Jan. 30, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



87 



ahont two miles inland. There was no wharf, onlv a very slippery 

 mud bank into which several stakes had been driven. We got 

 out lines fore and aft to the stakes, and then took another, with 

 an anchor attached to it, across the river (distance about 30ft.) 

 and dropped it to keep the yacht off the bank when the tide fell. 

 It was now half-past 10, and we all felt pretty well tired out after 

 our long day; so we concluded to i urn in and seek some needed 

 rest. As wo had eaten supper coming dowu along shore, there 

 was nothing to do, after everything was snugged up on deck, but 

 to roll into the blankets. 



When we awoke it was raining a fine misty drizzle, and the 

 landscape, which lay spread out before us. was anything hut 

 cheering. The stream we were on coursed iuland through flat, 

 marshy ground for a distance of half a mile, until it met the roll- 

 ing farmland, which rose to some height in lumpv hills, some of 

 which were densely covered with a growth of small bushes and 

 trees, with here and there an ancient-looking farmhouse peeping 

 out from among the foliage. Had it been a pleasant day the 

 scene might have been more charming; as it was we were some- 

 what depressed in spirits, not only on account, of the aspect of 



going on, and decided to run back into Stonv Brook. It was a 

 nasty place to take a thunder squall; and, as there was a harbor 

 so near, we thought we might as well avail ourselves of its advan- 

 tages, and then, if there was no wind after the storm was over 

 (which is quite sure to be the case), we could lay there for the 

 night. Accordingly, alter considerable discussion, we nut about 

 and headed back tor the inlet, now several miles away, 



the wind gradually decreased until there was' scarcely a 

 breath, except an occasional puff, which reminded one of a draft 

 through a window. We were still a half mile from the inlet when 

 the wind Left us altogether, and it was now oars or anchor, with 

 the sandy bottom visible all around us, and about 4ft. of water. 

 The sky was assuming a terrific aspect, and long, crooked clouds 

 were reaching down out of the blackness, as though to grasp any 

 unfortunate thing m their path. We pulled as hard as possi- 

 ble, and as the storm bore down on us it brought, a breeze in 

 advance; so we still kept the mainsail and jib up. We had only 

 reached the first, turn of the channel when it burst upon us. 

 powu came the jib and the. peak of the mainsail, and amid the 

 flashing of lightning, roaring thunder, howling wind and flying 



the surroundings, but at the condition of the weather. We had 

 only arranged to stop one day, ana had fervently hoped for a 

 clear sky. However, it did clear up about. 9 o'clock. 



It is not advisable for me to go into details about that day's 

 events; how we traveled up to the village post-office, where we 

 accidentally met one of the party we were looking for, and who 

 in about two minutes had run back and brought all the rest, and 

 how shocked they were over the appearance of the cook, who 

 would insist on wearing his guerusey outside of everything he 

 had on; and how horrified they were at the general appearance of 

 the four of us. They made such sport of the steward that he was 

 compelled to retire to the seclusion of an adjoining woodshed and 

 make the required alterations in his attire. He was also com- 

 pelled to throw awn.y the new clay pipe he had just purchased. 

 And how we invited them dowu on board the yacht: and how we 

 had a clam bake; and how they got sick from earing the bivalves: 

 how it came on to rain pitchforks; and how we had to escort them 

 back home, costumed m our oilskin suits (only the coats); and 

 how sad we felt when we took stock of our provisions after all 

 was over. No, I do not desire to detail the happenings of that 

 day. We had a jolly time, let that suffice. 



It rained all uight and it was pouring when we stood out into 

 the Sound nest morning homeward bound. There was a good 

 wind from S. W., and sometimes we could lay our course parallel 

 with the shore, but it gradually hauled more westerly: and it was 

 a long and a short leg all the way to Crane's Neck. Whew, didn't 

 it rain. All hands kept in the cabin except, the helmsman. Oc- 

 casionally it would let up for a short time, but soon a dark, 

 ominous-looking cloud would come bearing down on us, carrying 

 a line of white spatters before it, and looking ugly enough to send 

 the yacht to the bottom; and 1 can say for myself that I did not 



sand, we arrived at Stony Brook live minutes later without the 

 aid of any light canvas. 



