Feb. 18, 1893.1 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



149 



rules of most clubs, the New York among others, and at the suggestion 

 of the committee a change vras made, defining the waterllne more 

 oloseJy, and distinctly prohibiting the cutting of notches to evade a 

 fair measurement, as has been done for some dozen years by the Brit- 

 ish Y. R. A. It was hardly possible that such a palpable evasion 

 would be permitted by any regatta committee or sanctioned by any 

 club, but the dispute over the attempt alluded to proved the desirabil- 

 .ity of an express prohibition to guard agahist any possible contention. 



SiNCK last week much has been done toward a Boston syndicate to 

 build still another 85-footer, to be designed by Stewart & Binney. 

 Among those interested are Bayard Thayer, Gen. Charles H. Taylor, 

 Herbert Gray Otis and Amorj P. Gardnei-. Should the plan succeed 

 the yacht will be under the management of Mr. Stewart, with Mr. 

 Chas. F. Adams to sail her. The Paine boat has been laid down at 

 Lawley's, and the steel is being received at the yard, so all doubts as 

 to a third boat are removed. 



Speed Records of American Yachts, 1892. 



The verv complete and elaborate records of the speeds of American 

 yar-bts du'iing the past season which have appeared in the Forest and 

 8tre«i during the past thi-ee weeks, are the work of a yachtsman 

 who has pivenserious attention to the subject for several years, and 

 whd hav. this vear in particular expended a great deal of careful labor 

 on the tasl;. The tables cover all the races in which the results were 

 not manitcstlv useless on account of calms or other flukes. The in- 

 formation as to courses, wiml. tide. etc.. is most complete, making 

 the results of far more value than is usually the case with such 

 records. , , ^, 



The task of compiUng and tabulating any accurate aver.ages of the 

 speeds of each class on the various points of sailing would be a long 

 and tedious one. but those interested in any special class or group of 

 yachts will find much interesting data for comparison. It vnll be 

 observed that the figures do not Ijear out the extravagant estmiates 

 of speed often indulged in by yachtsmen, a speed of six knots benig 

 much oftener found than ten, even in the very large craft. The best 

 records are those of Ramoua and Lasca at Larchmont on Sept. 13. 

 when the speed ran within a very small fraction of 13 knots, 12.98 and 

 13.0.5 respectively. , , ^, , . , , , 



To make the record complete there should be mcluded a race 

 omitted bv mistake, that of the Larchmont Y. C. of Sept. 10, the 

 course being 27 miles for the larger schooners and 20 miles for the 

 smaller and the one cutter starting, the wind being strong N,E., the 



The most interesting of the records are those of the two small 

 classes, the 21ft. l.w.l. class in the East, and the 25ft. sailing length 

 class about Kew York, or, more properly, about Oyster Bay and 

 Larchmont. These two classes came together to a certain extent this 

 year through the visit to Marblehead of the lastest of the New York 

 boats, Pysfe; and her marked defeat by the Boston boats has been 

 quite generally accepted a conclusive argument against what is very 

 incorrectly known here as the "rating class." The following table is 

 interesting in this connection: 



COMPARISON OF DIMENSIONS AND SPKBDB OP 21 AND 25FT. CLASSES, 1892 



Name. 



TjT>e. 



LWL 



Beam 



Draft 



SaU 

 Area. 



H'gst 

 speed 



Aver. 

 Speed 







Ft.In. 



Ftln. 



Ft.In. 



Sq Ft 



Kn'ts 



Kn-ts 





c.b. 



21. 



8. 



1.3 



700 



7.68 



5.33 



bulb fin 



21. 



6.9 



6.6 



733 



7.29 



0.54 



bulb fln 



21. 



6.9 



6.6 



733 



7.61 



5.22 





c. b. 



21. 



10. e 



1.6 



990 



7.14 



5.13 



Esilo 



c.b. 



21. 



11. 



1.6 



1000 



8.05 



5.48 





c. b. 



21. 



13. 



1,6 



1112 



7.12 



5.08 





bulb fln 



21. 



r.o 





932 



7.07 



5.23 





fln 



23.6 



7.8 



*6'.6 



700 



*6.56 



5.08* 





bulb fln 



25. 



7.1 



6.6 



625 



6.03 



5.37 





keel 



25. 



