CHAPTER XXVIII.

STATIONS FOR GETTING UNDER WAY.

"My occupation is gone, like Othello's," said Thad Glovering, when the students assembled on the wharf after the lecture. "Dory can teach his own flock now."

"But I have another class for you," interposed the principal, who happened to hear the remark. "The remnant of the Nautifelers Club have decided to have their excursion on the lake, and they will remain in the vicinity of the school. They don't know how to handle a schooner, and you may make sailors of them, Glovering. You may take two of the students with you, or three."

"Corny Minkfield, Nat Long, and Dick Short, if you please," suggested Thad.

The principal assented, and the party went on board of the La Motte. The schooner was put in order, and Dory suggested that her first trip be made to obtain the hatches which had been left on the beach at Camp-Meeting Point. The new skipper set his crew at work; and, as the wind had moderated to a lively breeze, she went off under a whole mainsail and jib.

The class of unskilled boatmen, as they all were except Ash Burton, were on board of the Goldwing. Dory shoved off the sloop; and when she had drifted some distance from the wharf, he let go the anchor.

"What in the world is that for, Dory? I thought we were going out on the lake to take a lesson in sailing," said Ben Sinker.

"So we are; but I thought we would begin at the beginning," replied Dory. "It is as necessary to know how to come to anchor as it is to do any thing else in sailing a boat."

"All you have to do is to throw it overboard when you want to stop," said Archie.

"Suppose you were coming into Beechwater with a lively breeze, such as we have to-day, how would you manage to anchor in the middle of it?" asked the skipper.

"When we got to the middle of the lake, I should drop the anchor," answered Archie.

"And a pretty mess you would make of it! If you were coming in under jib and mainsail, you would take in the jib some time before you reached the locality where you wished to anchor. Then, as you near the anchorage, you would come to, or throw her up into the wind, thus spilling the mainsail. When the boat had lost her headway, or most of it, you would let go the anchor. If you kept the sail drawing, you would drag the anchor, get aground, or run into some other craft."

"Suppose you are caught in a sudden squall?" asked Ash.

"You should not allow yourself to be caught in a sudden squall. A boatman should be always on the lookout for such things. Squalls don't come out of a blue sky; and when the weather is threatening, the skipper should get ready for it."

"But suppose the skipper was careless, and did get caught?" persisted Ash.

"In that case, he would not let go the anchor; for he could not well do any thing worse than that with his sails set. If the skipper can't haul down the jib, he should not anchor. But he could take in sail quicker than he could get the anchor to bite."

"Bite? Does the anchor bite? I shall be afraid of it," said Archie.

"It would not bite you; but an anchor is said to bite when it gets hold at the bottom of the lake. You don't anchor in a squall unless you have got the sails down. More of that farther on. I have told you how to come to anchor under ordinary circumstances. You must make your plan for doing so beforehand."

"I think I could anchor her," said Archie.

"It is not a dangerous operation. If the wind blows hard, you need a long rode, which means a long cable. In a blow, there is a heavy sea, and the motion of the boat causes a constant jerking on the anchor. With a short rode, it may lift it so that the flukes are detached from the bottom, especially if it be rocky. The longer the cable, the less the slant of the rope. In Lake Champlain, the water is four hundred feet deep in some places."

"Where, Dory?" asked Ash.

"In the middle of the lake, between Essex and Wing's Point; and it is nearly that off Split Rock Point. Fifty fathoms, or three hundred feet, would be a very long cable in these waters: but it would be useless anywhere out in the middle of the lake. It is almost three hundred feet deep within a stone's-throw of Thomson's Point. The moral of all this is, that you must know the bottom of the lake as well as the top when you want to anchor. As a general rule, you must run into some bay for the purpose."

"But a fellow may be caught out in the middle of the lake when the bad weather comes," suggested Ash.

"Then he must take his chances; but he need not be caught if he looks out in season. If it looks like bad weather, get under a lee if you can. Don't anchor off a lee-shore if it can be avoided. Look out in season. That will do for anchoring till we get caught in a tight place. Now we will get under way. Take the stops off the mainsail."

"What is a gasket, Dory?" asked Ash.

"Some boatmen call the stops a gasket. Properly, a gasket is the rope used to fasten the sail to the yard or boom when it is furled. Sometimes the gasket is made of strips of canvas sewed together, or ropes plaited into a flat shape. I want you all to have your stations, so that, when the order is given, it can be executed without calling any names. Archie Pinkler and Con Bunker may take the throat-halyards, and Syl Peckman and Hop Cabright the peak-halyards. These are your stations in hoisting or lowering the mainsail. Ben Sinker will stand by the main-sheet, overhaul it, and make it fast when told to do so. Ash Burton will take the wheel."

