378 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Not. 7, 1896. 
other'beams f xlfin. The deck is of wbite pine, nan'ow 
and ship lapped, the ede;es fastened with a IT-shaped staple 
riveted below. Tlie hull is well strengtheoed by knees, 
diagonal straps, etc.. but the ppculiar side trusses between 
bilge and deck introduced in 1895 in Mr Allan's larger fin- 
keel, the lO-rater Dacotah, are not found ia these earlier and 
smaller boats. 
The accommodations are necessarily very limited, the ex- 
treme height from the top of the keel to the under side of 
the deck beam amidships is barely over 3ft. The "main 
saloon," with this head room, has for furnishing a shelf 
16in. wide in each bilge, which, when cushioned, makes a 
sofa, though, as there is but 3ft. between it and the deck, one 
cannot sit upright. The deck is flush for the whole length, 
with a fore hatch about 3ft. 6in.x3ft., a companinti 2ft, X 
2ft., and a watertight cockpit 3ft. 4iu. wide and Sft. 6in. 
long; it is 1ft. deep, with a bottom of -fin, plank, two thick- 
nesses. There is room forward for a hammock cot, and 
there are shelves and pantries for food, a single paid hand 
being carj-ied to look afttr the boat at all times. The finish 
of the hnll is very attractive, with white pine and mahogany 
in contrast, and good joiner work in all parts. The tran- 
som, as shown in the plans, is merely a straight flat plank, 
strong, simple and unsightly; apart from this boxy end the 
yacht is very handsome on the water. 
The 2i-rating class at the time of Wenonah's debut was 
rigged with the mongrel combination of gunter and leg-o'- 
mutton rig known as the lug; but Wenonah carried the or- 
dinary gaff mainsail, with hoops on the mast. The mast 
was solid, Sin. iu diameter at the deck and 5lm. from the 
middle to the hounds, above which was merely a conical 
point. The shrouds, of l^in. wire rope, ran to the hounds, 
where a shoulder was worked to carry them ; the f orestay. of 
the same size rope, also going over the head, but higher up, 
just below the truck. The blocks were of brass, of the open 
shell pattern, with pin fast in sheave, and those on the mast 
were shackled into eyes which were riveted into flat brass 
plates, secured to the spars by brass wood screws. The jib 
halyard block hung from the masthead by a strap of wire 
rope, and the thi'oat halyard block, instead of being hung 
from the ordinary fixed iron bracket, also hung from the 
hounds by a single part of |in. wire rope, 3ft. 6in. long. At 
its lower end this pendant was spliced into an eye in a band 
made of l^x^rin. brass, which played freely on the mast, 
the upper throat block being also fast to a lower eye in tbe 
same band. In this way the throat halyard blocks might be 
setup block and block, leaving a minimum of halyard for 
stretching; and yet the gaff, Swinging from the extreme top 
of the mast, was free to work without strain on the jaws. 
The shrouds and f orestay served to hold the top of the mast 
in place, but to provide for the forward buckle of the mast 
caused by the strain of the gaff the pendants were placed 
just above the jaws of the gaff when fully hoisted. Each 
went over the mast with an eye splice, and was prevented 
from slipping down by a bit of aVi' sheet brass cut out and 
bent to form a hook, the flat part being fastened to the mast 
by wood screws. This same light piece of sheet brass was 
made to serve another purpose; two projecting ends were 
turned at right angles to form a pair of lugs, and to them 
was fastened with -^in. split pin the spreader for the shroud, 
of lin. tubing 1ft. long. This same idea of fittings made 
from light sheet brass was carried out in other parts, and 
though ridiculously light to the eye accustomed to heavy 
forgings, they apparently served their purpose admii-ably. 
The boom gooseneck was of a peculiar pattern, partly shown 
in the drawings; the jaws of the gaff were made of sheet 
metal, as were many stber small parts. 
The mainsail of Wenonah had three battens, as shown, 
very flexible on the forward ends. The working jib was 
sheeted to a traveler forward of the mast The lead of the 
main sheet was peculiar; there were two travelers, as shown 
in the picture of the yacht under sail; on the forward one, 
just abaft the rudderhead, was a single block to which the 
end of the sheet was made fast, leading up and through a 
block on the boom, thence down and through the first block 
and aft up to another block on the boom, thence down to the 
single block on the after h-aveler and forward to a cleat just 
abaft the weU. In this way the sheet could travel back and 
forth across the deck without jamming against the rudder- 
head, as it must have done if Jed from the forward traveler. 
The rudder was a single plate of Jin. Tobin bronze, with 
a wooden tiller about 4ft. long, shipping in a socket on the 
brass ruddercap. 
The owners of both Wenonah and El Chico have spoken 
in the highest terms of the good qualities of the boats— fast, 
weatherly and seaworthy in the extreme for their small size. 
