904 
[June 6, 1908. 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
The Breaking in of a Yachtman’s Wife. 
To the yachtsman who would like to see him¬ 
self in a mirror, just as others see him and at 
the same time enjoy a well spun yarn with just 
a taste of brackish water to it—not the coarse 
salt-horse sea guff—I would say, buy and read 
the new and charming book entitled, “The Break¬ 
ing in of a Yachtsman’s Wife,” by Mary Heaton 
Varse, and published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 
It shows up a yachtsman in his true coloring; no 
brilliantly painted chromo or impossible colored 
impressionistic painting, but a perfectly tinted 
word photograph of the yachtsman of to-day. 
It is a treat. 
We knew every boat in our harbor, and so 
we could be sure that the strange yawl must be 
putting in just for the night. We had left the 
Tar Baby at her mooring, and we rowed closer 
to the new boat. She was Mary Ellen, about 
35ft. over all, and beautifully appointed in every 
particular. 
An awning was spread over Mary Ellen’s cock¬ 
pit, and under it sat a plump, gray-haired old 
lady, placidly darning a sock. From time to 
time she looked out over the Sound, where from 
every direction little sails made for the harbor 
like a flock of homing pigeons. 
A gray-haired man now came out of the cabin 
and fell to polishing the brass fittings which so 
prettily adorned his yacht. He was working, 
it was plain, because he enjoyed pottering around 
his boat, not because the brass needed further 
brightening. Now and then he would stoop to 
coil a rope still more symmetrically. As we 
passed them, he dropped his chamois overboard 
and we picked it up for him. So we pulled up 
alongside and chatted a moment. The old lady 
joined her husband, with a half-darned sock in 
her hand. They asked us if we had been sail¬ 
ing, and we pointed out the Tar Baby, and asked 
them if they had ever seen an ugfier boat. We 
had our own pride in Tar Baby's appearance. 
We loved to believe that she had one distinc¬ 
tion : she was a boat ugly beyond compare, 
unless, indeed, you except Stingy, a home-made 
boat which lived up Mamaroneck way. One 
can, you see, always find something to be proud 
of in one’s boat, even if it is only its ugliness, 
and even in ugliness there is competition. 
Rumors, for instance, had come to us from the 
owners of Galloping Soup Tureen, a freshwater 
boat, who pretended that it ran Tar Baby a 
close second. Our old couple were not to be 
outdone by the ugliness of our boat, for the old 
lady hastened to say: 
“When we were first married we owned an 
old tub that would make that little black boat 
of yours look like a prize beauty. She was as 
high-sided as the vessel Columbus came over 
in that they exhibited at the World’s Fair.” 
“And about as quick in the stays as a hen 
coop,” added the old gentleman. 
“Her name was Mary Ellen,” said the old 
lady. “Many a fine sail we had with her in 
spite of all. When I was young, yachting wasn’t 
heard of much; we just went sailing.” 
“This is the first boat I ever had built just 
to suit myself, and we named it after old Mary 
Ellen,” interrupted the old gentleman, who was 
bursting with pride over his lovely boat. 
“And we’re taking our first cruise in her. We 
started at Staten Island, and we’re going round 
by New London to Peconic Bay.” 
“Yes,” said the old gentleman, “my wife in¬ 
sisted on being towed through Hell Gate. Isn’t 
that just like a woman?” 
“Yes,” indeed, I did,” said the old lady, with 
spirit. “I just have my heart set on this cruise.” 
And as we pulled away we could hear the old 
gentleman declare: “Why, I could take the 
Massachusetts through Hell Gate 1 ” 
******** 
So Jameson and I worked side by side. I 
must have been far more of a hindrance than 
a help, though he, kind man, never showed it, 
and he prepared me for what was to be my 
final initiation. He painted a waterline, and 
handed me the pot of red copper paint. 
“Now swat it on good an’ thick, an’ see that 
you get it in all the nail holes,” he advised; 
and then it was that I was won over at one c 
and for all. To this day there is nothing I like 
so well as to stand on the shady side of a boat, 
and to hear the peaceful slap, slap of my big 
paint brush. I might get tired of it if I did it 
every day, and if the boats I painted were not 
my own boats. But when I hear people talk of' 
the joys of gardening, I smile to myself, because 
I know that those are feeble pleasures compared 
with that of seeing one’s boat grow bright under 
one’s hands. 
The Chicago—Mackinac Race. 
As the time approaches for the start of the 
blue ribbon event of the Great Lakes—the Chi¬ 
cago Y. C.’s annual race to Mackinac Island— 
a good many people who have admired the hand¬ 
some Mackinac cup, which has been on exhibi¬ 
tion ever since Vencedor’s victory last year 
brought it to the Chicago Athletic Association 
club house, have been wondering whether it will 
remain there for another year or go elsewhere. 
ILLUSTRATION FROM “THE BREAKING IN OF A 
yachtsman’s WIFE.” 
The invitations to this race have recently been 
issued by the Chicago Y. C. to all owners of sail 
yachts that measure five tons and upward, and 
a special effort is being made by Mr. Robt. 