6.9 



6.6 



625 



5,72 



5.13 





c. b. 



24.8 



10.6 







5.52 



5.14 





c. b. 



25. 



10.6 



1.8 





5.77 



5.23 



Nadjy 



c b. 



37.11 



11.6 







6.29 



5.i33 



♦Pyxie's record of home races only, shows a highest speed of 5.93 

 and an average of 5.16 knots. 



The boats comprise a wide range of types of all periods, from the 

 Nadjv (the old Brooklyn, built in 1876) to the latest Herreshoff craft 

 fresh" from the shop. Alpha, the crack in her class last season, is a 

 shoal centerboard of nar row beam and small sail area, with a Tobin 

 bronze boai-d of 4001bs. Reaper and Vanessa are new Herreshoff fin- 

 keels with the bulb fin, like El Chico and Wenonah, like Alpha of very 

 hght construction, double skin. Catspaw, designed by Stewart & 

 Binney, is a shoal centerboard racer Avith a large sail plan and inside 

 lead ballast. Thrush, designed by A. G. McVey, is a similar boat but 

 wider and with larger rig. Exile is of the Cape cat type, but with a 

 sloop rig, and Freak is a bulb-keel designed by John B. Paine. Pyxie 

 is a new Gardner boat, a keel cutter, but with small underwater body 

 and exaggerated keel amounting to a fln. Nameless is also a Gardner 

 boat of 1891 , a small keel cutter ; El Chico is a Herreshoff bulb-fln, while 

 Dodo, Meteor and Nadjy are of the old type of open jib-and-mamsail 

 racing Tjoats, with the ordmary wooden centerboards. Theu- corrected 

 lengths bring them out of the 25ft. class, but they have saQed in a 

 number of races with the 2o-footers. 



The highest speeds in the table are the highest recorded m any race; 

 the averages are made up by taking only speeds of four knots and 

 over assuming that the lower speeds of two or three knots are due to 

 conditions whujh fail to give a correct gauge of the relative perform- 

 ances of the boats. It will be noticed at once that not only the highest 

 speeds but the averages of the Boston 31-footers are considerably 

 above those of the New York boats. At the same time it is equaUy 

 plain that the former are carrying considerably more sail over much 

 smaller hulls, the displacement also bemg very much less. The re- 

 cords of the wind velocity are lacking in the New York races, but the 

 fact is brought out that nearly all the recorded races at Larchmont 

 and Oyster Bay were sailed in light winds, while a large number of the 

 records obtained off Marblehead were made in winds of a velocity of 

 13 to 18 miles. , ^ . . . , . , 



The obvious conclusion from the various facts disclosed by the 

 tables is not that a waterhue classification produces a fast boat and a 

 sailmg length classification a slow one; but that the Boston designers 

 have dealt more successfully than those of New York with the con- 

 ditions of the problem and have consequently produced a boat better 

 adapted to the purpose in view. A good standard of comparison is 

 afforded by the old-type centerboard racing boats Dodo, Meteor and 

 Brooklyn (Nadiv), all recognized as fast in then- day in a large fleet of 

 open racing boats, and now prolnably faster than of old, as they have 

 benefitted bv the modern improvements in sails and rigging. Against 

 these boats' the new 25-footers have more than held tbeu- own. and 

 that in weather distinctly favorable to the old and unfavavorable to 

 the new types. It would thus appear that the as-footers are not by 

 any means slow boats according to local standards of speed. 



that thftv are slower than the Eastern 21ft. class is clearly proven, 

 but in order to show that the classification is responsible tor this, it 

 must fli-st be demonstrated that the limit of 2i)ft. sailing length di- 

 rectly encourages a Nameless or Pyxie and discourages a shorter boat 

 with more safl. So far from this being the case, it is evident that 

 Alpha, as she stands, with a sailing lengtTi of 23.70ft., could wm from 

 the larger boats at Oyster Bay or Larchmont as easily and surely as 

 she has from the rest of the 3Ift. class at Marblehead, while a larger 

 Alpha. buUt to the full hmit of 25ft. sailmg length, or even the same 

 21ft. Alpha with a larger sail plan, could do even better. The saiUng 

 of the new 2Ut. cutter Sirocco in the Eastern races, a boat somewhat 

 of the type of Nameless and Smuggler, though with a very much 

 larger sa^fl plan, shows that the ordinary keel cutter, even of the best 

 model, has no chance against either the fin-keel racer or the shoal 

 centerboard such as Alpha and Catspaw. It is now open to any enter- 

 prising New York vacbtsman to build a boat for the 35ft. class of, for 

 instance, 31ft. l.w.h and 840 sq. ft. of sail, making .'35ft. sailing length, 

 or perhaps a foot longer and with 784ft. of sail, either a bulb-fin or a 

 centerboard, vnth. which he can Mdn the light weather races on the 

 Sound, being beaten, if at all, in the comparatively few hard blows 

 that are met with in the summer. 



