Chapter XV

ICE-BOATS

A Sloop-rigged Ice-yacht

For travelling over the ice there is nothing to beat an ice-yacht, and some that have been constructed on the Hudson River are of gigantic size and power. Boats of this kind, and having the speed of an express-train, are dangerous for boys to play with, but the ordinary ice-boat that will go from ten to twenty miles an hour is within the ability of any well-grown boy to make and safely handle.

It is quite a simple matter to make a good ice-boat, for it is but a framework properly put together and bolted, on top of which a deck is nailed, with a mast-step arranged at the front.

Fig. 1 shows the elevation view of a moderately sized sloop-yacht; and in Fig. 2 the deck plan is shown, the joints and deck boards being clearly indicated. The triangular body of the boat is ten feet long and eight feet wide, and the bowsprit projects out six feet beyond the timber A in Fig. 2.

The frame is made of clear spruce timbers six inches wide and two inches thick. The timber A is eight feet long, B B are eleven feet long, C is five feet long, and D D are each three feet long.

At the front corners and at the back the timbers are bevelled, as shown in the plan drawing, and they are joined with long bolts as indicated by the dotted lines. Timbers C and D D are set in place and securely fastened with long, steel-wire spikes. The bowsprit E is mounted against timber C and laid over timber A, to which it is bolted fast. A half-inch iron pin is driven in the butt end of the bowsprit, and it fits into a hole made in timber C.

The bowsprit is cut from spruce two inches and a half by four inches, and tapered at the outer end, where a withe having three eyes is driven on. The top eye receives the forestay and the side ones the bobstay cables that run to the corners of the boat, where they are drawn taut with turn-buckles. The shoe-blocks F F are twenty-four inches long and three inches square, and are bolted to the timbers A and B as shown.

At the stern a triangular block is mounted between the ends of the timbers B B, through which the rudder-post will pass. The decking planks G are then attached to the frame with screws or steel nails.

The mast-step is made by attaching two twelve-inch pieces of plank eighteen inches long and an inch and a quarter thick to the inside sides of timbers D D. Across the top of them attach another plank, and in the middle of it cut a hole three inches and a half in diameter, or large enough to receive the mast. In the bowsprit, directly under the large hole, make a small one to receive a three-quarter-inch pin. This iron pin is to be driven in the bottom of the mast so that six inches of it projects beyond the bottom of the stick. These will form the mast-step, and when the mast is in place and held by the forestay and shrouds it cannot jump out. Iron stanchion-rods are attached to the top of the mast-plate and to the inside of timber A as shown in the illustration.

The shoes are of tire, steel and will have to be made by a blacksmith. The front ones are thirty inches long, curved up at the front, as shown in Fig. 3 A, and bevelled at the bottom so as to form a gripping or cutting edge. When mounted the lower edge is at the outside of the boat. Shanks with bolt-tops and collars pass through the holes made in the shoe-blocks F F, and are securely held with nuts screwed down on washers so as not to cut the wood.

The rudder (Fig. 3 B) is a chisel-edged piece of steel twelve inches long turned up at both ends and mounted at the foot of a shank C, which is provided with a collar, a square shoulder for the tiller D to fit on, and a threaded top so that a nut will hold the tiller in place. The shoes can only be made of steel or iron, as wooden ones are useless.

The mast is twelve feet high and three inches and a half or four inches in diameter, slightly tapered near the top. The gaff is six feet long and the boom twelve feet in length. The main-sail measures eight feet on the mast, five feet on the gaff, eleven on the boom, and the leach is thirteen feet long. The jib is ten feet on the forestay, six feet at the foot, and eight feet on the leach. This sail area will present a good surface to the wind, and with an ordinary breeze the boat should make from eight to twelve miles an hour with two or three boys on the deck.

The rigging is done in the same manner in which boats are fitted out. The spars should be varnished and the boat can be painted or varnished, as a matter of choice. All white wood-work with black metal parts, or a red frame with cream-colored deck and black metal parts, are pleasing combinations, but a boy’s own ideas can be carried out with the paint-pot and brush.

A Twin-mast Ice-boat

The twin-mast ice-boat shown in Fig. 4 is the same size as the other one, and built in the same manner except that timbers D D in Fig. 2 are omitted and a smaller deck is laid at the stern.

One foot back from the corners three-inch masts are stepped in holes made in timbers B B to receive half-inch iron pins driven in the foot of the masts. The sticks are eleven feet long and lashed together at the top or bolted with several long, thin bolts as shown in the illustration. They pitch forward at a slight angle, or so that the forestay is eleven feet long.

The gaff is sixteen feet long and the boom eighteen feet in length, and the leach of the sail is fourteen feet.

The gaff is hauled up into the crotch formed by the masts, and a set of blocks and tackle at the bottom of the sail on the boom and the deck will haul the sail into the proper position. It then swings free between the masts, and the jib and main-sail form one large sheet, so that when the main-sheet goes to one side or the other the jib always takes the opposite position and the wind is playing on the entire sail at all times.

