172 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
[Feb. 27, 1904. 
hind the lighthouse on his way back to Sag Harbor. We 
hoisted sail and took our course N. E. ^ N. across 
Gardiner Bay for New London. Running wing and 
vfing, as usual, we soon sighted the white tower of the 
light, passed it, and dropped anchor off the New York, 
New Haven & Hartford station just as the clock 
struck six bells. 
The regular yacht anchorage at New London is ofif 
the Pequot House; the railroad station is about two 
miles further up the harbor. 
The next day was Monday, the sixth. After a 9 
o'clock breakfast, we sent Rudolph ashore to lay in a 
stock of everything. He did, returning with the dinghy 
loaded to the gunwale, and a receipted bill for $41.80. 
As soon as the stuff had been stowed in the lockers we 
ran up the sails, and in a light southerly breeze started 
to beat out to Race Rock. Once outside the harbor 
we found everything hidden by a thick haze, which, 
however, lifted a little after we had made a long board 
to starboard. Coming about, we found that we could 
just fetch the Rock. 
Leaving Race Rock some two or three hundred yards 
to the starboard, we kept off a bit, and reaching along 
past the hotels and cottages on Fisher's Island, soon 
lost the light in the haze. 
Keeping a mile or so off shore, we slipped along, 
until, about 4 o'clock Watch Hill hove in sight. See- 
ing breakers to port, we kept a sharp lookout, and, with 
frequent references to the chart, crawled along past 
the bell-buoy and dropped the hook off the bathing 
beach. The sun went down just as we anchored, and 
we thanked our lucky stars that the ledges between 
Fisher's Island and Watch Hill had been passed by 
daylight. 
There is an anchorage at Watch Hill away around 
behind Sandy Point, but the channel is hard to find. 
The best place, in ordinary weather, is about a quarter 
of a mile directly off the bathing beach. 
At supper, the coffee pot kept sliding from 'one side 
of the table to the other as the boat rolled in the swell, 
finally sliding off into Shave's lap, spoiling a brand new 
pair of white flannel trousers and causing that gentleman 
to use much hard language as he arrayed himself again 
for the trip ashore. The people we wanted to call on 
were out, and the town being deader than it was on 
the water, we put back to the Nerine and spent the 
evening reading. 
The next morning we laid out a course E. ^ S., 
from Gangway Rock, off Watch Hill, to'' the. whistler 
off Point Judith. Keeping about three miles off shore, 
we reached over in a fresh southerly breeze, rounded 
the buoy, and winged the mizzen for the run up to New- 
port. Owing to a haze we had quite a bit of trouble 
in distinguishing between Whale Rock and Beavertail 
Lights, but remembering our experience at Sag Har- 
bor, we paid close attention to the chart and finally 
located Beavertail as the one dead ahead. Oh the run 
up from Point Judith we passed a long string of barges 
that had been just distinguished ahead of us when we 
left Watch Hill. 
There is plenty of water all along through here, and 
no attention need be paid to the charts, except as a 
means of locating the lights. 
The straw colored sides of Brentcn Reef Lightsliip 
now loomed up through the mist off to starboard, and, 
giving it a berth of about a mile, we soon passed Castle 
Hill and the Dumplings and rounded Foit Adams. 
Keeping an eye out for two buoys off the end of the 
torpedo station, we wound our way in througli the 
hundred and one vessels in the harbor and roriuded up 
off the New York Y. C. station. This seemed to us 
the best anchorage. We lowered sails, put the covers 
on, and set the awning for first time since leaving New 
Rochelle. 
About midnight Shave and I rowed ashore to meet 
Jack Munn, who was to arrive on the Fall River boat, 
due at 2:30 A. M. After a long wait, spent in fighting 
mosquitoes, the boat came in. Jack was the first man 
off, and all hands put back to the Nerine and turned in. 
After breakfast next morning, all four of us vv'ent 
ashore to look the town over, and at the first corner 
we turned ran into Potter, a club mate eU Princeton. 
Pot. insisted on our sailing over to Jamestown and 
anchoring off the Conanicut Y. C, so taking' him whh 
US, v/e went back to the boat, hoisted jib and jigger, and 
started to beat over to Jamestovvn in . a heavy v,*est 
wind, full of vvicived puffs. Even under our shortened 
gsil we had all we wanted, and had to luff her several 
times. There is good water at Jamestov/n, and we 
dropped the hook in 3 fathoms some SCO yards from 
ghore, directly off the Conanicut club house. Then all 
hands v^'ent ashore for dinner at Pot's. 
vVe laid at anchor cff Jamestown from Wednesday, 
July 8. until Sunday, July 12. Jack received word on 
Saturday which made it necessary for him to give up 
the trip, so we persuaded Pot to come along with us. 