IN ALL WEATHERS. 
A 1 5-footer* on Lake Ontario. 
For two summers we had been looking forward to taking 
such a trip, and at last when it seemed within oui grasp we 
could scarce realize that our expectations were now on the 
verge of fulfillment. Many a time since the August even- 
ing when last we waved a silent farewell toward its sandy 
beach and the green encirchng hills of its little lake had we 
talked of Jordan and planned to pay another visit to its 
quiet beauties. 
I talked of the bass and perch to be lured from its weed 
beds and old deserted cribs, or grew enthusiastic over starry 
lilies, music-making trees, glowing sunsets, and the pleas- 
ures of lying afloat in the little haven below the bridge, with 
the cool arms of night about us, the heavens above m 
spangled with stars such as no city ever sees, on all sides 
the clear water mirroring -the stars above and the mystery of 
trees along its shores, aad within us an inexpressible con- 
tent that we were once in harmony with nature. 
To this my Fkim Achates added his reminiscences of 
well-kept fruit farms, prettjr farmhouses, quiet country 
roads, and luscious, freshly picked fruit, to be had for the 
asking. 
Yet, despite our earnest efforts, one arrangement after 
another fell through, till 1 imagined "the stars in their 
courses" fought against us as they are said to have fought 
against Sisera. 
Now, on the afternoon of Aug. 8 we were actually afloat 
on the waters of Lake Ontario, with our bow pointed S..}W. 
and three days' provisions in our lockers. 
The crew, Vic by name, sat wirh his back against the 
coaming on one side and his feet against the coaming on the 
other and hummed snatches of a song, the refrain of which 
seemed to be, "No other pleasure can.compare with drinking, 
drinking, drinking;" as he is a strict cold-water man I am at 
a loss to explain this, unless it is an example of hereditary de- 
*Th8 little vacht Lynerte was iUU8tr9.tea in the PoaBST and Stjoeam 
of 4.pril 6, IS&S, 
pravity not entirely suppressed. It does me good to see how 
that boy enjoys his sailing, bubbling over with enthusiasm 
till his happy face is a veritable panacea for the blues and 
all other kindred ailments. 
A light east wind was blowing, which kept us moving at 
the rate of about two knots, As we had left our moorings 
at about 1 P. M. with thirty-two miles of water before us, 
1his did not promise well for reaching Jordan before morn- 
ing. Stij], hour after hour we slipped gently along, till the 
features of the northern shore and the spreading city be- 
came indistinct with haze and were gradually swallowed up 
by the thickening of the atmosphere. By 6 o'clock the wind 
had drawn almost dead ahead and remamed as light as ever, 
while to the northwest the sky was darkening ominously 
and the sinking sun plunged out of sight behind the cloud 
veil with startling suddenness. 
But later, as we lounged at ease sipping our coffee after a 
hearty supper, the sun's glowing disk appeared once more 
just above the horizon, flashing a fiery river across the lake 
to our quietly moving craft. When at last he disappeared 
again, the whole northwestern sky blazed into a lurid glow 
with the life blood of the dying day. The crimson glory 
tinted with the softest pink, the sails and deck and the 
spreading ripples from our bow were as crimson ribbons 
streaking the dark blue lake. Magnificent indeed was that 
blaze of color, and one watched breathlessly its deepening 
tints; but there was a menace in it that failed not to impress 
us and made me turn to Vic with a muttered comment as he 
watched with parted lips and earnest eyes, 
Darkness fell rapidly, for the whole sky was clouded and 
no stars appeared to cheer the gloom. The night was warm, 
though not oppressive, for the clouds seemed to act as a 
blanket and the freshening southwest wind was. as balmy as a 
tropical breeze. Soon lightning was flashing in the north 
and the southwest, following the heavy clouds that seemed 
to work west along the northern shore. 
For hours we sailed, working in long tacks toward the 
southern shore, where twinkled the lights of Niagara and 
Port Dalhousie. 
The lightning was constant, but thunder was seldom 
heard, ao seldom indeed that we hoped to pass by Port Dal- 
housie/s range lights before the storm could reach us. 
Carefully we watched the western horizon when lit by the 
electric flashes, for we dared not be caught napping with all 
our canvas spread, and yet it seemed wise to carry on to the 
very last minute, so as to reach a haven as soon as possible. 
Suddenly a roll of thunder seemed to vibrate through the 
boat and then a few drops of rain splashed down upon us. 
The oilskins were quickly got out and donned, but after_ a 
few minutes the shower ceased and again we hoped to miss 
ihe storm. 
Vic, peering out to windward, saw a lifting of the clouds 
and said cheerfully, "No more rain." While he spoke I 
swept the western horizon and saw there well abeam the 
grim black clouds stooping down and sweeping the water 
with misty trailing vapor wreaths, 
"Do you .see that?" I said. "There's the rain!" "Down 
with the mainsail!" 