This is a very easy rig to handle as it relieves the steersman from the bother of the jib-sheets which are annoying in a stiff breeze.

Scoots and Scooters

Scoots and scooters are the latest wrinkle in ice-boats. Down on the Great South Bay, on the southern side of Long Island, they speak of them in fun as “ice-water boats.” The advantage in a boat of this kind lies in their ability to sail on poor ice or to go across water that is partly open and frozen as many of the bays along the coast are at times.

The scoot shown in Fig. 5 is in the form of a sharpy, but the bottom curves up at the bow so that if it is sailing on the water and comes to the edge of an ice-floe that is not too high out of the water the wind will blow the boat up on the ice and it will sail along on its runners at double its previous speed. In the same manner when it comes to open water it will slip off the ice quite comfortably and become again a marine craft.

The model and descriptions of a centre-board sharpy may be taken for the construction of the boat, except that there is no stem or bow-post and the bottom rounds up the same as the side boards curve in. The bow is therefore nearly a point. This construction is shown in Fig. 6 (page 252), which is a view of the sides and bottom only, the deck planking being fastened down afterwards.

The boat should be calked with white-lead and lamp-wicking and as carefully made as a water-boat, for it must be absolutely tight and water-proof. The deck may be covered with canvas and painted, or it may be of varnished or painted wood.

The hull should be from twelve to fifteen feet long and from four to five feet wide across the widest part. It is fifteen inches deep, and is provided with a centre-board and trunk the same as described for the sailing sharpy on page 221.

The mast is twelve feet long or about ten feet above the deck; the gaff is seven feet and the boom eleven feet long. The bowsprit is four feet long and is bolted to the forward deck, and from the end of it to the top of the mast a light, wire-cable forestay is made fast for the jib to run on.

The sails are made of twilled drill or very heavy unbleached muslin, and in the main-sheet one or two sets of reef-points will be necessary. The main-sail measures seven feet on the mast, six feet and six inches on the gaff, ten feet and six inches on the boom, and thirteen feet on the leach. The jib measures seven feet on the forestay, four feet across the foot, and six feet on the leach. The sail-cloth should be ribbed to strengthen it and a light rope run around all the edges of both sails.

The shoes are made of light, broad tire iron or steel twenty-four inches long and shaped so that the front part will bolt fast to the outside of the scooter sides and the rear ends will lie against the bottom of the boat where they can be bolted fast. The shape of these shoes is shown in Fig. 7 A (page 252), and any blacksmith will make them for you at a nominal cost. The rudder is of stout sheet-iron mounted in the end of a shank as shown at Fig. 7 B (page 252). Its fan-tail permits it to swing the boat in the water and its lower edge will guide it on the ice.

The rudder-post should be attached to the skag which is arranged at the under side and rear of the boat, and with a short iron tiller fastened as shown in Fig. 3 C and D the rudder may be swung.

When sailing on the ice the centre-board should be hauled up as high as it will go, for it is of use only when the boat is in the water.

A scoot is a cranky boat on the ice as the runners or fore-shoes are closer together than on an ice-boat with a triangular frame. Going before the wind it is all right, but when sailing on or up into a stiff wind it will keep a boy moving to hold his balance and steady the boat.

The shovel-nosed scooter shown in Fig. 8 is an easier boat to handle as it is broader than the sharpy, but it is not quite so fast, being slightly heavier.

It is twelve feet long over all with a five-foot beam and fourteen inches high including deck and bottom. The side boards are twelve inches wide, curved up at the bow, and bent in at the stern as shown in the illustration.

Twin masts are stepped two feet from the bow and lashed together nine feet above the deck. The rigging is the same as for the twin-mast ice-boat, and the sail measures twelve feet on the gaff, fourteen feet on the boom, with the leach eleven feet in length.

A small centre-board mounted in a trunk will be necessary for water sailing, and with several coats of paint the scooter will be ready for use.

A Wind-runner

An interesting boat for a boy to sail is a wind-runner like the one shown in Fig. 9.

Two spruce planks twelve feet long and ten inches wide are attached to three battens and separated four inches. The stern batten is four inches high and two inches wide, and through a hole made in the middle the shank of the rudder-post extends, from the top of which the tiller works.

The front ends of the planks are rounded and mounted on a triangular framework six feet across at the front and extending back about five feet from the ends of the planks.

A mast three inches in diameter and nine feet high is stepped through a collar and into a block attached to the back of the front cross-piece as shown in Fig. 10. An iron pin at the bottom of the mast drops into a hole made in the block and the backstays hold the mast in place.

A yard-arm eight feet long supports a square sail six feet wide, which is caught at the lower ends to the outer ends of the triangle frame.

The shoes attached to the triangle frame with bolts are fifteen inches long and the rudder-blade is ten inches long.

This is a rapid sailer before the wind, and with a little manœuvring the runner can be made to sail on the wind, though it will not run nearly as close to the wind as the ice-boats or scoots. Paint or varnish will give the wood-work a good finish, and under a stiff breeze this wind-runner will carry four or five boys.