Gould, the chairman of the regatta committee, 
and his associates to get more entries this year 
from the smaller boats of which there are a 
large number in Chicago that are eligible. Some 
of these owners have the impression that this is 
a contest for the big boats, and that a small craft 
has no show to win. This is not so, for one 
has only to look at the record of the 1906 race 
to learn that a boat of 31ft. waterline, the Soule 
Bros, yawl Naiad, which they built themselves, 
just missed winning this grand trophy by 4m. 
37s. With her corrected time she beat ten other 
boats all larger than herself. 
This time allowance feature gives every yacht 
a chance. The vagaries of the wind that a boat 
runs across on Lake Michigan in sailing over 
the 331 miles from here to Mackinac are so great 
that yachts of equal size that will sail practi¬ 
cally even in the local short races may finish 
hours apart at Mackinac. It is this feature that 
gives every skipper and every crew a vigorous 
interest in the event from start to finish, and 
that will always make the event popular with 
those who like the cruising feature of yachting. 
A great many of these amateur sailors are now 
planning to visit distant harbors, and by enter¬ 
ing this race they will be carried down the lake 
to the vicinity of the best cruising grounds with 
much greater speed than if they went alone, and 
they will have the constant excitement of the 
race over the entire course. 
For the man who likes to keep in sight of 
land, who prefers to “play to the gallery” in a 
short sprint around the cribs with a guest boat 
hovering over him to rescue him if he over¬ 
carries his canvas and capsizes, or loses his 
power in a squall, or to the man who dislikes 
the constant watchfulness and lacks the navigat¬ 
ing skill that the race entails, the Mackinac event 
has no charms. This big cruising race is in¬ 
fectious. Once you take part in the cruise you 
can never refuse a second invitation. You get 
very little sleep, and if the north winds blow and 
a big sea gets up you may go for a day or two 
without a hot meal, and your bunk and bedding 
get wet, and maybe you are called on deck in 
your underwear and bare feet to help reef the 
mainsail in the middle of a pitch black night, 
and the rain squalls blow the reef points out of 
your fingers and then you swear you will never 
go on that wretched, foolhardy Mackinac race 
again. But you go just the same next year. In 
fact, in winter you plan your vacation for the 
next summer so that you can ship again if you 
are invited, and if you have done your work 
without growling the chances are a hundred to 
one that your old skipper will be delighted to 
have you go. Bosun’s Mate. 
Yacht Sales. 
The following yacht sales have been made 
through the office of Stanley M. Seaman, 220 ' 
Broadway, New York: Sloop Sagamore, by Mr. 
H. B. Briggs, Newark, N. J., and Mr. A. K. 
Potter, Providence, R. I., to Mr. A. C. Maderia, 
Philadelphia, Pa. Auxiliary sloop Kismet, by 
Mr. F. W. Isenbarth, New Rochelle, N. Y., to 
Mr. H. L. Stone. Sloop Omoo, by Mr. P. L. 
Howard, Horse Shoe Harbor Y. C., to Mr. M. 
M. Looran, same place. Auxiliary sloop Mic 
Mac, by Mrs. Myrtle S. Scott, Great Neck, L. I., 
to Mr. W. S- Fairchild, Newark, N. J. 
The following sales have recently been effected 
through the agency of Frank Bowne Jones: The 
steam yacht Constant, Mr. Egbert Moxham, to 
Mr. A. L. Barber. The yacht is now being fitted j 
out. The launch Vacuna, Mr. J. Daubert, to 
the Lehigh Valley Coal and Navigation Co. The 
launch Dolphin, Mr. J. E. Montells, to the Stew- [ 
art-Kerbaugh-Shanley Company. The launch 
Ardis, Mr. R. M. Haddock, to the Stewart- 
Kerbaugh-Shanley Co. The auxiliary yawl 
Katherine, Mr. J. F. Baudouine, to Mr. F. H. 
Waldorf. The auxiliary yawl Bohemian, Mr. 
F. H. Waldorf, to Mr. W. O. Saxton, Jr. The 
sloop yacht Lorelei, Mr. C. P. Bruch, to Mr. 
Paul Bayne. The sloop yacht Red Wing, Dr. 
George H. Frazier, to Mr. M. B. Pendas. The 
raceabout Una, Mr. C. L. Robinson, to Mr. L. 
H. Dyer. The sloop yacht Acushla, Mr. E. C. 
Ray, to R. H. Turner. The sloop yacht Quest, 
Mr. H. A. Lumb, to Mr. F. b. Vulte. The 
auxiliary yawl Lillian, Mr. R. Fritsche, to Mr. 
Thomas Rumney. 
In connection with his Boston agent, Mr. B. P> 
Crowninshield, following sales were made. The - 
power yacht Shur, Mr. M. S. P. Pollard, to Mr. 
D. Y. Pendas. The auxiliary yawl Cherokee, 
Mr. Edward T. Sanford, to Dr. F. A. Davis. The 
schooner yacht Venona, Mr. Robert Olyphant, to 
Mr. A. W. Bliss. 
The Hollis Burgess yacht agency has sold the 
gasolene launch Vim, owned by Thomas B. 
Wales, of Wellesley, Mass., to Roy J. Gibbs, of 
Pocassett, Mass. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer to 
supply you regularly. 
