Seeress 
Seeress, as the Canadian cup trial boat owned by 
Messrs. Mower and Hunt, has been named, was launched 
on Saturday, April 26, and towed to New Rochelle, where 
she will be rigged and given the finishing touches in 
Huntington's yard. The trip from Bayonne to New 
Rochelle, a tow of about thirty miles through some very 
nasty pieces of water, gave the boat's construction a 
very severe testing, but apart from loosening up some of 
the bracing, which was found to have been improperly 
fastened, the hull showed no weakness, and stood a much 
worse pounding than it can ever be subjected to when 
under sail, without straining or losing shape in any way. 
The boat will probably be ready for her first trial spin on 
Saturday, May 3, and if the Huntington boat is ready, it 
is very "probable that there will be a bit of an informal 
scrap. 
The design of Seeress was very carefully worked out 
after a close study of the Duggan boats on Lake St. 
Louis, and the inland lake scows turned out by the West- 
ern builders, the aim of the designer being to produce a 
fast boat for all weathers, and at the same time one 
adapted for the peculiar conditions of Lake St. Louis, so 
that in event of her being selected she would be at no 
disadvantage in the Canadian waters. The design also 
embodies many features of the successful boats which Mr. 
Mower built in the Boston open classes, and is in some 
respects a development of the champion 21-footer Heiress. 
The lines show an easy midship section with a very 
slack bilge and a flaring topside, giving a narrow water- 
line beam and a very wide deck. The deck plan shows 
considerable sweep to the side line, instead of the very 
straight side found in the Western scows, and narrows in 
to a width of about 5ft. at bow and stern. The design 
was drawn with the boat listed to her sailing angle, and 
when heeled to her rail she will have as symmetrical an 
immersed body as is possible to get on a single-hull boat. 
The construction is rather interesting, as a system of 
bracing has been adopted which will take care of all 
strains, and hold the boat perfectly in shape. The back- 
bone is formed by a truss extending from bow to stern, 
made up of the centerboard trunk amidships and in, the 
overhangs by light upper and lower members connected 
by uprights and diagonals of light bracing. In each bilge 
is another truss designed to act as a vertical keel when 
the boat is sailing on her side. At the mast and center- 
board trunk are diagonal braces athwart ship. The deck 
is also put- on. in a way which stiffens the whole boat, it 
being of two thicknesses of 3-i6in. spruce laid 
diagonally and securely riveted together, then covered 
with canvas. The deck beams are of spruce i x A by J^in., 
spaced 6in. on centers, and have a straight pitch to the 
center line. The ridge, however, is rounded off sufficiently 
to allow laying the deck diagonally. The planking is 
single, of cedar, copper fastened to elm frames y 2 by 
5/fin., spaced gin. on centers. The stern transom and the 
finish of the rails and around the cockpit is of mahogany, 
giving the boat an excellent appearance. The boat is to 
be painted with black topsides and a bronze bottom. 
She will have hollow spars, made by the Spalding .St. 
Lawrence Co., and Wilson & Silsby sails. 
She will be entered in every event where a class is 
given, and it is probable that she will be tuned up by 
racing with the Huntington boat. The crew will be made 
up as follows: C. D. Mower, helmsman; E. M. Mac- 
Lellan, mainsheet; Charles Fairchild, amidship, and A. 
B. Hunt, forward. She will sail in the trial races under 
the colors of the Manhasset Bay Y. C, and will be kept at 
Port Washington as soon as she is in shape for her tun- 
ing-up spins. » k f, 1 
A Month's Cruise— Maine* 
BY F. L. ENO. 
Ah, those early mornings, when you get away at the 
first streak of day and find yourselves outside as the 
sun comes out of the sea to greet you! The pink flush 
in the eastern heavens, the wide expanse of ocean, sleep- 
ing yet, and unvexed by any breath of air; the deck 
glistening in dew, radiant with the slanting sunbeams; 
the cool salt air that fans out of the sails as she lazily 
rolls; the tonic in sea and air and light that intoxicates 
the physical and enraptures the mental man. How 
priceless are those moments when you can almost be- 
lieve yourself the first voyager over that sea, the first to 
behold that magic change from night to day, and can en- 
joy without envy, malice or greed that which is yours 
for the asking, free to rich or poor, the only passport to 
which is a love for the beautiful and a nature content 
with the truest riches — those of ocean, sky, field and for- 
est, and which are as far removed from the appreciation 
of the average town dweller as would be the "Angel Trio" 
by a hurdy-gurdy man. 