He jumped for the halyards, already cleared, and in a 
trice the mainsail was dropped, leaving us jogging slowly 
along under mizzen and jib, watching carefully the sea and 
sky to anticipate the next move of the enemy. 
A coil of halyard bad gone aloft when the mainsail came 
down, and as I watched the crew getting it clear my eyes 
traveled to the main triick, A thrill ran through me as I 
looked, for the mast head was glowing with lambent light, 
appearing as the little vessel rocked like a finger of fire in- 
scribing mystic symbols on the dark clouds above. 
Lookl quick! St. Elmo's fire! A corposant!" I cried, and 
Vic gazed in wonder at the uncommon sight. 
'Tis a good omen, the sailors say, and yet it is an eerie 
sight to see that intangible flame lapping to the masthead, 
dimming to the brighter glare of the lightning, and glowing 
out again more clearly when the darkness of sea and sky 
again leigns unchallenged. 
Now there came a lull in the wind. "Ah!" I said, "this 
means mischief. Down with the jib." The crew judged 
there was no time to lose, and indeed the sail was hardly 
down ere the squall was upon us. Then by the glare of a 
lightning jag I saw Vic's yellow-clad figure drop flat on the 
struggling folds of the jib as he lashed it to the bowsprit, 
the white and yellow silhouetted on a background of black 
sky and greenish water lashed to spume by wind and rain. 
Incessantly the lightning flashed, striking the eyeballs with 
a shock that hurt ; while the crash of thunder, the hiss and 
beat of the rain, and the rush of wind through the rigging 
and around the straining and fluttering mizzen, made a pan- 
demonium beyond description. 
The fury of the wind drove us astern at such a rate that 
tbe most careful attention had to be given to keep the helm 
amidships, and prevent the boat swinging broadside to the 
rising sea. 
And what a sight it was as we crouched in the cockpit to 
gaze at the seething water, scourged by the tiail of the wind 
into hissing ridges, from whose flanks the driving rain flashed 
in a snowy veil. 
In the heart of the storm we drove along, shut out by its 
sweeping mist-garments from all sight of friendly lights and 
indications of other existences than our own. At such a 
time one is impressed with a strange sense of loneliness, of 
utter aloofness from all humanity that would become oppres- 
sive were it not tempered by a feeling of pride in the proved 
capabilities of the boat beneath you, and a knowledge that 
one's crew could be relied upon to the utmost in steadiness 
and skill. 
For five minutes the squall did its worst, and lightened up 
only to return a few minutes longer with all its pristinefury. 
As suddenly as it came the funous west wind ceased, and 
once again our old friend from the southwest, resumed his 
sway. 
In the southeast over Niagara the storm was now appar- 
ently raging, for zigzag streaks were there flashing down in 
sheafs and streams so constantly that the eyes ached with 
the brilliancy. 
"Overhead the clouds were rolling away, and ere long the 
Pleiades were beaming on us from the east, and over in the 
west the great Northern Cross was bending to its setting, 
shining on us like an omen of safety as it sank. 
Once again we picked up the twin lights of Dalhousie and 
tbe brighter glare of Niagara, and soon were j:ffunging shore- 
ward again with all our canvas set. The wind had left a 
moderate sea, and a pretty sight it was to watch the occa- 
sional spray clouds flying over the forward deck change to 
crimson and green as they dashed across the path of the 
rays from the triangular skiff lantern lashed to the mast. 
I looked at my watch. It was twenty minutes to 4, and 
p,lready the stars were dimming and a brightness creeping 
into the eastern sky. The dawn was so near that nothing 
was to be gained by running into Port Dalhousie; so after 
working in well toward the land we went about, and passing 
it to port stood along shore directly for Jordan, which we 
made without further incident at 8 o'clock. 
An early cup of coffee had banished tbe sleep from my 
eyes; so after landing some wet stuff to dry, I got out the 
fishing tackle and tempted a few sunfish and bass to take 
my bait. Vic tried also for a while, but soon tired of it, and 
lay down for a sleep, 
Jordan proved to be all we remembered and anticipated, 
and more pleasant memories will now be added to our store. 
Ask Vic if he will ever forget the swim in the clear, cool, 
deep water of the outlet; the dinner eaten lying in the grate- 
ful shade of the old dock and elevator, aniong whose piles 
and cribs the water trickled and gurgled; the big-hearted 
fruit farmer and his acres of plums alnd large thimble ber- 
ries in which we reveled, or tbe well-earned repose that night 
under the cockpit tent, with a lulling wind singing inces- 
santly through the trees. 