The coming season is cf^rtain to be a most exciting and mstructive 

 one, Tv-ith many races in prospect between the new class of 85-footers, 

 and the records of tbeir speeds will show much as to the improve- 

 ment made since the Puritan- Volunteer era. With the recent refine- 

 ment of model and improved construction it is resonable to expect 

 that a marked advance in speed will be shown, and the Hmit of possi- 

 ble improvement be stiU more nearly approached. 



On Feb. 6 the members of the Fall River Y. C. were entertained at 

 theu" "Smoke-talk'' by Mr. Adrian Wilson, the sailmaker. of Wilson & 

 Silsby, Boston, with a very interesting lecture on sails. 



The Crviise of the Cy-pres. 



'.rWO WEEKS IS A 23-FOOT BOAT. 



[Continued- frorti Page 1S7.'] 



Sunday, July 17.— The rays of the rising sun shmiug in our faces 

 wakened us in the morning, and we arose at once and got our break- 

 fast as quickly as possible, hoping to get an early start. The air was 

 beautifully clear and bright, and we remarked how much of the most 

 charming part of the day was lost to one who did not rise till 8 o'clock 

 and after. There was no breeze at all till about 7:30, when a hght air 

 commenced to stir from the southwe.st. We got our sails up and 

 were off by 8 o clock, hoping to make Portsmouth by noon or soon 

 after. As we left our a.nchorage we got out our compass, flxlng it in 

 place on the after side of the lower shde that closed the companion- 

 way, and laid our course N.^-^B., keeping her a.t that tiU we were near 

 the" Isles of Shoals. 



As we drew away from the land the breeze seemed to grow a Uttle 

 stronger and we shpped rapidly along in the smooth water, running 

 almost dead before it. In the northwest there were multitudes of 

 small white nebulous clouds that graduaUy rose higher, and increased 

 in size as they did so. We kept a close watch of them, as we did not 

 care to have a repetition of our experience of yesterday. 



Soon after passing Halibut Point we saw a blue mound-like shape 

 nearlv dead ahead; this, we supposed, was the Isles of Shoals, and so 

 kept it just on our starboard bow, as we did not intend to stop there. 

 About 10 o'clock a very large fish broke water just under our counter. 

 We did not catch a glimpse of him, but were startled b.y the tremen- 

 dous splash, and looking quickly around saw the water swirl and boil 

 where he went down. Soon after this we made out White Island 

 Light and then altered our course a little, steering for the blue peak 

 of what we now saw was Mount rVgamenticus, and held on this course 

 till we could m,ake our t)ie Weritworth Hotel, which lies to the west- 

 ward of the entrance to Portsmouth Hai-bor. It is the most con- 

 spicuous object on the c<-iast, next to the mountain, and is visible long 

 before you can see the lighthouse on Whale's Back. 



About noon the clouds that we had been watching began to pass 

 between us and the sun, and we were just remarlcing that the wind 

 had suddenl.y changed umler just such a condition of things the day 

 before, when we saw a white line rapidly approaching us over the 

 water from the westward, I ran forw-ard and took in the foresail just 

 as the pufl' struck us, we luft"ed sharp up and shook everything for a 

 moment till we could feel the strength of the wind. The first of it 

 seemed to be the worst, so we bore away and found we could just 

 lay our course running close hauled. As we drew nearer the land the 

 mountain graduaUy disappeared, and we steered for what we took to 

 be the lighthouse on Whale's Back, and held on this coui'se till quite 

 close in. 