Have we ever lived in the city? No, a thousand times. 
Were we shut up within four walls a week ago? Impos- 
sible! Human beings can't live shut up in confine- 
ment. Do you mean to tell me that people — real, live 
people — actually live and think they enjoy life away from 
this paradise of coast and ocean, and spend the years of 
their lives a thousand miles inland? Why, man, how 
can you breathe so far from the ocean? You would be 
suffocated in dust. And you say there are rows of houses 
for miles, full of people, and some buildings with 3,000 
people in them, and cities with two million? Oh, get out! 
They would die like sheep. Why, here there isn't a 
thing in sight for ten miles except that little fisherman 
ahead of us. Keep her up or we will get too near him. 
Keep her northeast for the Isles of Shoals. 
All day a very faint south wind wafted us slowly on. 
At times it would fall calm, and at about four o'clock 
died out entirely and left us becalmed two miles south of 
White Island Light, where I started to tow. That al- 
most always brings wind. I have tried it lots of times. 
Get your line ready, haul up the tender and get out 
ahead, and if you don't raise wind after five minutes' 
towing, something is wrong. But if you wait for it you 
will lie for hours. 
It worked in our case; a light easterly let us work in 
and anchor off Smuttynose at about five o'clock. Here 
we landed for milk, and a fisherman on the wharf kindly 
offered us the use of a mooring close in against the 
FOREST AND STREAM.® 
rocks, which I was very glad to use, as the anchorage 
here is exposed and the holding-ground poor. 
I envied that fisherman the possession of a pair of arms 
that it was a pleasure to behold. Brown, muscular, per- 
fect in form, every sinew showing as he moved, they 
spoke of long, hard pulls at oars and pots and ropes. 
Many a city man would give his all to claim the rugged 
health they betokened; and a sorry figure the average city 
man would cut beside this son of the sea standing there 
with his arms folded across his massive chest. 
"Square-built, sturdy and strong, with an odor 01* 
ocean about him." 
His wealth could probably be measured in hundreds or 
less — measured in dollars — but in strength, endurance, 
muscle of irOn — ah, what stooping, narrow-chested, sal- 
low-faced man of millions could buy his physical beauty 
and power born of Maine's sun and air; and the honest, 
unflinching gaze from that bronzed face bespoke a nature 
as open and free as the ocean that nourished it. And this 
was but a type. They are found all along the coast. 
1 like seafaring men, I never yet ran afoul of one who 
would not grant a favor or lend a hand on the instant 
without thought of reward. There seems to be some- 
thing in the sea which' cultivates a spirit of comrade feel- 
ing, that acts first and questions later, and the roughest, 
most unpromising appearing fisherman squinting at you 
in apparent disgust as you sail by him, hauling his traps 
or sprawling at the wheel of his vessel, may save your 
worthless life an hour later at the risk of his own. City 
ideas don't go down east", and ,a ragged shirt often half 
conceals a gentleman, as a dress suit, further west, often 
adorns his opposite. 
I could not help contrasting this hero of mine and his 
free surroundings with the city clerk and his stuffy desk 
and — bah! away with it! We are in Maine now and 
headed east. y - •'■ * «l! 
We lay that night at the mooring, close in against the 
land, our stern swinging within a few feet of the rocks. 
And very fascinating it seemed to drop to sleep with the 
sounding sea making music, sweeter to our ears than 
that of man, as it played around the rocks, and to feel 
that sense of nearness to the real world which can never 
be in a crowd. 
Morning dawned fair and warm, and as C. had never 
before seen the shoals, we devoted the forenoon to ex- 
ploring Star Island and the famous church, Appledon 
and its pool for the children, and its immense hotel. 
