Chapter VII

SAIL-SKATING AND SNOWBALL ARTILLERY

A Skating-sail

Sail-skating is a very enjoyable means of getting over the ice, and with properly constructed frames and sails a very respectable rate of speed can be maintained. In using a sail the boy is the boat, and by his manipulation of the sheets he can go where he pleases, either before the wind or tacking, as in a boat.

The skating-sail shown in Fig. 1 is an improvement over the old style of attaching two diamond-shaped cloths to the ends of yard-arms. To make the frame obtain two clear pine or white-wood sticks twelve feet long, one inch and a quarter square, and taper them slightly towards the ends with a plane. At the same time round the corners at the top of one stick and bottom of the other as shown in Fig. 2 C, which represents a sawed-off section of both sticks. With linen line wind the sticks for an inch or two for every nine or ten inches of their entire length to strengthen them. Paint these windings a dark color and then varnish the sticks or color them with a stain.

Now procure two other sticks, each five feet six inches long and seven-eighths of an inch square, and plane them smooth, at the same time tapering the ends slightly. These are for the cross-arms, and at the middle of each one lash fast a block five inches long and seven-eighths of an inch square having a pin driven in each end as shown in Fig. 2 A. These pins fit in small holes made at the inside of the yard-arms four feet and six inches from either end.

The yard-arms are lashed together at the ends, then sprung apart at the middle so that the cross-arm blocks will fit between them. To properly hold the arms in place a strap should be drawn around the sticks at the middle, and to insure a good prop a block six inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick is to be cut and provided with two pins at each end as shown in Fig. 2 C. The pins will fit into small holes made in the long sticks, and when the strap is buckled tight the block will be held securely in place.

A large flat hook should be lashed fast to this block, and when sailing along before the wind this can be caught over a stout leather belt to help support the weight of the sail.

Two twilled-cotton sails are made in the shape shown in the illustration and provided with snaps at the three outer ends so that they may catch into eyes lashed fast to the ends of the arms and to the long sticks as shown in Fig. 2 B. The sails should be drawn taut at the inner ends with rings and a strap or light rope. If there should be too much sail-area for the wind that may be blowing the sail can be feathered—that is, bent down or up so that it allows some of the wind to pass under it instead of pressing against the sails with its full force.

A Square-rigged Ice-sail

In Fig. 3 two square sails are supported at the ends of crossed yard-arms fourteen feet long. Four cross-sticks of equal length are made, the same as those for the skating-sail first described, and at the middle a long block is attached to two of them as shown in Fig. 2 A. Pins in the ends of the blocks fit into holes in the long arms, and when the ends of the long arms are bent in they grip the pins and blocks.

Short blocks provided with a single pin are lashed to the outer cross-sticks eight inches in from the ends. Holes made in the outer ends of the long sticks will receive these pins, the spring of the stick holding both inner and outer cross-sticks in place at the same time.

Heavy sheeting or unbleached muslin sails may be stretched and bound to the cross-sticks and when detached they can be rolled up on the sticks. This sail is handled the same as the skating-sail but is more powerful as the sheets are larger.

A Snowball Mortar

For snowball fights a mortar is an effective weapon for it throws a shot upward into the air. It may be mounted on a hand-sled.

Make two triangles of boards as shown in Fig. 4. The bottom strip should project far enough below the two legs to permit of screwing it firmly to the edge of the bottom board, which is the width of the top of the sled and is attached to it by straps.

The pivot-bar or axle-tree rests in grooves cut in the points of the triangles. The propulsion-bar (A) is a stout piece of oak fastened securely to the pivot-bar and at right angles to it. Two uprights (BB) fastened to the bottom board by screws or nails driven from underneath and braced to the legs of the triangles support a cross-piece which keeps the propulsion-bar horizontal when the spring is attached. A small tin basin is secured to the extreme forward end of the propulsion-bar.

To use the mortar place a snowball or other missile in the basin and strike the other end of the bar a hard blow with a long-handled wooden-mallet.

The range may be regulated by the force of the blow and by moving the sled to and fro and right and left. Dimensions of mortar shown in diagram: Length of bottom board, three feet ten inches; length of legs, two feet six inches; uprights, two feet three inches; propulsion-bar, four feet two inches by two and one-half by four inches; width of frame, thirteen inches.

Should the snow be too dry to make compact snowballs a small piece of sheep-skin or cotton-batting should be inserted in the breech of the gun or the basin of the mortar and tacked in place. This will tend to prevent the snowballs from breaking.

Fig. 5 is an end-view of the mortar and Fig. 6 is the wooden mallet used in firing.