FOREST AND STREAM. 



| Nov. 8, 1888. 



IF 



GOSSIP ABOUT GAFFTOPSAILS. 



CAVING- been a water rat ever since I could walk, and taking 

 to yachting almost from the same time, the gaffitopsail has 

 been more or less a thorn in my side ever since. _ l am writing 

 about small yachts sailed single-handed or by Corinthian crews. 

 I have gone through all the varieties of sprit, club, iihheaders, 

 etc. The club topsail only belongs to the racing yacht, being too 

 unwieldy and too much in the way generally lor snigleharided 

 yachtsmen or Corinthian crews to bother with. The sprit topsail 

 has many of the same bad qualities; if left bent on the spar when 

 taken in, it is a nuisance on deck, being unstowahle; if unbent 

 from the spar, the trouble of getting it out of the sail locker, bend- 

 ing on to spar, etc., often deters one from setting it when out tor 

 a short sail. If you take the other horn of the dilemma, and use a 

 working topsail set flying on upper and lower halliards, you have 

 the same nuisance of "limiting the sail from locker, in addition to 

 which the topsail set in this manner lies off from the. topmast; so 

 will not stand to windward when it breezes at all, and if carried 

 too long is an ugly sail to handle if not taken in just right. 



Now, several years ago when I had got through experimenting 

 with numerous variations of the above modes of setting topsails, 

 I happened to take a trip to New York and of course had to take 

 a look round among the yachts. Well,! noticed many of the 

 smaller ones with standing topsails, aping (as I thought) their 



1 ... ^-.i + ^ .»,-, T 4iin4- Kni) t\ ivsir./} o -t- + K net* *f till r\\\/a "ftiimirla 



home, in deliberating over this, I thought it possible that, while 

 there might be duffers, hayseeds, etc., around, instead of living in 

 and about New York, they might by the greatest chance live— in 

 Talbot county, "Eastern Sho' " of Maryland. 



Thereupon I proceeded to experiment with the standing top- 

 sail, my great objection to it being the necessity of some one 

 having to go aloft to stow it after it was clewed up. Now remem- 

 ber, I am writing for the benefit of singlehanders and Corinthian 

 crews. Of course, when you have .Tack, Jim and Tom before the 

 mast, it is very easy to say, "Lay aloft and stow topsail," and you 

 have no further trouble, but when you give that order to yourself 

 the case is decidedly different. To overcome this necessity of 

 climbing heavenward I got a long gaspipe, put a set of iron hoops 

 on it. bent my upper and lower topsail halliards to it, putting the 

 rigging on my topsail to clew aloit, and thought I had solved the 

 difficulty; and so I had in a measure, being able to clew up as 

 well as any topsail, and also being able to bring all on deck when 

 necessary. This may all have been an old idea, but as I had 

 never seen it I felt quite proud of my invention. After using it a 

 couple of seasons, I found several objections to it. The "jackstay" 

 (gaspipe) was quite a weight aloft. You would be surprised to 

 find what a heavy one I had to use to keep the luff of topsattfrom 

 springing away from topmast, i had, of course, to take the whole 

 rig down before I could house my topmast; then again, and the 

 greatest objection of all, when I went to send my "gaspipe jack- 

 stay" aloft from the deck, with all its clew lines, topsail sheet, 

 tack, etc., in place, if there was any sea on the way that gaspipe, 

 topsail clew lines, sheets, etc., would dance a german on the way 

 up, and the confusion the rigging would get into, was amazing. 

 After It was in place it worked splendidly, but to get it there 

 without fouling was hard to accomplish in a "doddle"; when it 

 was perfectly smooth it all worked to a charm. 



After studying this problem over last spring while overhauling 

 my ship for her summer work (she is in commission all the year 

 round) I had a brilliant idea — why not use snap hooks and snap 

 my topsail to the hoops (galvanized iron ones) on topmast? No 

 sooner said than done, and now I think I have a good rig for a 

 standing topsail on small yachts. 



