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rigging a sailboat 
r HEN the old launch, which had 
seen many and better days was 
finally unfit for an engine on account 
of rotted parts, she was stripped of 
her machinery and consigned to the 
scrap heap. A ferryman who had 
bought her for her machinery con¬ 
sidered her nothing but a nuisance. 
He rolled her near a fence to slowly 
rot away. But she was not to stay 
there long. Two enterprising lads 
bought her from the ferryman for 
three dollars and a little help occa¬ 
sionally, for which they received a 
rudder and the use of a truck for 
launching her. They plugged all the 
holes, supplied a few new boards, in¬ 
stalled a rudder, centerboard and sails, 
painted her and were then ready to 
spend the most exciting summer of 
their lives. In the fall they were of¬ 
fered more than it cost them. Of 
course, many were interested and this 
article is written for their benefit. 
Boats similar to the one mentioned 
above may be seen along most any 
waterfront, some only rotted where the 
metal parts touched the wood. They 
are only in the way and can be had 
for almost nothing. Usually a little 
work can make them fit for use as a 
sailboat. Such a boat about twenty 
feet long is best. The heavier she is 
the better she will sail. The boat 
should not be waterlogged nor dried 
too much by the sun. The exercise of 
a little judgment will procure the de- 
sidered result. The small seams are 
well caulked and both caulking and 
wooden strips are used for the large 
ones. The propeller shaft hole is 
plugged tight and a tin patch nailed 
over it. Galvanized or brass nails 
should be used for this. The other 
holes are plugged the same way. A 
strong rudder of large size, well 
braced, is fitted in strong brackets and 
equipped with a tiller. 
A piece of galvanized sheeting sim¬ 
ilar to that used on garages, about 
two by four feet will do as a center- 
board. It can be fastened either on 
hinges or permanently to the keel. In 
both cases it is braced on both sides 
from the gunwale with a galvanized 
wire. Where hinges are used they will 
enable the centerboard to be raised to 
go in shallow water. A permanent 
centerboard or standing keel is best 
where there is enough water. Do not 
be induced to bolt a piece of boiler 
plate or other heavy metal onto the 
keel. Should it strike something it 
M 
single, to take three-eighth-inch rope, 
are fastened with the small pulley 
about six inches lower than the other. 
Two pieces of strong manila or sash 
cord at least three-eights-inch and each 
fully three lengths of the mast are 
rove through the double pulley. A 
piece of rope three lengths of the mast 
is also rove through the single pulley. 
Two strong cleets are fastened a little * 
aft of the mast to hold the ends. The 
mast is then raised and its end fas¬ 
tened in the piece of two by ten, which 
should be well fastened to the ribs 
and keel. The brace wire is then fas- 
Showing manner 
o\ fitting prongs 
on boom. 
might tear out the keel, while sheeting 
will bend and can be easily straight¬ 
ened. 
I F the boat is under twenty feet, 
^ one sail in the bow will do, but 
if a twenty-footer or larger boat is 
used, it should be fitted with a jibboom 
extending some three feet from the 
bow. Any strong wood will do. It 
should be braced with a wire from 
near the waterline and one from each 
side of the weather guard. Ordinary 
galvanized clothes wire will answer the 
purpose. A mast at least the length 
of the boat and measuring four inches 
at the large end and tapering to at 
least one inch at the small end is pro¬ 
cured. Cedar, being strong and light, 
will do. A hole is bored near the bow 
at the usual place for the gas tank 
cap. It should be large enough to 
fit the mast at this point. A square 
hole that would fit in the round one is 
cut in a piece of 2 by 10 inches and 
the end of the mast fitted into it. The 
mast is then shaved to pass through 
the hole in the deck. A brace of rope 
or galvanized wire long enough to 
reach to the jibboom when the mast 
is raised is securely fastened to the 
top of the mast. 
Two strong pulleys, galvanized pre¬ 
ferably, one double and the other 
tened taut onto the end of the jib- 
boom. The forward end of the rope 
from the single pulley is tied a little 
aft of the brace. The ropes are then 
tied down to their cleets to get them 
out of the way. 
A jib to almost fill the triangle 
formed by the jib rope tied on the 
jibboom, deck and mast, slanting up¬ 
ward toward the stern, is cut from 
canvas or drill and firmly sewed. 
Brass or sewed eyelets braced with 
rope are set at its three corners and 
every eight inches along its long side. 
A mainsail with about ten feet of 
hoist with a high peak and slanting 
upward toward the stern along its 
lower boom is about right for a 
twenty-foot boat. The lower boom 
should be three-quarter and the upper 
or small boom should be one-half the 
length of the mast. Eyelets eight 
inches apart are made in the sail 
along the booms and also twelve 
inches apart along the masts. Both 
sails are braced with a rope sewed to 
its edge all around. Eyelets and rope 
braces are sewed with sein twine well 
tarred and waxed. The booms are 
fitted with prongs made from flattened 
pieces of one-inch pipe bolted to the 
large ends of the booms with two bolts 
to each boom. 
nr HE sail is fastened to the booms 
* by crossing the rope over the 
boom and at the eyelets and tying the 
ends to the boom. The jib is placed 
alongside its halliard and the rope 
poked through the eyelets, forming 
loops through which another rope is 
passed and tied at both ends with a 
single carick bend. The jib is then 
— xu. 