When, a half hour later, we came on deck, the sun was shining on 

 nature as though he had oust perpetrated a good joke, and was 

 now going to smooth it all over by endeavoring to dry things up 

 before retiring for the uight; and, as we expected, there was not 

 a breath of air. But it was delightfully cool and refreshing" and 

 we were not sorry at being in a position where we could en jov 

 a quiet night and have a run on shore. 



Shortly before dark a large cabin cat came in, and we were told 

 by her skipper that they had grounded on the sand outside the 

 channel during the latter part of the squall, where they had 

 pounded until the tide rose enough to float them into the chen- 

 nel. He had sustained no damage, and, with the exception of a 

 good shaking up, was all right, and glad to have the company of 

 fellow cruisers. The gentleman was alone, barring a colored man 

 who cookeel tor him, and had just come around from Port Jeffer- 

 son, bound for Flushing, L. I., where he lived. 



The catboat made fast to the dock astern of us, and after sup- 

 per we all went on shore to inspect the town as well as was pos- 

 sible in the darkness; the streets or roads being only lighted bv an 

 occasional store window. There may have been one or two lamp 

 posts, hut I do not recollect any now. I know there wus plenty of 

 mud and wet grass, and always just where one least expected lo 

 find it. And when we got back to the wharf we had considerable 

 of Stony Brook with us clinging tenaciously to our foot gear 



We found that the bow of the yacht had swung away from' the 

 dock, and the tide was rushing in between her and the pier at a 

 tremendous rate, threatening to part the small line we had 

 thrown out, not knowing at the time the great velocity of the 

 tides at this place. To haul her bow in by that line was" impos- 



feel altogether easy at such times, knowing that I had a cargo of 

 human beings, who most of the time were sleeping like a lot of 

 porkers below. 



In consequence of the treacherous looking weather we. had two 

 reefs tied in, though one would have sufficed; still the lee rail 

 seldom stayed long out of water, and the yacht was always lying 

 down pretty well. In order for those who were inside to repose 

 with anything like comfort, they had adopted the habit, of lying 

 crosswise of the cabin, viz., head on starboard bunk, feet on port, 

 with a matress on the floor, which is only Sin. lower. This' was 

 all very well as long as we continued on the one tack, but as the 

 wind persisted in heading us, it was necessary to go about occa- 

 sionally, and right here is where my fun came in. In a good 

 breeze such as we were theu having, the Monaitipee is quick 

 enough in stays, and goes around like a top, never stopping to bob 

 up and down in the wind, uncertain which way to turn. You 

 have just time, enough to duck your head to prev«nt knocking 

 the varnish off the boom when you are jogging along as though 

 there had been no change in the course. The result is ttmt the 

 watch below are in a delightful state of confusion, with their 

 heels in the air and heads jammed together to leeward, while I 

 am the recipient of various not very flattering remarks. 



Off Port Jefferson a splendid breeze set in from off the land, en- 

 abling us to start sheets and lay our course along the shore, but it 

 only lasted a short time, and before we could round Crane's Neck 

 it died out altogether and the sun came out. The tide was run- 

 ning ebb, and in order to make any headway against the strong 

 current an oar was brought into active service until we got around 

 into Smithtown Bay, where we dropped anchor to await more 

 wind. It had hardly touched mud before we were gratified with 

 a light breath from the southward, and we tacked in toward 

 Stony Brook, went about near the beach, and headed down 

 toward Eaton's Point, which could dimly be seen about twelve 

 miles to the westward. We had not sailed more than three miles 

 when dark clouds began to spread above the horizon, the sun lie- 

 came obscured, and the low rumbling of distant thunder was 

 faintly heard from a-.ross the darkening waters. 



