BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 337 
of the wind. The trawlers are all provided with large light sails for use 
in moderate weather, as well as a large jib and stay foresail, the latter 
sheeting well aft of the mainmast, and having the special name of 
u towing foresail.” 
It will readily be understood that the resistance offered by the trawl 
materially decreases the speed of the vessel 5 a smack that is running 
along from 8 to 9 knots will not tow her trawl faster than 1J to 2 knots, 
which is considered fast enough, since if the gear is pulled along too 
rapidly it will not keep on the bottom. 
3. Shooting a Trawl from the Starboard Side, or “Shooting around the 
Stern.” 
It has already been explained that the trawl, when up, is always car- 
ried on the port sideband is also hove up there; therefore it will be 
obvious that when it is put out from a vessel with her starboard tacks 
aboard, it must be shot around the stern. To do this (first supposing 
the bridles are shackled on the trawl-heads, and the cod-end tied up), 
the after bridle is passed around the stern and coiled down aft, the end 
being taken forward of the starboard mizzen rigging. The dandy bridle 
is next taken around the stern under the after bridle , 1 hauled taut and 
made fast to a cavil amidships, after which it is coiled down ready for 
running. The bight of the fore bridle is made fast aft of the port 
mizzen rigging with a slip stopper, and the end taken around outside 
of all and in forward of the starboard mizzen rigging. The end of the 
trawl warp is next taken around (if astern) outside and beneath the 
bridles, and brought in amidships on the starboard side; enough is 
pulled over to take turns around the dummy, the bridles are then 
shackled on, and the end of the dandy bridle made fast. When all is 
ready, and the vessel going through the water 4 or 5 knots, the captain 
orders the men to “pay out the net,” and at the same time gets the 
“ quarter strap” and canting line all ready to slip, but holds on to them 
until the forward end of the beam swings clear of the smack’s side as 
previously described. As he slacks away, the dandy bridle, leading 
from the starboard side, and the fore bridle from the port quarter take 
the strain and the trawl shoots around or across the stern nearly at 
right angles with the vessel’s keel. When the beam is “ square,” the 
dandy bridle and fore bridle are slacked away, and the trawl warp paid 
out and stoppered in the same way as if the vessel was on the port 
tack. 
1 Sometimes the dandy bridle is used to haul the end of the towing warp under the 
vessel’s bottom. In this case the bight of it is taken around the stern to the star- 
board side clear of everything, and the end is led forward on the port side and made 
fast to the trawl-warp, the bight of the bridle being allowed to drop down beneath 
the keel, so that the warp is pulled directly under the vessel, from the port to the 
starboard side. Any other piece of rope can, of course, be used for this purpose. As, 
however, the hawser is liable to chafe when underneath the keel, it is rarely left in 
that position except in smooth weather. As a rule, the warp is taken around the stern 
or bow, its bight being stoppered up, if necessary, after the trawl is down, to prevent 
chafing. 
Bull. U. S. F. 0., 87 22 
