192 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[March S, 1004. 
TINO 
Cruise of the Yawl Nerine. 
The Story of a Cruise from New Rochelle, N, Y.» to 
Matbleheadt Ma&s.^ and Return. 
BY SANDFORD G. ETHERINGTON, NEW YORK CITY. 
{ContinHud from fiaee 172.) 
July 13, Monday, which was cold and raw, was spent 
ashore visiting friends, and we left at ten on Tuesday 
morning for Hyannisport, drawing the course from Ed- 
gartown Light to Succonesset Lightship, N. N. E. 54 E. 
Reaching over in a light westerly breeze, we sighted the 
vessel about noon, and, sailing to within a mile of it, kept 
oft and steered about N. E. by E. for Hyannisport Break- 
water. The breeze by this time had freshened so much 
that we had lowered the mainsail and ran along under 
jib and jigger, this proving to us once more the beauty 
of a yawl rig. Keeping a sharp eye on the surrounding 
buoys and on the chart, we rounded up behind the break- 
water and dropped the hook. All hands adjourned to 
the shore for dinner with friends, and put back to the 
boat early in the evening, so as to be ready for the trip 
around the Cape next day. 
The best anchorage in Hyannisport is directly behind 
the eastern end of the breakwater, just far enough off to 
give room to swing. 
Just as the clock struck four bells, I awoke and put 
my head through the hatch to have a look at the weather. 
All the stars were out, a strong south wind was whistling 
through the rigging, and everything looked fine. I went 
below, woke up the rest, and while Rudolf was making 
coffee we hoisted main and jigger and shortened the 
cable. At 2 :30 we broke out the anchor, hoisted the 
jib, and started on a close reach to Bishop's and Clerk's. 
As soon as we got out from under the lee of the break- 
water the full force of the wind struck us. The lee rail 
had a foot of solid water over it, and the spray flew in 
showers as we cut through the short swell. 
Running a mile or so past the light, we started sheets 
and steered S. E. ^ E. for Handkerchief Lightship. It 
kept growing lighter and lighter over in the east, and 
soon the yellow rim' of the sun pushed up over the hori- 
zon and daylight came. There is absolutely nothing, to 
my mind, that can equal the exhilarating beauty of a sun- 
rise on the water. To see the dark lines of the land 
gradually take shape with the growing light, and the 
water begin to sparkle and dance in the first rays of the 
sun is a sight that, once seen, can never be forgotten. ; 
Shave noticed that the dinghy was rather low in the 
water, and, on pulling it up, we were surprised to find it 
half full from the spray that had been kicked up on the 
reach out. We bailed her and dropped her astern again. 
By this time breakfast was ready, and Rudolf took the 
tiller while we went below to eat. Just as we were finish- 
ing, Rudolf made out Handkerchief, and as we came up 
to it, one of the Maine steamers passed us, with decks . 
deserted in the early morning. 
After carefully looking the charts over and noting the 
depth of water between Handkerchief and Pollock Rip, we 
decided that it would be safe to cut straight across in- 
stead of taking the regular steamship channel around by 
Shovelful. So we steered E. by N., and about nine 
o'clock passed Pollock Rip Lightship. For a time we 
were in sight of three lightships — rather an unusual 
occurrence. 1'^:' 
The course from Pollock Rip to Pollock Rip Shoals i;5 
N. by E. ^ E., and with the wind abeam, and growing 
lighter and lighter, we .reached along and finally passed 
the Shoals Lightship at 11:30. As we passed, the keeper 
dipped his colors, which Salute we returned, only to find 
that he had been saluting a battleship some two or three 
miles to starboard. Immediately afterward we heard the 
boom of her gun in answer. 
Pollock Rip Shoals was the last lightship we had to 
pass, and for the rest of the way there was nothing to do 
but to skirt along the Cape until we got to Provincetown. 
So, keeping about three miles off shore, we crawled along, 
until finally off to Chatham we ran into a flat calm. We 
drifted along, sails flapping, for two hours, until finally 
a light breeze sprang up from the northwest and we 
straightened out again on our run along shore. Nauset, 
with its three towers, was passed, and next South Weli- 
fipet, with the four tall towers of the Marconi system' 
standing out against the sky. We were only a mile or 
so off shore now, and the wind was freshening steadily. . 
Ihe white sand banks kept getting higher and higher, . 
varied at rare intervals by scattered houses. If there 
is a more desolate place along the coast than the barren, 
monotonous sand banks along the shore of Cape Cod,' 
the crew of the Nerine does not. want to see it. , . • , 
By this time we were off Highland Light, and the wind,, 
was coming in chunks right off shore. The lee rail was 
'way under, and, with Rudolf at the tiller and the' rest, 
of us lined Up along the weather rail,- we- tore along in 3 
smother of foam... A large fishing schooner . slowly over- - 
hauled us,, and finally passed, close to windward, her 
crew watching us closely. We noticed that they had all 
the sail they wanted, even without topsails. ' • . 