We noticed two or three yachts coming out of Portsmouth before 

 the squall struck us, but when they saw what was coming they turned 

 back. They kept well to the w est ward of the mark we were steering 

 for, aud we wondered why they did so, till on getting nearer shore we 

 discovered that what we had taken for Whale's Back Lighthouse was 

 a tower with a w indmifl on it. AVe could hardly believe that we were 

 mistaken, for the sun shone on it in such a way that it was the most 

 conspicuous object in sight, and in shape it looked exactly like a light- 

 house. We had Stebbin's "Illustrated Coast Pilot" with us, and with 

 the glass could now plainl,y make out Whale's Back hght with its pecu- 

 liar red fog horn. We had run too far to the eastward, so went about 

 on starboard tack, standing in toward Gunboat Shoal, till we could 

 easily fetch Portsmouth Light, when we went about and stood up the 

 the harbor, dropping our anchor in Pepperell's Cove, just under the 

 walls of Ft'. SlcClary. 



We had been told of this place by an old fisherman at Magnoha, and 

 we found it a very good place indeed. We had nearly two fathoms 

 under us at low water, and were back out of the tide, which is very 

 strong in the channel, and were also very near the steamboat landing 

 at Kittery, from which a steamer leaves for Portsmouth every hour. 



After getting our dinner we brought cushions uj) on deck and 

 lounged about for an horn* or two, enjoying the beautiful view of the 

 bay and basking in the bright warm sun. Just ahead of us lay the 

 handsome schooner Sea Fox which had come in while we were below, 

 wrestling with greas,y stew pans and hot water. Two or three coast- 

 ers lay near us, but further out in the stream, waiting for a turn of the 

 tide or a shift of wind. Several small boats were sailing around near 

 us, most of them open dories with two leg-o'-mutton sails. 



After becoming thoroughly rested we went ashore. At the steam- 

 boat landing we found several floats and stau-s leading from them to 

 the pier. As bo one objected we hauled our boat out on one of the 

 floats and left it there whfle we went up to the post office to drop a 

 line to our friends announcing our safe arrival at this port. We found 

 two or three stores here where we could get anything we needed in 

 the way of eatables, and a good well close by the pier with a chain 

 pump. We had some difficulty in holding our jug just right to catch 

 aU the water from the pump, so bought a large tin funnel, which we 

 always took ashore after that when going for water. 



We had thought when planning this cruise that we would go to 

 some hotel for at least one meal every day. and possibly when m port 

 take every meal ashore, but we found our canned goods so excellent 

 and the labor so Hght that we abandoned that part of the plan at this 

 point and never had occasion to change our minds during the rest of 

 the trip. For breakfast we had coffee made by F. in his filtej-ing 

 coffee pot Cand better I never drank), soft boiled e.ggs, and bread and 

 butter; this was all we could eat and w^hoever wants more? Dinner 

 was a little heartier and subject to greater variety. We commenced 

 with soup, of which we had several kinds, then came canned vege- 

 tables or meats, followed by a cup of cocoa and fruit. We always had 

 good fresh bread, and never had to eat pilot biscuit except when saU- 

 ing all da.y and could not get time to prepare anything else, when we 

 ■lunched on it and smoked herrings or sardines. 



We kept our butter in a glass jar, one of the kind that has a screw 

 top, and it was alw^as fresh and sweet. Our condensed mi]k, too, was 

 always sweet and we could not see why it was not just as good as the 

 real ai-ticle for coftee and cocoa. For supper we had cocoa, bread 

 and butter and anything warmed up that was left over from our 

 dinner. In this way we used up everything and did not have to keep 

 any canned goods on hand longer than twenty-fom- hours after they 

 were openecL 



We had for drink, beer, lime juite, lemons and raspberry vinegar. 

 The latter was by far the best of them afl aud we never tired of it. It 

 made no difference how hot the da.y or how stale aad warm the water, 

 the vinegar made it seem cool and refreshing . We found a quarter of 

 an inch of it in a tumbler full of water about the right proportions. If 

 much more was used it left a pricking sensation in the throat which 

 was not pleasant. We always had a glass of this tipple m the middle 

 of the day and before going to bed. 



Next morning, Monday, July 18, was dear and bright, ]ust the kmd 

 of a day that deUghts a photographer. We thought Fort McClary 

 woidd make a good picture, the light falling on it just right, so the 

 camera was brought out on deck, only to find, much to om- chsgust, 

 that it 'i\ as locked and we had no key. Om- obhging friend had for- 

 gotten tliat very important article. This was a great disappointment 

 to us, as we had counted on getting some pictures a little out of the 

 ordinary run. 