The students designated took their places; and the mainsail was hoisted, though the skipper was obliged to give a good many directions. Then he required them to lower the sail, and go through the routine again. The second time the work satisfied him, and it was done in half the time it required the first time.

"This is precisely the way they get a ship, or any larger vessel, under way," continued Dory. "The first thing is to set the principal sails, never including the head-sails."

"What are the head-sails?" asked Con.

"In a sloop, the term applies to the jib only. In a ship, it may include all the sails forward of the mainmast. In getting under way, the next thing to be done after the principal sails are set, is to heave up the anchor to a short stay; though we don't generally take the trouble to do this in small boats. It means simply to get the anchor nearly up, which is indicated by the cable being something near up and down."

"What's the use of doing that?" asked the critical Archie.

"Because it is generally necessary to work lively after most of the sails are set. After the sails are shaken out on board of a ship, they don't want to wait a long time to heave up the whole of the cable. Archie and Syl shall have their stations at the cable, and Con and Hop at the jib-halyards. Now, just to show how it is done, you may heave up the anchor to a short stay; that is, haul in on the cable till the bow of the boat is nearly over the anchor; but don't trip it."

"Trip it?" queried Archie, though the meaning of the term was clear enough to all of them.

"Just as you would trip a fellow up on shore; lift the mud-hook from the bottom," added Dory rather impatiently. "When you get the cable in the position required, Archie, it will be your duty to report the fact by saying, 'Cable up and down.'"

Archie and Syl hauled in on the cable? the latter pulling upon the rope, and the former coiling it up as it came in, as directed by the skipper.

"Cable up and down," reported Archie, prompted by Syl.

"Con is strong enough to hoist the jib alone; and Hop will overhaul the downhaul, and see that it runs out clear as the sail goes up. Then, as soon as the sail is well up, Hop will pass the halyard under the cleat, while Con swigs up; but not yet," continued the skipper.

The hands at the jib made every thing ready to hoist the sail.

"Now the two hands at the anchor will be ready to trip it. The moment it is clear of the bottom, Archie will say, 'Anchor a-weigh.' Then I shall give the order to hoist the jib. Are you all ready there?"

"All ready," replied Archie, who was getting up a deep interest in the operations.

"Trip the anchor," added Dory in a quiet tone.

"Anchor a-weigh!" shouted Archie.

"Hoist the jib," continued the skipper. "Keep on with your work at the anchor, Archie and Syl, and don't leave it till you have stowed it away in its place, and coiled up the cable, so that it will run out freely if we have occasion to anchor again in two minutes. On a boat, ropes should not be snarled up, but every one of them should be properly disposed for use at any moment."

The cable led through a block under the bowsprit. When it came home,--which is the nautical expression used when any thing is hauled up to the point where it belongs, or as far as can be,--an iron hook was thrown over one of the arms, and the anchor was hauled inboard by a line attached to it. This arrangement made it easy to weigh the anchor.

While the two hands were at the anchor, Con and Hop were hoisting the jib. Ash was directed to put the helm a-lee, and Ben to stand by the main-sheet. The moment the anchor was clear of the bottom, the jib began to fill, and the head of the boat swung off.

"Stand by the jib-sheets, Hop, while Con coils up the jib-halyards," said Dory, after they had "swigged up" the rope.

But the jib-sheets led aft, and Dory trimmed them down himself. It was a dead beat to windward to get out of Beechwater, and the two sails were close-hauled. In a moment every thing was in good order, the cable and the halyards had all been disposed of, as directed, and Ben had made a very nice coil of the spare part of the main-sheet on the floor of the standing-room. The crew were surprised to see with how little fuss the boat had got under way. Dory knew how, and every thing seemed to work to a charm for that reason.

"Now what tack are we on?" asked the skipper.

"On the starboard-tack," replied all of them in one breath, for they had profited by the instructions of Thad in the morning.

"Right. And the act of getting under way, as we did, is called 'casting on the starboard-tack,'" added Dory.

"Well, we couldn't cast on any other," suggested Hop, as they were all seated in the standing-room.

"It would have been just as easy to cast on the port-tack as on the starboard," replied the instructor.

"It seems to me that it is just as the wind happens to hit the sails on one side or the other," added Hop.

"There is no happen about it. I cast on the starboard because it gives us the longest tack in this pond. When any boat or vessel is at anchor, she points her nose directly into the wind. Then it is as easy to cast on one tack as the other."

"But after the mainsail is set, the boat keeps flopping one way and the other," said Con.

"If you make fast the main-sheet, it will. In that case, you are to take advantage of the right moment to trip the anchor and set the jib. It is sometimes necessary to sway off the boom to get her in position."

By this time the Goldwing was nearing the shore on the west side.