We met thej-e too a regular "old man of the sea," who 
proved a veritable incubus; for he seemed to be afliicted with 
a monomania regarding a Mackinaw boat some Toronto men 
had offered to sell him. Twenty times if once he approached 
me in regard to the boat, his inquiries generally taking some 
such form as these: 
"You don't know Lang?" 
"No." 
"Likely you'd know the boat if you heard the name." 
"Probably I would." 
"Mackenaws are good fishing boats, ain't they V" 
"Yes. They use nothing else on the Upper Lakes." 
"Right smart sailors, I guess?" 
"Yes, they sail very well, though not so good as a sloop4o 
windward." 
"Lang lives on Churchill avenue." 
"Yes?" 
"He says she's rented to a man down at the Thousand 
Islands and comes to Toronto every two weeks." 
"Oh!" 
"You don't know Lang?" 
"No." 
"What boat comes up from the Thousand Islands every 
two weeks?" 
"Don't know." 
Here follows a pause of five minutes as I move further 
along to drop my line in a fresh place. 
Presently he sidles up and begins again. 
"Pretty good fishing boat, a Mackinaw?" 
A grunt (from me). 
"Not so good as a sloop to windward, though?" 
Grunt. 
"You know most of the yachts at Toronto, I guess." 
"Yes." 
"I wisht you knew her. Lang says he rented her to a man 
and she comes up to Toronto from the Thousand Islands 
every two weeks." 
Silence again. 
"You don't know Lang?" 
"No," explosively, 
"They carry a lot of canvas, I guess?" 
Another grant. 
"Lang says he will let me have her for $40," 
"Oh, d Lang!" 
Then he subaides into injured silence for some minutes 
while I pulled out a fat sunfish and put on a new worm. 
Not for long does he remain quiet and begins again : 
' 'I wisht I knew her name, then likely you'd know her. " 
No answer. 
"Lang says she's 38ft. on the keel. Do you think it likely 
she'd hold a couple o' mile o' net?" 
"Look here, my friend,"'! said, "if you want to know 
anything aboui Mackinaws, you go and talk to my friend 
over there. He's just come back fi'om Parry Sound and 
knows all about them." 
He stum ped over to Vic with his curious wooden-legged 
walk, and I watched with great interest the cheerful alacrity 
with which Vic imparted all he knew about Mackinaws 
gradually fade into saturnine impassiveness; then I knew 
misery had company, and was happy. There was no escap- 
ing him till we went for a swim^ and there he did not follow 
us. After we came out I said to Vic, "We'd better clear out 
of this and go over to the elevator on the Lake Shore unless 
we want to be bored to death with this old nuisance." We 
went and stayed at the old storehouse till an approaching 
thunderstorm drove us to shelter again in the creek. 
Next morning 1 crawled out of the tent and stood on the 
counter with night robes fluttering in the morning breeze, 
while I prospected on the weather. There that inspired idiot 
stood on the bridge and in response to my nod withdrew his 
pipe from his mouth and waved it in the direction of the 
lake. "There's a boat standing in here," he said ; "she looks 
like a Mackinaw. Likely it's Lang come over from Toronto. 
I'd like to have you look at that boat." 
In despair I plunged below again and got into my clothes, 
refusing to indulge iu further conversation. 
AH night long the wind had been vei'y strong, but as morn- 
ing advanced it quieted down so much that we deemed a 
start both safe and advisable. At 10 o'clock A. M. we hoist- 
ed our jib, cast off our bowline from the bridge and swung 
downstream lakeward, getting in our anchor, which had 
been let go astern, as we passed it. I waved a good-by to 
the Jordanites on the bridge, and the last words I heard from 
land were: "If Lang's Mackinaw comes from the Thousand 
Islands, I wisht you'd take a look at her." I mentally con- 
signed Lang, his Mackinaw and the "old man of the sea" to 
everlasting perdition, but remained outwardly calm. As we 
cleared the sunken cribs projecting the moutn of the creekr 
we hoisted the reefed mainsail, running awhile under it and 
a whole jib with a fresn and quartering breeze. 
Gradually the wind lightened till it seemed advisable to 
shake out our reef. When that was done the mizzen was 
next spread to the breeze; then a balloon jib followed. 
For some time the wind continued to drop, and then grad- 
ually freshened again, at the same time drawing more into 
the south, till at 1 o'clock it was almost dead aft, enabhng us 
to set the apinaker. 
Now indeed we began to have hopes of making a record 
run, for the sheets were tugging harder and harder, a stronger 
note was in the voice of the wind, and an increasing swirl 
and swish made music to the ear as the rising waves passed 
underneath. Vic laughed happily, and a curious exhilara- 
tion went tingling through my veins. 
The horizon was rather hazy, but soon we picked up the 
tall "Power House" chimney, belching out great clouds 
of smoke, and the white tower of the Island lighthouse clear 
and distinct against the smoky background of the city. 