We stow-ed the camera in the most out of the way place we could 

 find, and never looked at it again during the trip. We rowed o%'er to 

 the steamboat landmg at Kittery and took the 9:30 boat for Ports- 

 mouth, sitting on the upper deck where we could j^^-t a good \ jew of 

 the harbor. The tide was about half ebb and running very swiftly, 

 and we were very much interested in watching how they handled the 

 boat. " , . 



As we passed Pull-and-be-Damned Point we were caught m the 

 stream and before you could speak were wMrled across the river, and 

 it looked for a moment as though we would faU to stem the powerful 

 current, which boded and roared and broke into gi-eat wlurlpools in a 

 most wonderful manner. We coidd not see how it was possible for 

 sailing vessels to get up t-o the wharves, which are above this point, 

 except at high tide. We noticed several large can buoys with great 

 iron rings on their tops, which were used for warping the government 

 ve^ssels up to the navy yard before tie days of steam. _ 



That this was no easy job, especially at the narrow place m front of 

 Ft. Washington, is very evident, and one appreciates the name, "PuU 

 and be Dammed," given by the sailors to the sharp little pouat oppo- 

 site, after passmg it as we did when the current was running at its 

 swiftest. It must have been a discom-aging task indeed to drag a 

 heavy vessel up this terrible current by the means of rope and wind- 

 One of our errands on shore here was to visit the Signal Service 

 office to correct our aneroid barometer, some moistm-e had gotten 

 into it, and in clearing it F. thought he had moved the hands a httle: 

 after some hunting we found the pkice, aud asked the boy who came 

 forward as we entered, if we could see the officer in charge. He ush- 

 ered us into the presence of a tall young woman, who seemed some- 

 what surprised when asked to see their barometer; we explained the 

 difflculty we were in and were pohtelv informed that they had no iu- 

 struraents thtire, that they merely displayed on the flagstaff at the 

 comer of the street the signals as they were ordered up from Wash- 

 ington by telegraph. , ,. . , ^ 

 4.Bwewere going to sad next day we asked out ot curiosity what 

 the weather was to be and were om'selves surprised by her answer, 

 which was that she did not know, that she had no communication 

 from headquarters for three days. We concluded that we would have 

 to guess at the weather and left the office with a very poor opinion of 

 the U. 8. Signal Service as carried out in New Hampshire. 



We determined that we would correct our barometer ourselves, so 

 we got hold of some Boston papers and compared tha height of the 

 barometer as recorded in Boston for several successive days with the 



reading of our own Instrument for the same days and succeeded in 

 settmg it accurately enough for all practical purposes. 



We bought some Japanese napkms here, finding something of the 

 Mnd a great necessity, and these fiUed the bill exactly ; in fact, we 

 considered them a great luxury. We took a long walk through tho 

 business and residence portions of the town and regretted many times 

 that our camera was not available, as we wanted to take away photo- 

 graphs of some of the interesting old-fashioned houses and one of 

 the more modern ones. We noticed that almost all of the old brick 

 buildings were built with the Flemish bond, that is, each successive 

 course of brick was laid crosswise of the one below and they looked 

 as though they would stand tiU the crack of doom, One thing that 

 struck us as peculiar was that there was not a smgle street car in 

 the whole town. Almost any Western towu of the size and import- 

 ance of Portsmouth would have had its horse cars and, m all prob- 

 ability, its electric cars long ago. , ^ ^ , ^ , , „ . 



On our way back to the steamboat dock we bought some fine ber- 

 ries which were temptingly displayed, and some fresh rofls at the 

 baker's shop; we found both of these a great addition to our dinner. 

 While washing the dinner dishes we heard a gun and on looking out 

 saw quite a fleet of yachts coming up the harbor. The gun had been 

 fired by the flrst arrival, which had anchored near us and was taking 

 the time of the others as they came in. This i^roved to be the South 

 Boston Y. C. on their annual cruise, and they made a pretty picture 

 as they came up one by one and rounded the first arrival, which 

 saluted each in turn with a shot from her gun. They were aU 

 anchored near us in a few minutes and we counted tour schooners, 

 five sloops, one cutter and three Cape cats. They had come from 

 Gloucester and reported having had a splendid run. 



