JUNE, 1917 
FOREST AND STREAM 
257 
fectly flat on one side. This will in a very 
short time cause a bad warp, making them 
practically useless. Also it is wrong to 
set the boards on the leeboard thwart so 
that they slant outward at the bottom. 
Canoes are made to ride and move on an 
even keel and can and should be sailed 
that way most of the time. A board 
should have enough area to keep the boat 
from drifting to leeward. As a good basis 
for calculation, the underwater area of the 
board should be 1/22 the area of the sail 
with which it is used. The board should 
be of a width that will allow good fast 
pivoting when the canoe is changing its 
course, and should be thin enough to create 
as little friction as possible yet thick 
enough to keep from warping and break¬ 
ing. Seven-eighths inch mahogany, fined 
down from top to bottom and from the 
center towards both edges clear down, with 
both sides identical in curve, constitutes 
an ideal leeboard. 
With the place figured out for the lee¬ 
board, a thwart of the canoe must then be 
moved exactly to that point. This not only 
strengthens the canoe where most of the 
strain comes but affords a clamping place 
for the leeboard thwart. This latter is a 
cross-piece (which may be of the same 
pattern as the thwart) clamped on top of 
the gunwales with two brass bolts pro¬ 
jecting through the thwart and fastened 
underneath with wing-nuts. On one end of 
this cross-piece is screwed a chock of 
wood about four inches square, which af¬ 
fords a bearing for the leeboard. The 
leeboard rests solely against this and does 
not touch the canoe at any time. The 
wood-screw end of a half-inch brass 
hanger-bolt is fastened through the center 
of the bearing chock, and screwed deep 
into the cross-piece reinforced for the pur¬ 
pose. The leeboard, with a half-inch hole 
drilled through it near the top, swings on 
the smooth part provided on these bolts, 
which you will leave just outside the bear¬ 
ing chock. A wing-nut, screwed on out¬ 
side the board, holds it tightly against the 
leeboard thwart. Keep the bearing well 
greased and free from grit. 
A leeboard made in this fashion is quite 
as stiff as any center board or keel, and 
can be removed entirely in a minute or 
two. 
A water-guard will prevent the water 
from coming over the gunwale that climbs 
up the leeboard. Fasten a strip of fiber, 
metal or wood along the gunwale so that it 
extends out to the leeboard, and fore and 
aft of it about six inches. This can be 
fitted in various ways according to the 
construction of the gunwale. 
The paddle for steering should be about 
five feet two inches in length. It should 
be light so that it will float high, but the 
haft should be quite stout to prevent too 
much bending under the strain it has to 
bear in steering. To prevent the paddle 
from slipping on the wet gunwale, and 
also to prevent wear and tear on paddle 
and canoe, bind the haft tightly with a 
light twist-line (chalk-line) all along the 
part that rests against the side of the 
canoe. The paddle grip should have no 
sharp edges that will cut your hands, as 
the strain here at times is terrific. In sail¬ 
ing a canoe with a paddle for steering, al¬ 
ways have the paddle over the same side 
that the sail is on: change the paddle to 
the opposite side each time the sail shifts, 
irrespective of the position of the leeboard. 
Many a man will say, “Give me a rud¬ 
der.” Well, give it to him. But it is a 
hundred to one he will never be a canoeist 
in the true sense of the word. For every 
real canoeist is a master of the paddle, and 
prefers it. 
SPRING— 1917 
S PRING with all its signs and tokens is here. seen. It is as if the Stars and Stripes had blos- 
Everywhere the scene is changing. The trees somed forth as part of nature’s own unfolding, a 
are reddening with the swelling buds, soon to manifestation of her rousing to life, a symbol of 
burst into leaf, the fields are taking on their vivid her eternal vigor. All the old accustomed sights, 
vernal green, white snowdrops 
dot the lawn. The birds are 
here; the robin with brighter 
breast, the bluebird blue as 
from the sky. Over all the 
land are the soft shades and 
the delicate hues that make 
up the familiar pictures of 
Spring. Pictures old as the 
years, but always new and 
welcome and heartening. 
To the wonted scene has 
been added this year a new 
color note—Old Glory’s red. 
white and blue. Redder than 
the robin’s breast. Whiter 
than snowdrops petal. Blue 
with the heaven’s own blue. 
On every hand the flag is 
all the familiar features of 
the season are grateful to the 
senses and give us pleasure; 
but beyond all these and more 
than any one of them, the 
sight of the flag gladdens the 
eye and quickens the pulse. 
Its silken folds, pulsating 
with breezes that know the 
quick hot gasp of Death, 
seem to breathe new vigor 
into America. 
No other blazonry in the 
pageant of Spring has so 
moved the soul as does this 
new and significant token 
whose colors brighten the 
coming of the springtime of 
this momentous year. 
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