272 
FOREST .AND STREAM. 
[April 4, 1903. 
on exposed coasts as a natural breakwater." The 
British Columbia Pilot describes it as one of the 
greatest aids to the safe navigation of their waters, as 
it almost invariably marks the presence of all sub- 
merged rocks. Practically, the only dangers menacing 
the sailor in those waters are subnierged rocks or 
rocky patches, as sand shoals are unknown, and the 
water generally of great depth, averaging from 50 to 
150 fathoms in most places. This great depth of water 
is frequently a serious difficulty in finding a satisfactory 
anchorage. One instance was related to me of a large 
yawl that attempted to anchor in a small bay on the 
east shore of Vancouver Island. Not taking the pre- 
caution of sounding, they let go their heavy anchor 
with 50 fathoms of chain. It ran out to the bitter 
end and "no bottom." But as this is supposed to be 
the cruise of the Rambler and not a technical treatise 
on the flora and topography of Puget Sound, we will 
hie back to the yacht, which was just clearing the 
harbor entrance. 
For the benefit of the Lawyer and the Artist, Chris 
laid hold of some of the big floating bulbous kelp 
heads and finally succeeded in hauling aboard one en- 
tire plant, its roots firmly interlaced around a rock 
about the size of a cobble stone. The long stem 
anchoring the floating bulb to the rock is usually 
from ^in. to J4in. in diameter in the lower portion, 
and able to bear a weight of perhaps 100 pounds with- 
out breaking. Sometimes small boats make fast to a 
bunch of kelp at night instead of dropping anchor. 
After getting a couple of miles on our course, we 
found a soft spot in the breeze, and lay utterly be- 
calmed for about an hour. Feeling drowsy, all hands 
but Chris at the wheel, took a nap, while the yacht 
drifted aimlessly with the tide. There was a gentle 
breeze on all sides of us, but none where we were. A 
big three-masted schooner with an immense deck- 
load of lumber, gradually approached, her lofty sails 
getting the benefit of a breeze that we could not. She 
was on the starboard tack and headed straight for 
us. The man at the wheel aft could not see us for- 
ward of his mizzen mast on account of the deck load 
of lumber. Lookout forward was apparently asleep. 
We were pointing in a direction which would have 
been our port tack if we had been able to derive any 
benefit from the breeze, which was sending them along. 
We were absolutely without even steerage way. It 
was necessary to act quickly. I hailed, "Schooner 
ahoy! Keep off or you will run us down. We haven't 
steerage way." The "old man" came stumbling for- 
ward over the deckload of lumber, fairly black with 
rage, and shouted back, "I have the right of way, you 
are on the port tack. You will get into trouble if you 
don't learn the rules of the road." "We know you 
have the right of way, but we are helpless, without 
steerage way." Slowly the big schooner fell off a 
couple of points, and passed under our stern with a 
volley of imprecations. Soon after we caught a little 
air and drew away with gradually increasmg speed. 
To our inexpressible joy the lumber schooner was 
soon becalmed in the very same place from which we 
had just escaped, and remained there for fully two 
hours, by which time we were five miles to windward. 
Probably by that time her captain was able to appre- 
ciate our former predicament. 
As night approached, the question arose whether we 
should run into Apple Tree Cove and anchor for the 
night or sail all night. "O, let's go into the cove. 
That's the kind of an oyster I am!" said the Lawyer. 
We did and lost nothing by it, for the wind went down 
with the sun before we reached the cove, and it was 
necessary to order forward the tender and tow the last 
half mile to a suitable anchorage. It is on such occa- 
sions that the power tender proves itself almost in- 
dispensable, and thanks to its timely assistance, we 
have soent many a comfortable night at anchor, when, 
otherwise, we should have been compelled to sail or 
drift all night in a flat calm. 
RAMELEK AND POWER TENDER IN EAGLE HARBOR. 
INSERT PICTURE Rambler and Powertender. 