The puffs were getting heavier and heavier, until finally 
we decided to lower the main and tie in two reefs.- This 
was done iri- short order, ai-id the sail hoisted again, ' E:Ven 
under this §horte.ned ■ sail W'e staggered along,: heeling-; 
dangerously %t'tmt^, UnttJ;' isbtltiug tTife ■jM&st b^jitittfg f 
with each puff, we lowered the jib, and Rudolf went out 
on the bowsprit to reef. The spray -.was flying off the 
water in clouds, and chancing to look towards the bow a 
moment later I saw a low line of clouds coming, preceded 
by a solid bank of foam and spray ten feet high. 
"Cast off that main I Stand by the halliards, quick !" 
and Pot got to the sheet just as the squall struck us. The 
boat heeled over until the water was up and around the 
mast, and just as we were sure the stick was going, she 
slowly righted. By this time we had the sails down. 
We drifted stern first for a moment, then turned and 
started out to sea. The wind was blowing with fearful 
force, at least sixty miles an hour, and a terrific sea was 
kicked up in no time. While drifting backwards the ten- 
der was caught under the stern, and now was full of 
water, sometimes going under altogether. 
"We must make sail, sir, and try for harbor." said 
Rudolf. It certainly looked bad. Provincetown, our only 
port, was twenty miles away, at least fifteen of them dead 
to windward. Seas eight feet high were running, and 
On Board the Yawl Nerine— Looking aft. 
getting higher and higher every minute. But there was 
only one thing to do, so we' hoisted the main with two 
reefs and jib with one. While under the stern the tender 
had parted the bumpkin stay, so the mizzen was useless 
Slowly trimming the sheet, we worked around and 
commenced our long beat. We drove and plunged fear- 
fully, and added to this the tender retarded us so that 
we made almost no head.way at all. The wind had, how- 
ever, fortunately let up a little, so that w6 were not 
obliged to luff up into, every puff. A little later we shook 
out the reefs in the main, and seeing that we never could 
expect to make Provincetown with the tender keeping us 
back, all four of us took hold of the painter, and, expect- 
ing it to part every second, by rnain force we pulled the 
boat up on deck. We lashed it, bottom up, in the first 
place that presented itself— which place, unfortunately, 
hid the compass from sight— -and at once began to make 
better time. The sun went down while we were busy 
with the tender, and, in the dark, )Kt began oilce more to 
head up into the seas. Every few minutes a tremendous 
one would -wash over the decks; the boat would shake 
herself, hesitate a moment,, and then plunge forward, 
ciily to receive another cornber,; The scuttle forward was 
a bit loose, so things belOw Were flooded in no time. 
We kept on beating along, diving heavily into every 
sea, until about ten, seeing by Race Point and Wood End 
Lights that the point o"f , the Cape had been passed, we 
headed down towards the ' harbor. ■ As soon as wc 
stopped heading- up info the S6as, we rode easier, and for' 
the first time since two "o^dcdk things begin to look 
bright again." Shave weiit below to look' at the: chart,- 
and-when he came up said, "'W'e finished that beating just- 
in time,' fellows. There's thiee irlChes of ' water On the 
floor.". ' - . . : . ■ • . 
As soon as we had run. dowti far enough we put the 
tender oVerboard a^aih, ,came' abfiut-f^n6t daring to gybe 
^and - heatied ; fb^: the. /buoy 6£f;Xoiig,.'^int.. ..We lore- 
the darkness. Then, trimming sheets and once more in 
smooth water, we reached up into Provincetown harbor. 
I've seen welcome sights, but nothing can ever equal the 
joy I felt at seeing the riding lights twinkle just ahead 
of us. We dropped the hook, lowered and carelessly 
furled the sails, and then went below. It was just 11:30. 
With a short prayer of thankfulness, we tumbled into our 
wet bunks and slept. 
Not one of us came to until eleven next morning, 
which was Thursday, the i6th. We turned out, pumped 
her dry, and, while breakfast was cooking, brought every- 
thing on deck for a good drying out—blankets, mattresses, 
and even the stuff in our suit-cases. We noticed another 
small craft astern of us engaged in the same drying-out 
process as ourselves. Chancing to meet two of her men 
ashore later in the day, we found that they had had even 
a worse time than we, not making harbor until three, and 
having grave fears of not getting in at all. We also 
learned from the crews of some of the fishermen that 
oven the largest of them had been forced to run before 
the storm for a time under bare poles. So we decided 
that we had come through mighty well, our only dam- 
age being some paint scraped off and the broken bumpkin 
stay. 