All the boats that were out were making for harbor, and a lum- 

 bering old sloop which had been lying in under the beach began 

 to crawl off shore for a better anchorage. We observed what was 



sible, as we quickly found out. But we overcame the difficulty 

 by easing off the stern line, which allowed her to drop astern 

 until she swung against the wharf. We then secured her firmly 

 with all the spare lines we could command. We were about to 

 retire, when some one discovered that the tender was missin°- 

 from her accustomed place. Where she had disappeared to or 

 how she had gone was a conundrum. One of the crew remem- 

 bered distinctly having belayed her painter to the cleat used ex- 

 pressly for that purpose. There was but one conclusion to come 

 to: she had either gone adrift or been appropriated by unlawful 

 individuals; and in either case something must be done; so the 

 Captain and our passenger volunteered to go in search of her. 

 Borrowing a flat-bottomed rowboat from an adjacent slip, with- 

 out the formality of asking, they came alongside the yacht and 

 then let go, and immediately were swallowed up in the gloom 

 drifting along with the flood tide. Their plan was to allow the 

 boat to go wherever the current carried them, and if our tender 

 had broken loose, they would be very likely to follow in her track. 

 As the river ran inland several miles, the chase might be a long 

 one, as well as disagreeable, for the stream pursued its course 

 through marshes and fiat land, and in all probability swarmed 

 with mosquitoes and gnats. 



The Cook and myself, after discussing the occurrence for 

 awhile, turned in, noting as we went below that it was blacken- 

 ening up in the north, and gave prospects of plenty of wind from 

 that quarter before morning. Some time during the night we 

 were awakened by the return of the searchers and were informed 

 that they had brought back the runaway. 



It was evident she had gone adrift, as they found her about two 

 miles up the river with the painter caught in a bunch of grass 

 which grew out from the bank. We all returned to rest relieved 

 in mind, and were lulled to sleep by the murmuring of a north- 

 west wind through the rigging and the slapping and bubbling 

 water rushing by the sides of our little vessel. 



We started out of Stony Brook harbor next morning on the last 

 of the ebb, and although it was piping from northwest, we ran up 

 full mainsail and jib. Once outside where we became exposed to 

 the full force of the wind, we found that it would be comfortable 

 to put m a, reef, which was quickly clone. We were surprised at 

 the size of the sea that was tumbling in, and our surprise changed , 



to concern as we proceeded, and the waves increased in height 

 and became topped with foam; while the wind increased to al- 

 most a gale, and the Monaitipee began to get one of the live- 

 liest shaking up she ever met. 



The tides seemed to run in every direction, crossing and recross- 

 ing, causing an uncertain and trying sea; and the yacht was con- 

 stantly plunging and taking heavy waves on deck, while the 

 tender cut all sorts of capers astern, and jerked and pulled at 

 her painter until we expected to see her break away again. We 

 had been out two hours and still Eaton's Point looked hazy. We 

 put in another reef and stuck at it. The sea was now becoming 

 really heavy, and the spray flew from every wave crest, while 

 every few minutes a comber would sweep her fore and aft, wash- 

 ing lines overboard and often flooding the cockpit. We found we 

 were making scarcely any headway at all against the current 

 which seemed always to be running out. Suddenly a tremendous 

 sea bore down on ns, broke against her weather bow, and seemed 

 to go completely over the yacht. That was enough, the cockpit 

 was full, the tender was half full, and a terrible drag. We hove 

 her around and put her nose toward the town we had shortly be- 

 fore departed from. Before she gathered way enough to straighten 

 out the painter, a wave swamped the tender completely; and we 

 were compelled to bring the yacht into the wind while we hauled 

 the yawl partly on deck and bailed her out. This required 

 several minutes and in the meantime the Monaitipee was being 

 tossed about unmercifully. 



Once more we bore away for Stony Brook, and now the fun 

 began. How we flew and how we rolled with the waves coming 

 almost abeam. First the windows on one side would be washed, 

 then the others. At. one minute the main boom would be flung 

 high m the air and the next plunged beneath the water, drench- 

 ing the sail to the height of several feet. 



