then the boat was suddenly let down easy as on a cushion and 

 nothing remained of the huge sea. It was the last of the lot, for the. 

 Coot had slid off into seventy feet of water. The sea was still 

 villanous but longer and regular, so you could figure on ways and 

 means to evade the worst. 



Abreast of Old Comfort Light, the wind had a northerly vein and 

 in the sea the Coot had to be jibed, tacking being out ot the ques- 

 tion. It was done by getting in sheet, seeing it clear, easing helm 

 over very slowly and then letting the boom go out on a spin like 

 lightning. The smallfpatch of sail enabled this to be consummated 

 with success. When the Coot drove between the buoy on Hampton 

 Bar and the government pier, there was a very audible sigh of relief 

 aboard the yacht. Smooth water and a weather shore, was some- 

 thing to be thankful for, and Old Point proved a Comfort indeed. 



It was shortlived, a few hours saw a shift to the scene. Anchor 

 was let go off the ordnance shops In 6ft. Sail stowed and a hot 

 stove and grub. It had been blowing 50 miles at the capes 

 and 40 in the roads on the climax of the gale, just as the Coot 

 reached into safety. Everybody about the Point is. an old tar of 

 some 6ort. Pilots and seafaring' men opened their eyes in wonder 

 when they learned that the Coot had come across "the Shoe" in the 

 hightofthe storm and survived the kind of sea they are well able 

 to appreciate. Coasting schooners, a square rigger and numerous 

 oyster smacks had gone ashore and life had been lost, though none 

 of them were exposed like the Coot; and all well maimed in the 

 bargain. I don't quite understand myself how I got through the 

 mess. It certainly was not the fault of the boat. 



Provisions were at a low ebb; so were the finances of. the estab- 

 lishment; concluded to eke out au existence on some sago, and sail to 

 Norfolk next day where funds were in waiting. This was a lament- 

 able miscalculation, ior I missed reaching Norfolk by two months. 

 Toward evening the gale abated in short order and a mysterious 

 calm set in. 



At midnight I awoke. The boat was pitching bows under. It 

 must be a gale from the N.W., as nothing could raise such a dis- 

 turbance. Upon opening the cabin door, the sky was as clear as a 

 bell, a howling northwester was in full possession, the Coot on a 

 lee shore at last, tailing a few lengths from a dock, and worst of all, 

 it was freezing at a great rate, the mercury being down in the 

 twenties. At daybreak it was blowing a hurricane. Could not 

 communicate with thu shore owing to high sea and cold. Crumbs 

 ot remaining grub were apportioned into homeopathic doses. For 

 three days the gale held on. The last day I was down to a mouthful 

 of lard, not a drop of oil for the stove and no tobacco. 



That night the blockade was raised. The wind fell, the ice packed 

 into the bight and froze fast before morning. The Coot was nearly 

 rail-to, down by the bead, encased in a solid armor of ice, so that 

 nothing but the cabin doors could be distinguished. She was 

 literally buried. As fast as the spray flew aboard the intense cold 

 solidified it in an instant. In this way layer was Imposed upon 

 layer, till the boat could no longer be distinguished, resembling a 

 hillock of ice. The skiff had been sunk under her burden. She was 

 chopped out first and an expedition undertaken to the shore. At 

 Old Point stores were procured and carried off. Then with a 

 hatchet I set about cutting the Coot clear of her encumbrance. 



All was well lor the next ten days, while the ice held last. When 

 It broke up, the old battle against the drift had to be refought with 

 scarce any rest night and day. Ice out of the James river followed 

 down and only after four days' incessant labor, could I get the Coot 

 underway and sail into Hampton Creek for protection during the 

 remainder of the winter. Many vessels dragged ashore during this 

 freeze, and that the Coot with two little rope cables should have es- 

 caped right alongside the big vessels is one more marvel of the 

 cruise. She was fearfully cut and wounded in the encounter and 

 was about being carried out to sea, when a lucky turn in the cake ot 

 ice set her free. Once in Hampton creek, in a snug berth, all 

 danger from drift ice ceased. 



YACHTING NOTES.— Deloin will be shipped fox New York on 



Monday next Shona.— Mr. Charles Sweet, owner of the Clara, was 



incorrectly mentioned as the owner of the 5- ton Shona. Mr. Sweet 

 owns only tne Clara and is in no way interested in the other craft — 

 Happy Thought, keel sloop, of New Haven, has been sold to Messrs. 

 Van Wart, of New York, and will be enrolled in the Knickerbocker 



Y. C Uncas, steam yacht, Mr. J. Buchanan Henry, has been sold 



to a Boston gentleman for $1,400. 



AMERICAN Y. C— The design for the Interrational Challenge 

 Cup has been decided upon, that offered by Tiffany & Co., being the 

 one selected. It will be 3ft. 8in. from base to top and will cost 10,000. 

 The competition will be open to yachts of all nations. 



MAYFLOWER AND PDRITAN.-Gen. Paine's yacht will be launched 

 at 11:30 A. M to-day. Puritan has been cleaned of the blacklead and 

 will be painted white again. Her bowsprit has been reduced lin. in 

 diameter at the outer end. She will be fitted out at once. 



To a faithful dog belonging to Mr. Schwartz, the proprietor 

 of a jewelry store in Cherry street, Railway, N. J., he, 

 and his wife and two children, owe their lives in all probabil- 

 ity. Between 4 and 5 A. M. yesterday Mr. Schwartz was 

 awakened by the dog jumping on his bed and excitedly lick- 

 ing his face. He was several minutes before he could realize 

 the situation. Smoke filled every part of the bedroom. Half 

 unconscious from its effects he hurriedly aroused his wife and 

 then ran to the room adjoining, in which his two children were 

 sleeping. He took them from their bed and with great diffi- 

 culty groped his way down stairs and out of doors, 