After breakfast we looked around for another anchor- 
age, as we were too far out. and decided that the best 
place was right off the steamboat wharf, within easy row- 
ing distance of the N. Y. Y. C. .float. Hoisting every- 
thing, we wound in and out among the fleet of Glouces- 
termen and anchored some hundred, yards off the end of 
the wharf. As soon as the sails had dried they -were low- 
ered, furled, and the covers put on. Then, while Shavf 
and Rudolf stayed aboard to clean things up. Pot and T 
rowed ashore to lay in a stock of provisions. 
We laid at anchor until Monday, the 20th, painting, 
varnishing, and repairing. One whole day we spent in 
fixing the water tank; one of the pipes had sprung a leak 
in the storm, and the tank was full of bilge water. 
Our stay at Provincetown was without incident, except 
for a hard southeast blow which came up unexpectedly 
about midnight Saturday. The harbor is open to the 
southeast, so a good sea was soon running. All hands 
turned put and stood ready with sail covers off in case 
the chain should snap, but everything held, and we, rode 
the gale out in safety. One schooner dragged three 
anchors until she hit the wharf; all her seams were 
started, and most of he-- spars and rigging smashed from 
pounding against the piles. 
On_ the morning of the twentieth we said good-by to 
Provincetown, and, once outside the harbor, took our 
course W. by N. for Gurnet Whistling Buoy, off Ply-' 
mouth. The wind was light and the Nerine rolled badly 
m the heavy swell left by Sunday's storm. After a slow 
run over we sighted the whistler, and, with frequent 
references to the chart, ran in against a strong head 
tide past the buoys and Bug Light, coming to anchor in 
the Cowyard at five o'clock. As soon as the sails were 
dovv-n. Pot, Shave, and I embarked in the tender to go 
ashore for dinner. After a slow sail over we landed at- 
ihe Myles Standish Hotel, and, after dinner there, drove 
over to Duxbui-y and engaged Clarence Smith, one of the 
fishermen, to pilot us in near the hotel. No stranger 
should attempt to anchor in Plymouth, Duxbury, or 
Kingston Bay unless with a pilot, as the whole place is 
full of sandbars and mud flats. From this, however, the 
Cowyard is excepted. 
Clarence came out early the next morning and left us 
anchored safely in the guzzle, about a quarter of a mile 
oft" the hotel. We lay quietly here for nearly three weeks. 
On Saturday, August 8, Clarence came aboard, and we ■ 
took a party of friends for a short sail out beyond the 
Gurnet. After sending them ashore in a catboat, we 
anchored for the night in the Cowyard. Pot had gone 
back to Jamestown, but Mark Hutchinson was with us 
for the trip to Marblehead. We weighed anchor at eight- 
o'clock Sunday morning, and beat out to the whistler in a ■ 
drizzling rain and light easterly wind. Once clear of 
the land the breeze freshened and we took our course 
N. W. for Boston Lightship. The fog shut in, and 
the first sign of anything that we had was a glimpse of 
the tall gray tower of Minot's Ledge Light, off Cohasset. 
Then the fog shut down, again, and after a sharp flurry 
of rain we made out Boston Lightship looming through 
the mist, rolling heavily in the long' ground swell. We 
reached along past her, waved -to the solitary watchman ■ 
on deck, and then lost her in the fog again. Steering 
N. ^ W, after another weary stretch, varied by heavy 
rain squalls, we made out Marblehead Rock, dead, ahead.' 
Rounding it, we came into sight of the forest of masts in 
the harbor, and running down past the Corinthia,n and 
Eastern Y. C.'s, anchored : off the Boston Y. C. "station. 
Marblehead is by all, odds the best harbor that wc 
struck all summer. It is perfectly sheltered, with plenty , 
of water, and the continual presence ol.a large f^eet of - 
yacht? keeps it alive all the time. In anchorin-f, 'how- 
ever, one should be careful .not to run up too - far. 
We laid here until Wednesday, the 12th, waiting for a. 
lair wind to make the trip ai-Qund.- the Cape.-- A. s.t^ady . 
northwester began to.- blow, early W.ediiesday , morning, sO; : 
we ..niade ready. Provision lockers and. water tanks wefe ■ 
filled, and, remembering ^our experience with, the tender— -- 
on. the other- ttip. aroufid, Wei lioifet^d. it on deck and 
laMh.tti- it- alop-g^ide t.he fbrWar^' ste^Hght ::A^i^:^i^^x^ 