It took less than an hour to reach the approach to the inlet, and 

 here the water became shoal and the sea was white with foam as 

 the waves broke and tumbled on one another. Through the seeth- 

 ing mass we rushed, expecting every minute to strike bottom as 

 the yacht, tell between the breakers. If such a misfortune had 

 happened we would undoubtedly have swamped entirely, but 

 thanks to our light draft we ran the gauntlet of shoals, taking in 

 fact scarcely any water over the taffrail. Once clear of the 

 breakers and m the channel we breathed more freelv and began 

 to make preparations for drying out, for we were all "well soaked 

 but the cabin had very little water in it, owing to the tight bulk- 

 head between it and the cockpit. 



It continued to blow all day, and our passenger, whose time was 

 limited and who saw that we might be delayed for some time, 

 concluded to leave the ship and return home by rail. We accom- 

 panied him to the depot, about a mile from the 'wharf, and parted 

 reluctantly. "That was a jolly sail this morning," said he. and 

 he was rolling about the platform as though the cockpit floor was 

 still heaving beneat h his feet, "and I was just beginning to like it 

 although I must admit that it did not altogether agree with mv 

 interior, still, if I was not compelled to be in Brooklyn to-morrow 

 I would be delighted to finish the trip with you." As he stepped 

 aboard the train I thought I noticed, although I may have im- 

 agined it, that a convulsive shudder shook his frame, while a sad 

 smile broadened his face as he waved his hand from the window 

 when the cars sped away. 



That night it blew a howling gale. I remember awakening dur- 

 ing the early hours and asking who was sailing the vacht, think- 

 ing in my sleepy state that she was under wav, in consequence of 

 her disturbed condition, with a strong list to "starboard from the 

 force of the .wind and the incessant rushing and slapping water 

 against her, plainly heard within. On account of this storm 

 which lasted nearly all next day, we remained in port. We varied 

 the monotony of things by walking over to Port Jefferson via 

 Seraukel, admiring the. town and harbor very much; the harbor 

 especially, around which the building and repairing industries 

 seem to thrive. There was one thing in the repairing line which 

 struck us as rather comical. On the east side of the harbor a 

 yacht about ,0 or 80tt»iong was being rebuilt. Every portion ot- 

 her except a part of the keel had been torn away, but they still 

 kept the mast standing stayed up from the surroundings with 

 ropes. The idea ot building the vessel around the mast seemed 

 quite novel. There were a number of schooner yachts out of r- 0 m- 

 mission in the harbor, and we noticed the old sloop Vindex hauled 

 out on the west side. 