It is true that I have still to go aloft to stow topsail, but with 

 the clews and buntliii.es rigged as I have them it is not uecessary 

 to do so except when it blows "great guns" and you want to snug 

 everything down, or when you want to be especially neat in port, 

 in either case all you have to do is to clew up topsail, then shin 

 up, tie a small stop round sail, close to the hoops, and settle sail 

 to the deck by halliard, unsnap halliard and sheet and stow sail 

 in locker, there you are with all clear aloft for a blow, and the 

 topsail as rigged above is in the sail locker before you, or your 

 friend, as the case may be, would have the sail half made up for a 



neat, "stow" aloft. So in setting again, hook on your halliard, 

 haul up to masthead, shin up again, which you would have to do 

 in any event if topsail was stowed aloft, snap sail to hoops, cast 

 off single stop 'round sail, slide down on deck and you will have 

 topsail set and drawing, if under way, before your friend on the 

 "Nancy Jane," cruising in company, has got his gasket ott the 

 sail. I think this a far better plan than the hook plan figured m 

 the Forest and Stream some time since, as that involved going 

 aloft every time your topsail was set, whereas in the way I work 

 mine, clewing it up is all you want ordinarily. I sailed some six 

 miles to windward in the N. W. zephyr we had last Wednesday 

 under single-reefed mainsail and No. 3 jib, staysail and mizen 

 stowed. My topsail was clewed up and not stowed, and I had no 

 trouble with it. A few years ago all our small craft, working 

 sloops, schooners, pungies, etc., used a sprit, or flying topsails, now 

 thev universally set standing ones. 



What I claim for my idea is that when it is necessary to stow a 

 standing topsail it is done better and quicker, and quicker shaken 

 out and set, by my plan than if bent to the hooks permanently. 



Baston, Maryland. Sinkboat. 



THE VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE. 



A DEEP water cruise that few would care to undertake will 

 come to a successful end very soon when Capt. Joshua Slocum 

 of the Liberdade anchors his strange craft off Washinton, D. C, 

 after a voyage of 4,000 miles, from Rio Grande del Sul. Two 

 years since Capt. Slocum sailed from Baltimore, Md., for Buenos 

 Ayres, in the bark Aouidneck, 826 tous. having with him his wife 

 arid two sows, aged 10 and 14 years. After several voyages be- 

 tween South American ports, the bark was wrecked at the mouth 

 of Rio Grand del Sul harbor, being condemned and sold for a 

 small sum. Declining the offer of the American Consul to send 

 him and his family home. Captain Slocum at once went to work to 

 build a boat, of canoe model, 80ft. long, 5ft. beam and 3ft. draft, 

 with a rocker keel, and three masts with lateen sails. The hull 

 was decked, with a house aft. Last spring the Liberdade was 

 completed, and Capt. Slocum with his family sailed from Rio 

 Grande del Sul, reaching Santos about the end of June. From 

 Santos to Rio Janeiro the Liberdade was towed by the steamer 

 Finance, Mrs. Slocum and the boys going on the steamer. From 

 Rio they sailed for Pernambuco, running 2356 miles in 19 days. 

 Capt. Slocum was last spoken by the steamer Planter, off Cape 

 Romaine, with all well on board, his great wish being to get home 

 in time to vote. 



A FAST CATBOAT. 



THE following excellent record was made this year by the cat- 

 boat Mabel, of Boston, owned by Mr. F. C. Dunne. She was 

 built by Pierce Bros., and is 22ft. over all, 19ft. l.wl. and 9ft. beam. 

 Her record for 1888, as given in the Boston Globe, is as follows, 

 summing up 13 firsts to 15 starts, the best ever made in her class: 

 June 23— Hull Y. C, good breeze, first; winning by 3m. 48s., two 

 competitors. 



June 30— Dorchester Y. C, breeze moderate, first; winning by 

 9m. 18s., three competitors. 



July 4— City of Boston (open), stiff breeze, first; winning by 2m. 

 6s., six competitors. 



July 8— Match race vs. Amy, wind moderate, first; winning by 

 lm. 47s., one competitor. 



July 14— Hull Y. C, light breeze, first; winning by lm. 43s., four 

 competitors. 



July 15— Match race vs. Amy, wind moderate, first; winning by 

 59s., one competitor. 



July 28— Hull Y. C, two reefs, first; winning by 47s., three com- 

 petitors. 



July 20— Quincy Y. C, light breeze, first; winning by 3m. 38s., 

 three competitors. 



Aug. 4— Hull Y. C, two reefs, second; losing by lm. 36s., two 

 competitors. Defeated by Niobe. 



Aug. 11— Quincy Y. C. (open), stiff breeze, first; winning bv 33s., 

 ten comoetitors. 



Aug. 25— Beverly Y. C. (open), moderate breeze, first; winning 

 by 6m. 42s., ten competitors. 



Aug. 27— Quincy Y. C, stiff breeze, first; winning by 3m. 55s., 

 four competitors. 



Aug. 28— Dorchester Y. C, two reefs, first; winning by 26s., three 

 competitors. 