After bidding farewell to our friends at Jamestown, we 
weighed anchor early Sunday moaning, and started to 
beat out of the harbor in a fine southeasterly breeze. We 
made the course from Brenton Reef to Vineyard Sound 
Lightship E. by S. ^ S., and leaving Brenton Reef 
Lightship about half a mile to starboard — to give it 
more of a berth would mean trouble with Brenton Reef — 
we could just hold our course, on. a close reach. 
It was a perfect day, with no swell to speak of, and 
with lee rail awash, we tore along at a tremendous clip. 
W^e kept about five miles off shore, and just before 
lunch Cuttyhunk appeared to port, and we soon made 
out Vineyard Sound Lightship dead ahead. Gayhead 
loomed up to starboard, the red tower of the light 
looking about a mile high. We rounded the lightship 
and started sheets for the run up Vineyard Sound, 
Several long tows passed us, making fine time to the 
westward, while at times we seemed to be standing still. 
A glance at the tide tables explained this— the tide had' 
turned. Besides this, the wind had dropped a bit. The 
tioe runs about three miles an hour through' the Sound, 
and to make any sort of headway one must have a good 
breeze on the quarter. 
We slowly crept past Gayhead, then Quick's Hole 
and Tarpaulin Cove. The. wind dropped a bit and we 
stayed off the latter for almost two hours^ only leav-. 
ing It when the breeze freshened again.. .,K<^eping well., 
off shore to avoid the big bar on the Vineyard side of the 
Sound, we reached along past West and East Chop, 
and rounded the latter for the beat up into Edgartown 
Harbor. The sun was just going down as we made 
out the Squash Meadow buoys to port. 
Owing to the long sand bar, persons attempting to 
beat up Edgartown Harbor in the dark should take 
tacks of not more than ten minutes each, and should 
keep at least one man in the bow to watch for^buoys. 
There is plenty of water in the channel. 
With Shave and I up in the bow, and Pot at the 
tiller, we kept on, Rudolph keeping the lead going. 
On one port tack we passed within 3ft. of a huge spar 
buoy. Coming about we passed close to another spar 
and thought that we were in a pretty mess, until Pot 
discovered that we had come about in thirteen points 
instead. of eight, and that we must have passed the 
same spar twice. Edgartown and Cape Poge lights 
helped us, and after a long beat we dropped anchor, as 
we thought, sOme quarter of a mile from Edgartown 
Light, and almost on top of shore. 
The next morning we were much surprised to find 
that the light was a good mile away, and the other 
shore about half a mile. After breakfast we ran in 
the anchor, hoisted the jib, and finally dropped the 
hook just outside of a lot of catboats, some hundred 
yards from shore. 
[to CONTINUED.] 
The South Bay Scooter. 
How to Build One. 
BY H. V. WATKINS. 
-For the past ten years the baymen and residents along 
the south shore of Long Island, particularly those down 
at the eastern end of the Great South Bay near Bellport, 
Brookhaven, and Smith's Point, have had a "cinch" on a 
sport that has just begun to awaken widespread interest. 
The craft used is called a scooter, the sport "scootering." 
Nowhere else in the world will be found a craft in de- 
sign, method of handling, speed, capability, and safety, 
like the South Bay scooter. The boat was primarily de- 
signed for winter use, but many make an all the year 
round gunning and rowboat of it, as in smooth water its 
rowing and sailing qualities are all that could be ex- 
pected in any sailing boat of the same size. 
While ice yachting at a mile-a minute clip will never 
cease to be exhilarating, there is always present an ele- 
ment of danger from cracks and air holes which, to a 
certain degree, lesscr.s the pleasure of the sport. 
In a scocter cue as entirely free from fear of these 
cl'Migers to the ice yacht; in fact, you pass over them at 
f'-ll speed with hardly any perceptible difference in the 
sailing, except a slight jolt or two, according to the size 
of the crack or air hole passed over. 
The sensation of .absolute safety in a scooter is in- 
describable to a novice ; it iPiUst be experienced to be 
appreciated. 
AVhilc cf peculiar design, the scooter is not a difficult 
craft:>tG cons'irucl. From diagrams and instruction given 
herein any amateur builder can easily put one together. 