We generally saw more or less distant acquaintances at 
the hotels, but usually when we looked our very worst, 
and for their sakes refrained from making ourselves 
known. You can't wear white skirts and tan shoes and 
all that sort of gear while living in a 22ft. sloop — at least 
I can't. 
Glorious air, rocks, sea, islands — the Isles of Shoals 
fills that longing for outdoors which exists in the breast 
of every rational being. You are at sea and yet ashore; 
abroad and almost at home. 
We hated to leave. In fact, wherever we went in 
Maine, we hated to leave, only there was always more and 
better ahead. 
After a long bath in a sheltered cove in the warm 
water, and the essential sunning on the rocks that fol- 
lows, we started about noon, the light southerly which 
followed us for a couple of miles giving way to a brisk 
westerly; and we tore along rail-to, close up in under the 
land, in smooth water, as iar as Cape Porpoise. That 
is the cream of sailing: plenty of wind, bright, warm sun, 
smooth water, and let her go down till your shear-pole 
is out of sight in the foam. 
Cape Porpoise, or more correctly, Goat Island, is no 
longer the creek it used to be. There is a depth of 15ft. 
now at low tide right up to the pier, built out to meet the 
channel; and instead of lying in the mud, as of yore, 
when so unfortunate as to miss the narrow channel, your 
decks at low water are actually below, the old flats on 
which you used to wait over a tide on your beams-end 
and say things. 
The diggers were still at work, and their long hawsers 
ran all over the place, so we gave them a wide berth in 
pulling ashore, for a sudden tautening of the line, as the 
dredger felt the weight of a scoopful of mud, might have 
lifted us, tender and all, out of the water. 
Sunday showed a brisk northerly, and we were early 
away, but after passing Wood Island it became so rough 
and breezed up so fast that I decided to run back, and 
we raced along under jib and mainsail with all the wind 
we wanted through the sluiceway into Biddeford Pool. 
This is a fine haven, after you get in; but the ap- 
proaches are rather ticklish, as attested by a fisherman 
astern of us, who brought up all standing on the end of 
the spit; and the current in the narrow passage between 
the piers runs very strong. 
As it was only eleven o'clock, we took the little 
steamer for Camp Ellis, walked the four miles of beach 
to Old Orchard, with its masses of frightful architecture, 
and were glad enough to return at night, disgusted with 
the whole place. Cheap crowds, cheap shows, cheap 
buildings — cheap is written all over it. 
"Where every prospect pleases and only man (and his 
handiwork) is vile." This isn't Maine. It is a minia- 
ture Coney Island transplanted. 
Morning found us outside the pool with a light north- 
east wind and smooth sea; and a long, long beat we had. 
Off Cape Elizabeth we were becalmed for some time, 
but finally dropped anchor off the Portland wharves at 
• midnight, fifteen hours from the Pool and nine days from 
Marblehead. Two years before, in the Sea Witch, I had 
made the run from Thatcher's Island lights to Portland 
Head in eleven hours, swinging the spinnaker all the 
way. Such are the delightful uncertainties of cruising. 
The average reader may not be interested in the chron- 
icle of events of a cruise like this, but for the cruising 
yachtsman to write of his voyages, long or short, is to 
live over again the days of happy freedom and careless 
roving when the world was made up of sea and sky, 
and when the weightiest question of the hour was, "Will 
the wind hold, do you think? or, "Is that fog out there 
to the east'd?" or "Have we milk enough for morning?" 
What more independent and satisfactory method for 
doing the coast could be devised? No grumbling at 
hotel fare, no endless waiting for trains that failed to con- 
nect; no hunting after lost baggage; no shattered ex- 
pectations of the unsuspecting guest, lured by enticing 
circulars; no crowding, and no long bill of items at the 
end of the week. Our carriage waits at all hours, and 
we hoist our sails and go when and where we please at 
our own sweet will. 
[to be continued.] 
West Wind— Hunting Launch, 
We publish in this issue a half-tone picture of the 
hunting launch West Wind. The boat was built by Mr. 
