The first question before you start to learn to sail is: Do you know how to swim? If you don’t, you have no business in a sailing boat—in fact you have no business on the water. No parent should allow his boy or girl to have a sailboat until they have learned to swim. It is not difficult to learn to swim; any child can be taught that art in ten days, and it should be a compulsory course in all our schools. If people knew how to swim, nine-tenths of the drowning accidents that do happen would not. Every summer a large number of young people are drowned in this country through the overturning of boats or by falling overboard. Had these persons been taught to swim the majority of them would not have been drowned. A person who can swim has confidence. If suddenly thrown in the water he or she retain their presence of mind, but if unable to swim they become panic stricken, and are not only drowned but in their struggles frequently drown others.

Another custom prolific of accident on the water is the overloading of boats. The green hand should be warned against this practice. Never take a lot of people out in a boat, particularly a sailboat; especially do not take out women and children, or men who are not familiar with boats.

Another thing, never play the fool in a boat. A man who with others in a boat plays such tricks as rocking or trying to carry large sail in a breeze, climbing a mast, or any other silly stunt, is a fool, and is not fit to be trusted with any sort of a craft.

A properly designed and well-constructed boat is perfectly safe in the hands of a sensible person, and if properly used be made to give pleasure not only to the owner but to others. Sailing is one of the safest of our sports; very few yachtsmen lose their lives while boating. It is nothing like so dangerous a sport as bicycling, automobiling or carriage driving. I have met thousands of yachtsmen during my long service in the sport, but of all my acquaintances I can only recall one who was drowned.