The malerials needed will he as follows for a plain, sub- 
stantial scooter : 
125 sq. ft. Yzm. clear pine for deck and bottom; 20 sq. 
ft. iH'ii- boat cedar for deck, and bottom frames; 12 sq. 
ft. T^'"- oak for runner Avoods, mast step, etc.; 2 pieces 
Jiiin. by 3'/4hi. by i6ft. planed oak for outside strips; i 
pitce J.fin. by 4]/>m. by i6ft. planed oak for coaming; 2 
pieces lin. by 3in.by isft. clear pine for side pieces ; 10 gross 
lin. No. 8 brass flat head screws; r gross ij/^in. No. 10 
brass flat head screws; i gross i^4in- No. 10 brass flat 
head screws; lyi dozen 3in. No. 16 brass flat head screws ; 
I dozen %m. by 3>^in. galvanized or brass carriage bolts ; 
two ^4in. by lin. by loft. spring brass or steel runner 
shoes ; 10 pounds white lead ; i quart each of oil and tur- 
pentine; 3 pounds of putty; 2 balls candle wick; small 
! iece 3in, oak for stem; i 4in. galvanized cleat for hal- 
liards; 2 deck plates with staple; 2 shroud plates with 
.staple; i pair galvanized cr brass rowlocks and sockets; 
3 galvanized ^in. single pulleys for main sheet; i gal- 
vanized. Vzin. single pulley for jib halliard; i pair 6ft. 
spruce oars; 15 fathoms diameter maniUa rigging 
for main sheet, halliards, shrouds, etc.; pound small 
cottcn rigging for bending sails, etc. ; mast, boom, gaft, 
jibbcom, bowsprit, and pike poles as shown in diagram B. 
First get out stem cf oak 3in, thick, as diagram shows, 
with- grain of ^^■ocd running horizontal, then joint 
(plane) lin. by 3in. side pieces straight on one edge, 
tapering other edge as shown in diagram. Mark the 
straight edge, top. Now snap a chalk line on the floor 
iSft, long far enough away from the side of the building 
to give room to work around the boat, as this mark will 
be the working center. Nail side pieces to the stem and 
lay them down with the straight or top side down, keep- 
ing the point of the stem exactly on the center mark. 
Nov/ get any strip about lin. by 2in. and cut off exactly 
3ft. gin. long. Make center mark and lay at right 
angles across chalk line 7ft. from the stem. Draw in thz 
side pieces until the ends are about I4in. apart and fasten 
so that they will remain in place while the stern is being 
fitted. Make this out cf i^in. oak and fit at an angle of 
45 degrees, leaving width sufficient to receive a slight 
crown in deck and bottom, and nail sides firmly to it. 
You nov/ have the outside lines and are ready to put in 
bottom frames. First get the exact width near the tern- 
porary crosspiece, and on one of the i}iin. cedar boards, 
3'.-2in. from the top edge, make a straight line from point 
to point of width indicated. Now, 3^in. above this line, 
and for qin. each way from the center, make a parallel, 
hne, from the ends of which mark an easy curve down to 
the fram.e end marks. This will give the swell of the 
bottom at its widest point, the flat center being made to 
prevent dragging on the ice between the runners. 
Saw out frame i^in. in depth. This done, using frame 
for a pattern, mark out on }Ain. pine a duplicate, ,but only 
one-half -the length of whole frame, which will give yeu 
a pattern for the other bottom frames fore and aft until 
the narrowness of the boat cuts out all the flat part. Cut 
the first frame snugly between side pieces, dropping ends 
flush with edge, keeping square with working center 
line. Put one l^^in. brass screw through side piece into 
each end of frame to hold iu place. Now space off the 
rest of the frames loin. from center to center, each way. 
Get the length of each and mark them out on the i}im. 
cedar plank, bearing in mind to keep straight part of 
pattern up 3Hin. as in first frame. Keep curved end of 
the pattern to outside mark each time. When the frames 
have shortened sufficiently to overlap the straight part of 
pattern at center mark, you will have cut-in 7 or 8 frames. 
Now take a light batten strip as long as your boat and 
lay along the frames over center mark from stern to >bow ; 
press down at ends and trim the oak stem to the bevel 
as indicated by the strip. Trim the stem or transom also, 
giving it about lin. crown in center. 
Now, fasten batten down at each end, and it will then 
indicate the sweep on which to get out all remaining 
timbers fore and aft. When these are in, take another 
batten and slide over the frames to get proper bevels for 
trimming side pieces. The boat is then ready to be 
planked. Rip up and plane straight the ;^in. pine into 
strips 3^^in. wide; lay the center strip first, fasten with 
lin. brass screws (two in each frame), and not more 
than 2in. apart along the ends at edge of the boat. Set 
each plank up snugly before fastening, and when all are 
on, caulk each seam with the candle wick, and prime 
with white lead paint. 
At this stage the boat can be raised from the floor and 
placed on saw horses or boxes for convenience in doing 
the rest of the work. The runner woods can now be 
put on. 