Coming on deck the next morning, our first view 
was of our friend, the lumber schooner, just off the 
mouth of the cove. She had been sailing all night, 
and in the calm had made almost no progress, while, 
thanks to a short tow from our launch, we had spent 
a snug night at anchor. We hoisted sail and got under 
way at once, but the wind was very light. The west- 
ern and northern portions of the cove consist of tide 
flats, which go bare at low tide. Standing in too close 
on the north shore we lost our breeze and grounded 
gently. We iminediately ran an gnchor out astern 
and manned the windlass; but all in vain. Tlie tide 
was falling fast, and we were aground almost the length 
of the keel. Realizing that we were bound to stay 
there until next tide, I ordered the sails lowered, 
furled the mainsail and hauled the main boom broad 
off on the port side. Taking up the anchor astern, the 
lower block of the main throat halyard was unhooked 
from the gaff, made fast to the inboard end of the 
hawser, and the anchor run out on the starboard 
l:eam. We then swayed on the throat halyard until the 
Rambler sat upright on an even keel, in the course 
of an hour the water had fallen a couple of feet, and the 
weight of the boom to port had apparently dragged the 
anchor a few feet, and given the yacht a slight list to 
port. The throat halyard was block-a-block, so that 
no more slack could be taken in on the hawser. Think- 
ing to relieve the strain on the hawser, I ordered the 
forward guy on the main boom slacked a bit to allow 
llie boom to swing aft. .A.las, the guv was slad^red too 
much. The weight and tension of 30 fathoms of hawser 
on tl:e starboard side pulled her over, and with a rush 
she keeled over on her stnrboard bilge in two feet of 
Y.'ater. 
RAMBLER AGROUND. 
The tide was nearly ebb by this time, so we all went 
crabbing. Chris waded in his rubber boots, while the 
Artist, the Mate and I took the dinghy. The gym- 
nastics permissible in an 8ft. flat-bottomed boat over- 
loaded with three people, are decidedly limited, and I 
cannot consistently reconmiend such a craft for crab- 
bing; but we managed to get a good supply without 
getting more than moderately wet ourselves. 
By II A. M. the Rambler was afloat again, and we 
stood out of the cove, picking up a true north wind 
outside, which made our cruise a dead beat to Port 
Townsend against a strong flood tide. 
The lumber schooner had worked the ebb tide for 
all it was worth, and was now 10 miles to windward. 
We passed her about 4 P. M., although we had lost 
15 hours at anchor and aground in Apple Tree Cove. 
Truly the old hooker was as slow as her skipper's com- 
prehension. 
We had a strong wind and a smooth sea all the 
afternoon, and at 9 P. M. reached our favorite anchor- 
age, near the Government dock- — iti the lee of Point 
Wilson. In my opinion this is the best small-boat an- 
chorage near Port Townsend. It is protected by a 
h\gb biuif from the prevailing winds (here westerly), 
and is a good point of departure when bound out into 
the straits. Alongside the eastern side of this Gov- 
ernment dock is the best place that f know for beach- 
ing a yacht for a coat of copper paint. A hard, clean 
sand bottom of just the right slope, convenient piles 
for making fast and about 12ft. rattge of tide. 
The next morning (Saturday) we laid the Rambler 
alongside the dock, and leaving Chris and Jim to give 
her bottom a coat of yacht-green copper paint, and 
the Artist to do sonic water color sketching under the 
cockpit awning, 1 took the Mate and the Lawyer in the 
launch to the town of Port Townsend, two miles away, 
to get the mail, stores and ice. Back again at noon, 
we found the crew had just finished their job ahead of 
the tide, and the Artist had achieved a fine picture of 
the Point Wilson Lighthouse, also a splitting head- 
ache, due to the blinding light on the water. We had 
buoyed our mooring in the morning before towing in 
alongisde the dock, and ;is soon as the yacht floated 
we towed out and picked it up again. 
That night it blew so hard about 9 o'clock that we 
let go the spare anchor to prevent any possibility of 
dragging. 
We wished to make Victoria next day, so I turned 
out with the crew at 3:30 A. M. to take advantage of 
the ebb tide past Point Wilson. Right here I wish to 
say that with a flood tide and a westerly wind any sail- 
ing craft will make just as much progress at anchor 
in Port Townsend_ Bay as in bucking the tide with a 
head wind. The tide runs here as much as six knots 
an hour at times, and frequently causes dangerous 
tide rips outside of Point Wilson. The lighthouse 
keeper told me he had seen these tide rips make a 
clean breach over the forward deck of one of the 
Japanese liners, which had a freeboard forward of fully 
25ft. These tide rips, although in deep water, very fre- 
quently have much the appearance of seas breaking 
on a bar at the mouth of a harbor, except that they 
are shorter, steeper and seem to break in all directions. 
When running strong they will swamp any small open 
craft instantly. They are extremely erratic in their 
movements and appearance, sometimes entirely absent 
in ca,\w, WPft^l^^r ^T^4 heavy, Usually they 