P, H. Studer, of Detroit, and is equipped with a 12 
horse-power Superior engine, built by the Lake Shore 
Engine Works, Marquette, Mich. West Wind is 36ft 
over all, 9ft. breadth and 2ft. 8in. draft. The entire frame, 
garboard strake, sheer strake, stern post and stem are of 
white oak, and the planking is of white pine. The frames 
are 2in. at the butts and i^in. at the tips. The cabin 
WEST WIND — HUNTING LAUNCH. 
house is 12ft. long and the cockpit is 11ft. long. The 
gasoline tank has a capacity of 6ogals. West Wind made 
rather a remarkable run on her maiden trip. She went 
from Detroit to Buffalo, a distance of 351 miles, in thirty- 
five hours and fifty minutes. After being exhibited at 
Buffalo, she was turned over to Lieut. C. H. McLellan, of 
the Life Saving Service, who took her through the Erie 
Canal, Hudson River, etc., at Tom's River, N. J., stop- 
ping only for locks and low bridges. The gasoline used 
on this trip varied from 68 to 76 per cent., whatever they 
happened to be able to secure. The boat has given per- 
fect satisfaction in every way, and no trouble has been 
experienced with the engine, which has been used almost 
continuously since the boat was built. 
New Rule Governing- Centerboards* 
Some time ago the Yacht Racing Association of Long 
Island Sound appointed a special committee to confer 
with the Executive Committee in regard to some restric- 
tion to cover the matter of centerboards under 
the new rule recently adopted by the Association. The 
special committee and the Executive Committee, acting 
together, now have completed the work, and the new sec- 
tion, which is to be numbered as Section 4, Rule II., in 
the Association rules, reads as follows: 
"4. Centerboards, when housed, must not extend be- 
low the keels. Metal centerboards of thickness no greater 
than is specified in the table of scantlings hereto ap- 
pended, may be used in the 36ft. classes and all classes 
smaller. Centerboards of any construction other than of 
metal must not exceed in weight one and one-half times 
the weight of the water displaced by them, except that 
any centerboard in use prior to Jan. 1, 1902, shall be 
considered as within the limit of weight. 
"Any centerboard which does not conform to the above 
-requirements shall be measured, when dropped to its 
lowest point, as a fixed keel. 
"The certificate of the designer or builder shall be 
accepted as proof, subject to verification upon protest, 
that a centerboard conforms to the above requirements." 
The table of scantlings referred to in this rule places 
these limits on the thickness of metal centerboards : In 
the 36ft. class, g-i6in. ; 30ft. class, }4in. ; 25ft. class, 
7-i6in. ; 21ft. class, 2^in. 18ft. class, 5-i6in. 
YACHTING NEWS NOTES, 
There was launched on April 22 from the yard of the 
builders, the Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. 
Seabury Co,, the high-speed steam yacht Vixen for Mr. 
John D. Archbold, who will use her mostly for the run 
between his home in Tarrytown and his business in New 
York city. Vixen is 100ft. over all, 96ft. waterline, 12ft. 
breadth and 4ft. draft. The boat's frame is of wood, and 
she is double planked. The sheer strake, deck stringers 
and floors are of steel, as are the bulkheads. The guaran- 
teed speed is twenty miles, but it is expected that she 
will develop twenty-two knots. The boat was built for 
speed, and has only a fair amount of accommodation un- 
der the low steel trunk cabin, which runs for about two- 
thirds her length. Forward there is a pilot house, which 
will be used as a dining saloon. Aft there is a good- 
sized saloon, a double stateroom with a connecting bath- 
room. Forward of the engine and boiler space is the 
galley, which connects with the dining saloon, and for- 
ward of this is the forecastle, with ample accommodations 
for the cr-ew. 
* * * 
We have received the following announcement from 
Messrs. Cary Smith & Barbey: "On or about the ist of 
May we intend to move our offices from the German- 
American Building to 90 Wall street. In addition to our 
business of naval architecture, we have of late years given 
special attention to developing our brokerage department, 
which is in charge of Mr. Ernest E. Lorillard. Having 
London agents, we believe we have on our books all the 
most desirable yachts which are for sale or charter, not 
only in this country, but abroad." There has been sold 
through this firm by the estate of Leonard Lewisohn, the 
steam yacht Irene, to a Chicago yachtsman. This firm 