Snap a line along the center of the middle bottom plank 
loft. long, beginning 2ft. 6in. from the stem (bow) ; ten 
inches from this line on each side make a parallel line of 
the same length. These two lines mark the inner edge of 
each runner wood. Now take the ii/2in. oak plank, and. 
placing it on edge, exactly following the runner line, 
brace it so it cannot move, then scribe it down the whole 
length of the runner mark so that it fits perfectly on each 
side. Sixteen inches from each end make a "spot mark" 
(on inside), keeping bow mark i^^^in. up from bottom 
edge and aft mark up i^i'm. From these two dots sweep 
an easy turn with J/2in. raise in center by using light 
batten. Taper the ends from these marks down to ex- 
treme ends of runner wood with a gradual turn. Rip 
along this line carefully, tipping the saw so that when 
wood is in place on the boat it will bevel away from the 
center of boat about 3/^ of an inch on the width of oak. 
The wooden runner is now dressed excepting that the 
edge on which the steel shce is to be placed is too wide. 
Take the surplus wood from the outside, leaving base 
full width for strength. Fasten in place with tlae 3in. 
brass screws and y4m. by 3Hin. bolts, alternating with 
each timber. Be very careful to keep inside edge of wood 
to the mark, and get the two runners exactly parallel, for 
on this point depends the success of all scooters. In drill- 
ing the metal shoes have the screws about 6in. apart, 
avoiding each large screw and bolt in runner wood by 
at least 2in. Use i^in. No. 12 screws for the shoes. 
Brass screws for brass runners ; steel screws for steel 
runners. 
Turn the boat over now and frame deck. Put the first 
frame across about 4ft. 6in. from point of bow, or 
directly over bottom frame that comes nearest to that dis- 
tance. Give this a crown sufficient to make the boat 
loin. deep from inside of bottom planking to top of the 
deck frame. Keep ends down flush with side piece, as 
was done with bottom frames, and put ij^in. screw in 
each end also. 
The next frame should be put in 6ft. aft of this one, 
and have crown sufficient to give a depth of gyiin. from 
the bottom. To get the proper crown for the frames to 
fill out each end, spring the small batten, as was done 
on the bottom frame, the length of the boat. 
The 6ft. space is left for the cockpit or hatchway, but 
must have deck limbers along each side. The hatchway 
may be cut round at ends, pointed or square, as per 
diagram. The latter is easiest. 
To get the sweep of these short timbers, a section of 
the first deck timber may be used as a pattern. In cutting 
to fit against side pieces hold up inside end to conform 
with sweep of the timbers already in place. For strength 
to support the deck, screw ^in. by 4in. pieces pine on 
the sides of these and the bottom frames close out against 
the side pieces. When all the deck timbers are in place, 
trim off the outside strip to proper bevels, as was done 
with bottom edge, and proceed to lay the deck. For row- 
lock socket pieces there are several devices, but the 
strongest is to fit a piece of 3in. by 3in. pine upright l6in. 
forward of the back end of cockpit," and right against out- 
side piece before you lay all the deck. These may be 
tapered to symmetrical proportions at any time after they 
i re in place, first sawing ends down to a level line of 
coaming. 
For coaming use ^/^in. by 4^in. by l6ft. oak. Keep 
this level all around on top, letting lowest points be 2in. 
from center of deck forward and l^in. from center of 
deck aft. Caulk the deck seams as was done with bot- 
tom. Now plane the edges of deck and bottom off flush 
v.ith the side piece. Paint well with thick paint, and, 
while the paint is fresh, screw the -Hin. by 3V2in. by 16ft. 
oak along the entire length of the boat; when fast, trim 
top and bottom edges down flush with deck and bottom. 
A small rail about ^/^in. by ^in. with frequent scupper 
holes will now put the finish on the hull of the boat, ex- 
cepting paint and putty. All the seams and screw holes 
should be filled with white lead putt.v, ar.d the whole boat 
given two coats at least of, best' white lead paint. Now 
make the mast step of lin. oak by 4>4in. wide, long 
enough to cross- two spaces of the ■ floor timbers. 
Bore two holes each 6in. from either end, 2in. 
diameter, then screw the step firmly to the floor tim- 
bers, as shown in diagram. Make two upper steps of 
i-^in. cedar 6in. wide, and cleat to the coaming so that 
ends . will not press above the line of the deck. Bore 
2^8111- hole in each exactly plum over the bottom step 
holes. These upper benches may be made to drop on 
cleats easily, so that one may be removed when the other 
is in use. 
Two places for the, mast are provided because the'^ntire 
.control of the boat when on the ice is wholly by the trim 
of the sails, and it often happens that with reefed sails 
moving the mast to the after hole gives the boat a more 
perfect balance. 
For deck and shroud plates cast brass fittings are the 
best. There are several good substitutes which will 
answer every reqiiirenient, however. For shroiid plates 