After they were all in we got into our tender and rowed up to 

 Ja.maica Island. The shore all the way around Kittery Point is most 

 beautiful; the low, rocky points alternate with sandy coves, where the 

 green lawns come down to the water's edge and lovely shade trees 

 lean far out over the water, their long branches sweeping over you as 

 vou pass. It seemed to us that this was an ideal summer resort, for 

 there are flue drives in every direction for those who don't like to go 

 on the wat er. and the beautiful bay for those who do. The Champer- 

 noun Hotel is in a lovely situation, with a good pier and float for the 

 accommodation of their guests; and one could spend several weeks 

 there and enjoy themselves every minute. Just north of Jamaica 

 Island there is a splendid anchorage with four fathoms of water and 

 very little tide. It is completely landlocked and a flue place to run into 

 if caught here in a southerly blow, , ^ ^ 



Tuesday, July 13.— We were up at dayhght and breakfast was over 

 and sail spread by 7:30. There was the Ughtest possible breeze from 

 the south, and as we tacked down toward Wood Island we discovered 

 that the tide was still making, although the Guide said high water at 

 6:36. Wlien abreast of the island, the breeze died out completely and 

 we drifted back again close on to Fishing Islands, and were just about 

 to let our anchor go to keep from going ashore, when we got a little 

 puff of wind which gi-adually increased to a good breeze, and we 

 quickly ran out of the Piscataqua River, passing a coaster that had 

 stai-ted some time before us, but had anchored off Stielman's Rocks 

 during the calm spefl. We ran close-hauled over to tne Isle of Shoals, 

 arriving there at 10 o'clock. We had intended to anchor here and go 

 ashore, but concluded that we could see afl there was of interest from 

 the water. The islands stnick us as being bleak and bare and very un- 

 attractive, except to those who deUght in the water for itself or want 

 to go where they can get sea air pure and unadulterated. As the 

 islands are about seven and one-half miles from Portsmouth, the 

 nearest laud, the air cannot help but be fine. 



We saw a number of queer craft here, evidently used for fishing; 

 they were sharp at both ends, clinker built, and had two masts. The 

 main mast was stepped right up in the eyes and the mizen pretty well 

 aft but in front of the hehnsman. They remmded us of the Mackmack 

 boat so common on the great lakes. 



After taking a turn around Gosport Harbor we .shaped our course for 

 York viUage, rimning N. 2}.^ E., nearly dead before the strong, steady 

 breeze. We could see the white saUs of the South Boston fleet as they 

 came out of Portsmouth and bore away for the eastward, and we 

 learned afterward that they reached Portland that afternoon. After 

 saihng four or five miles we met a small fishing boat and asked how 

 far it was to York. They told us to steer for the white church spire 

 which we could see glistening in the sun among the trees. We found 

 that we had stood too far to the eastward, partly due to the fact that 

 we had allowed a little too much for the variation of our compass, and 

 partly because we had our boom to port, which caused us to graduaUy 

 work out to the eastward of our true course. Acting on the informa- 

 tion given us. we jibed and ran for the steeple, passing midway 

 between York Ledge on our starboard and Stones Bock on our port. 



The hotel on stage Neck was in plain Sight, but we could not make 

 out the opening to the harbor, even with a glass, till we were clo.se to 

 it. We picked up the red and black buoys aU right, and ran along the 

 south shore of the river, dropping om- anchor in a small cove just below 

 Rock's Nose, in 7ft. of water at low tide, where we lay quietly, although 

 a few yards from us the current was very swift. Rock's Nose pro- 

 jects well out into the stream and completely breaks the force of the 

 current; in fact, there is a slight eddy here, so that a boat lies very 

 quietly indeed. Just as we were ready to let our anchor go we noticed 

 a small buoy that looked exactly like an old lobster pot buoy, right 

 under our bow, and, assuming that it was one we paid no further attea- 

 tion to it. 