We tOL.k the train back tack to Stony Brook, and that evening 

 before dark we took the tender and rowed out to where the mud 

 was dry at low water, and with the aid of the oars secured about 

 two hundred hard clams. It is needless to say we feasted freelv 

 off the bivalves havmg them served in various ways. By sunset 

 the wind had subsided, and we had a beautiful ni-Uit 



Next morning we scraped out through the inlet just before low 

 tide, and. with a fresh westerly wind began a long thrash to wind- 

 wr.rd p Smithtown Bay. As we neared Eaton's Point about 11 

 O'clock the wind died away to a light breeze, and we made but 

 little progress around the headland on which the lighthouse 

 stands high up on the hill. In Huntington Bay we got the breeze 

 more southerly, and at 1 o'clock we anchored under the bank on 

 the southwest side and cooked dinner, of which we partook in 

 quiet com tort. An hour after we set sail, and with a spanking 

 breeze almost abeam and off the land we began to make time 

 a long dOWO shore. Out of the whole trip this was the most pleas- 

 ant and enjoyable sail. A bright, sunny afternoon, not too warm 

 and a whole sail breeze, sheets free, and humming along with lee 

 dscK constantly awash, it was exhilarating in the extreme 



liirough Oyster and Hempstead bays, with their fleets of sloops 

 eagaged in r clam and oyster raking, we plowed our way until 

 off band S Feint, where we encountered a thunder squall, which 

 compelled us to hook up for a half hour in close proximity to the 

 rocks in front of the lighthouse. After it had passed over we 

 got tinder way again, hoping to get in at Whitestone that night, 

 mu tate was against, us. The wind kept dying out and it was 

 dark when we were passing City Island and drifting into Pel- 

 ham Bay After being nearly run down by several steamers and 

 a large sloop we hitched her up for the night back of Throgg's 

 Neqk, in Peltiam Bay. 6e 



In the morning a dirty rain storm from the southeast was in 

 -^iv-ress, accompanied by vicious squalls of wind. BverythihB 

 wit -i sails was under reduced canvas. After breakfast, we ran u? 

 the mainsail aud jib and headed across toward Little Neck. We 

 hao not gone a hundred yards when we were struck bv a sudden 

 gust of wmd which laid us on our beam ends. At the same time 

 the lace line on the boom parted and the mainsail would have 

 gone, u we had not let everything go and hauled it down. As 

 we did so the yacht righted and we let go the anchor until the 

 damage could be repaired. 



The next time we started we reefed both sails, and even then 

 during the squalls we were laid almost flat a number of times. 

 Eventually the wind settled down to a steady breeze and we 

 were enabled to lay our course down through the river, arriving 

 at Bay Ridge just in time to escape taking another severe thun- 

 der storm which passed over that evening about 6 o'clock. 



A^M. LOCKHABT. 



NEW YACHTS. 



SO FAR as new yachts are concerned, New York seems to have 

 dropped into a deep and serene slumber, not a racing keel 

 has been laid this season and only one or two small yachts have 

 been built. There seems now no prospect of a race for the Amer- 

 ica's Cup; in the 90ft. schooner class Sea Fox is still on the sale 

 list, Mayflower has been re-sold to Boston and Grayling will 

 probably not race. Nothing is doing in the 70ft. class and no new 

 boats are promised for it or the 40ft. In Boston Mr. Burgess and 

 Lawley are quite busy, and a number of new racers are promised, 

 the largest being Mr. David Sears's 80ft. composite keel, now partly 

 planked. Besides her there will be two 45-footers, three. 40-footers. 

 and tour 30 -footers. The Adams 40 is a keel, of moderate beam, 

 12tt., and about 9ft. draft, and is intended to beat Minerva. Her 

 two owners, who are both good sailor men, had the advantage of 

 a season's racing in England last year with Dragon and the other 

 new boats, and Mr. Burgess will be able to profit, bv their experi- 

 ence. The Foster 40 is a comparatively narrow and deep center- 

 boftrd with a wide keel. The experiment made last year by Mr 

 Burgess in Mariquita and Saracen, of a deep thin keeel, has not 

 proved a success, and the new boats are more like Minerva in 

 this respect. The Morgan 40 will be a composite craft with a cen- 

 terhoard and will he built by Piepgrass. TheFowle 30, to succeed 

 Saracen, will oe named Saladin. The 80 for Mr. Phil! ins, buildin^ 

 by W B. Smith at City Point, will be named Chaos. In New 

 York both Clara aud Liris will be afloat in season with the best 

 of new canvas, (Japt. Barr being at the stick in Clara as usual. 



MASSACHUSETTS Y. C.-A special meeting of the Massachu- 

 setts \ . C. was held in the winter quarters on Jan. 14, with Com, 

 Soley m the chair. The commodore and treasurer were author- 

 ized to sign the lease for the new club house on Rowe's wharf and 

 to make suitable arrangements for its occupancy. A committee 

 was appointed to revise the by-laws, consisting of the chairman 

 of the standing committee and the secretary; they will report at 

 the next regular meeting of the club. After the adjournment the 

 members joined the class in martin snike seamanship, and for the 

 next two hours instructions were given in knots and splices by 



-;. Ho ™ e ' mas ,ter rigger. At a meeting of the membership com- 

 mittee 32 membrs were elected. 