Sept. 1— Hull Y. C. (open), moderate breeze, first; winning by 

 lm. 37s., eight competitors. 



Sept. 8— Hull Y. C, two reefs, second; losing by lm., one com- 

 petitor. Defeated by Niobe. 



Winning 13 first prizes out of 15 races sailed; winning average, 

 2m. 53s.; losing average, two races, lm. 18s. 



Defeated only by Niobe; winning average over Niobe 4m. 19s.; 

 losing average to Niobe, lm. 18s. 



In the city of Boston Fourth of July race Mabel defeated all 

 boats in her class and in the corresponding class of keels, also all 

 the jib and mainsail class and centerboards and keels in the class 

 above, in all a to tal of 33 boats. 



CRUISE OF THE BRUNHILDE. — On Nov. 3 the schooner 

 Brunhilde, owned by Mr. J. J. Phelps, sailed from New York 

 with her owner and his wife on boaTd, bound on a long cruise. 

 Her first port will be Bermuda, after which she will call at Bar- 

 badoes and other West India islands, and she may ultimately 

 make a cruise around the world before she sights Sandy Hook 

 again. This is Mr. Phelps's second long cruise, as he left New 

 York in 1885, shortly after the Brunhilde was built, and made a 

 cruise of two years, visiting Engl and, Egypt, Ceylon, India, China, 

 Japan and San Francisco, returning by way of Cape Horn. Since 

 his return he has married and his wife accompanies him. The 

 Brunhilde is a keel yacht, 102ft. l.w.L, 25ft, beam, and lift, draft. 

 She carries besides her sailing master a mate, boatswain, two 

 stewards, cook and ten seamen. 



DOLPHIN -NYMPH.-On Nov. 1 the steam yachts Dolphin, 

 W. B. Wetmore, and Nymph, W. S. Webb, raced on Lake Cham- 

 plain over a mile course, Dolphin winning in 34m. 8s., with 

 Nymph 34m. 40J4s. - 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Capt. J. F. F„ Negaunee, Mich.— You will have to pick up a 

 second-hand rifle of the make wanted, as the arms are no longer 

 manufactured. Correspond with the dealers in sportsmen's goods. 



A. C. D., Jr.— For the price you are willing to pay you can buy a 

 perfectly reliable and serviceable gun of auy one of the makes 

 named; and beyond that you may be guided by your own taste in 

 the matter. 



Constant Reader.— You will find no deer hunting in northern 

 Vermont, as the law will protect them until 1990. There is wild 

 fowl shooting on Lake Champlain, accessible from Burlington. 

 Take shotgun instead of rifle. 



R. D. K., Connecticut.— 1. In the Forest and Stream's rifle tra- 

 jectory test the trajectory of the Winchester .45-.75-350 at 100yds. 

 was 11.979 in. 2. We cannot give you the largest recorded growth 

 of antlers of the Virginia deer. 



R. W. C, Vineyard Haven, Mass.— Will you kindly give me a 

 few names of the best writers on trout culture? Ans. Livingston 

 Stone's "Domesticated Trout," Slack's "Trout Culture," and 

 papers in the reports of the Fish Commission and the American 

 Fisheries Society. 



E. N., New York.— There are trout in the streams near San 

 Diego, California, and the list of sea fishes caught with the hook 

 includes halibut, barracuda, Spanish mackerel {Sharcla cMUnsis) 

 rock cod, smelt, croakers and kelp-fish, which include several 

 esteemed varieties. The best season is from April 30 to Sept. 1. 



M. L. L„ Traverse City, Mich.— What is the best me'thod of 

 treating a skunk skin, intended for mounting as a museum speci- 

 men, so as to cleanse it from the unpleasant odor? Ans. Per- 

 manganate of soda might be sprinkled on it. Some recommend 

 chloride of lime. Trappers sometimes pack their skunk-infected 

 clothes in fresh hemlock boughs. Time is the great remedy. 



T. M. C, Lock Haven, Pa.— 1. Will you please give me the 

 names of our present Pennsylvania Fish Commissioners? 2. Is 

 there an instance on record of the capture in any of the waters 

 of the Eastern States of a California salmon as a result of the 

 planting of that fish in our streams about ten years ago? Ans.— 

 1. Henry C. Ford, 524 Walnut street, Philadelpha. James V. 

 Long. 75 Fifth avenue, Pittsburg. H. C. Demuth, Lancaster. S. 

 B. Stilwell, Scranton. A. S. Dickson, Meadville. W. L. Powell, 

 Harrisburg. 2. No. 



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