Just before making the mouth of the river the wind shifted suddenly 

 to the northwest again, this being the fourth day in succession that it 

 had done so. and at about the same hour. After dinner we got mto 

 the dingy for a row up the river to SeweU's Bridge, which is about 1% 

 miles from our anchorage. The impression which one gets of York as 

 they approach by water is very uninviting. You see nothing but the 

 bleak rocks of Stage Neck and Western Point, with no grass or trees 

 in sight. The big hotel stands soUtary and alone, facing the land, and 

 even the U very stable has turned its back on you and dumps its offal 

 in your face. We were not prepared, therefore, for the lovely scenery 

 that awaited us as we puUed slowly up the river in the company of a 

 score or more of skiffs and canoes, deUcately fashioned and gaUy 

 decorated, each containing a lovely young lady reclmmg on soft cush- 

 ions and propeUed by a handsome sunburnt youth, who skillfully plied 

 the single-bladed paddle, perched on his narrow seat in the stern, or 

 bent his back as he reached forward in a long, slow, swinging stroke 

 at the oars. 



The river grows more beautiful all the way from its mouth to Sew^- 

 ell's Bridge, and from the glimpses we got of the bold bluffs and pine 

 trees beyond the bridge we were led to behevethat the same holds true 

 above it. There is a raih-oad bridge across the river about half a mile 

 below SeweU's Bridge that is not down on the chart. The current is 

 very swift here, and we noticed several huge iron rings in the piers for 

 vessels to fasten their lines to when warping up or i^dbwn the stream. 

 SeweU's Bridge has a peculiar draw, which is in two pieces hinged on 

 either side of the channel, and which two pieces open upward and 

 from each other like a huge double trap door. These doors are raised 

 by chains which pass from a windlass on the bridge up over a high 

 framework and down to the door or swinging part, which is balanced 

 by weights hung from these same frames. I was much amused watch- 

 ing the sinking and rising of this draw as the teams passed over it. 



On our way down stream we stopped at the docks, which are just 

 above the flrst turn in the river, and went ashore to mail the usual 

 postal card to our friends we had left behind us, announcing our ar- 



..: 1 ♦t^i.. 1^7 .T ^.^T,r./1 a littlci ^lUao-f llOT-o wlfli T,r,et._ 



teapot \ .. .. 



high; it ^vas just exactlv what we had been looking tor, as we wanted 

 something in which we cotdd heat a little water very quickly, and this 

 was just the thing. When we reached the Cy-pres we found that 

 aCapecatboat had' come in and picked up a mooring near us; this 

 they were obUged to give up very soon as a fishing sloop came in and 

 claimed it. There were three boats in the little cove now, and we 

 rowed around and became acquainted with our neighbors before turn- 

 ing in. 



Wednesday, Jidy We were up at 5 o'clock in the morning and 

 after break-fast went on shore for a walk up to York viUage, which is 

 on the right bank of the river, and about a mile and a quarter from 

 the mouth. The couutryis rolling, and occasionally pretty glimpses of 

 the river can be had from the road. On returning to the yacht we 

 found that the breeze, which bad been fresh from the northwest when 

 we left her, had increased a good deal, and expecting to find it still 

 fresher outside, we turned a reef m the mainsail, shook out the fore- 

 sail ready for hoisting and manned the windlass. 



The chain came rapidly in till the anchor was apeak, when it refused 

 to come in any further. I put all my weight on the handspikes but it 

 was of no use, it would not budge a hnk more. It was evidently fnul 

 of something and we thought at once of the buoy that we had seen 

 floa.tinK near us when we dropped anchor the day before, and con- 

 cluded we were fa.st to some old mooring that had been marked by 

 this bUlet of wood. After trying in vain to force it up we lowered our 

 mainsaU and furled it, and waited patiently for low tide, when we 

 thought we would sweep for it, hoping we might catch hold of the 

 fluke of the anchor that stood up and puU it out from under the chain. 



The wind increased in strength tiU at noon it was blowing half a 

 gale, and we thought it was just as well for us that we were not out- 

 side, but safe in a quiet little cove with such excellent holding ground 

 under us. Shortly after 12 o'clock we saw two boats heading for us, 

 with aU the breeze they could handle, though double-reefed. They 

 proved to be the cat yawl Jestei' and sloop FoUy, of the Savin Hul 

 Y. C. The Jester ran close to us and picked up the mooring that 

 belonged to the fishermen, v^hile the FoUy anchored out in the centei- 

 of the stream. The crews of both boats went below for dinner as 

 soon as they had furled their sails. 



As it was now about low tide we began to work on oui- anchor. 



